Hakka Family

This interior scene of a mother and her three children is one of Chen’s largest and most important works. By the time of this painting, Chen had already painted several works featuring the subject of mother and child. Here, she explores the bonds within a larger family group, capturing the family’s tenderness and close relationship with one another. The unidentified sitters for Hakka Family are arranged in a triangle. The mother is positioned at its apex as the head of the family, and her two older children at the base. The hat and bamboo yoke by her side serve as symbols of protectiveness and labour respectively. The mother, who is breastfeeding her youngest child, is mirrored by the older sibling feeding the younger one from a bowl of rice. These nurturing actions suggest how the relationship of care is extended across generations. Chen rarely painted portraits with many sitters. The only other known portrait exploring the theme of family is Family Portrait, which you saw earlier in the previous gallery. Hakka Family reflects Chen’s drive to capture everyday. This work was of great importance to Chen and would appear as a key feature in all her solo exhibitions after it was painted.