A waltz among flowers

Flowers have long spoken a language that transcends geography. Across East and West, artists have turned to blossoms to express beauty, emotion and the rhythms of life, creating works that continue to "bloom" centuries after they were painted.

As Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote: "Flowers are the beautiful words and hieroglyphs of nature. "That sentiment is resonated through an exhibition in Beijing that brings together European floral masterpieces while inviting dialogue with China's own rich artistic tradition.

In the collection of the Palace Museum, a Song Dynasty (960-1279) flower-and-bird painting captures the vitality of summer, with pink hibiscus, white gardenias and yellow lilies competing for attention. Court painters of the period produced countless works that, like the dynasty's lyrical ci poetry, evoke serenity, refined beauty and enduring artistic vision.

At Vienna's Belvedere Museum, floral paintings reveal a distinctly European interpretation of nature's splendor.

Now, to mark the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Austria, the Belvedere has brought 60 floral paintings by 35 artists, spanning the 18th to the early 20th centuries, together with sculptures and vintage decorative objects, to Beijing.

The exhibition, Blooming Hearts Through Centuries: From Waldmuller to Klimt, Floral Masterpieces from the Belvedere in Vienna, is on view at the China World Art Museum inside the China Millennium Monument on Chang'an Avenue until Sept 19.