Hibiscus and Rocks, Li Ti, Sung dynasty, Album. The National Palace Museum, Taiwan.

A tricolor calico cat with yellow, black, and white patches as well as a small black dog appear with beautiful butterflies and locked in a stalemate in the corner of a garden among blossoming hibiscus. The startled cat has leapt onto a garden rock and arches its back, staring with fangs bared as if to warn, “Hey, you down there with the big tongue and wagging tail who jumped out at me! Come any closer, and I'll give you a taste of my bite!” How will this tense standoff between the dog and cat end up? The answer lies in the mind of the artist and the imagination of the viewer. In this leaf from the album “Collected Paintings by Sung Artists”, the brushwork is refined and beautifully vivid, infecting the work with an extremely pure and gorgeous quality. In the lower right among the rocks is the signature of the famous Sung dynasty painter Li Ti who was active in the 12 th century, but the brushwork here appears quite late, suggesting an imitation by a later artist.