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Huang Yao had always adored children and this special affinity was evident in many of his works. Four cherubic boys are depicted here merrily sitting under a tree performing an ancient Chinese activity – ear cleaning. The theatrical calligraphic banner above reads: ‘Enjoying themselves’ and the inscription below says: ‘Interesting’ – effortlessly done in his chu yun shu stamp. He developed this upside-down calligraphy meaning Emerging Cloud Writing, which rises naturally from the corner of his paintings like the appearance of clouds in the sky. The idea is to maintain a sense of innocence in his cartoons and paintings of children at play – as if written by a child.