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The landscape may be sparse with the branches bereft of greenery but the overhanging white orchids bloom with alacrity and pleasant scent – as delicate as the faces of the two nubile maidens enjoying the fresh air. Here, Nai Tong seems more generous in his eye renditions, a better enunciated shape complete with eyelids rather than his usual style of thin phoenix eyes. One of the women is even wearing an earring on her left, as her swept-back long hair revealed. The flourish and tenderness of youth is as ephemeral as the orchids, yet Nai Tong is able to instill a sense of timelessness in the piece.