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¶ Court Painter Lu Chi was not only the favorite bird and flower painter of his day, but honorary commander of the Peking secret police as well. Lu Chi's aim was to please the luxurious and conservative official taste of his time, and he succeeded superbly. Grass, Flowers and Wild Birds is a typical example of his work, that for delicacy and refined technique has never been surpassed.
Such masterpieces go far to explain the response made by the great nth century Painter Kuo Hsi, who asked: "Why does a virtuous man take delight in landscape?" His own reply: "Having no access to the landscape, the lover of forest and stream, the friend of mist and haze, enjoys them only in his dreams. How delightful then to have a landscape painted by a skilled hand! Without leaving the room, at once he finds himself among the streams and ravines; the cries of the birds and monkeys are faintly audible to his senses; light on the hills and reflections on the water, glittering, dazzle his eyes. Does not such a scene satisfy his mind and captivate his heart?"