At the beginning of the twentieth century the first conscious effort to modernize traditional Chinese painting was initiated by Gao Jianfu, his younger brother Qifeng, and Chen Shuren in the southern port city of Guangzhou (Canton). The art movement they began, referred to by later critics as the Lingnan school, sought to create a new national painting that could be modern, yet remain Chinese.

In 1920, Chao Shao-an became Gao Qifeng's student and inaugurated a lifelong commitment to modernize Chinese painting. Now residing in Hong Kong, Professor Chao, the renowned living master of the Lingnan school, has had his paintings displayed in numerous international exhibitions. Like other artists of the Lingnan school, Chao Shao-an developed an art that emphasized sketching and painting from nature.

He is especially noted for his talent in depicting birds and flowers and insects, the subject matter of the majority of the painting included in this volume.