Gusu Beauty – Winter
1766
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1766
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Gusu Beauty – Winter is a 1766 by Unknown, a Baroque work, depicting Qianlong Period, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a woman in a pale blue robe standing by a snowy garden wall. Snowflakes drift past bamboo and a bare plum tree. Her face is calm, almost like a porcelain doll’s. This print was made in Suzhou, a city where colorful wall prints were sold like posters today. People hung them for luck or just to brighten their homes. The artist’s name is lost, but the style was common—delicate lines, soft colors, and scenes from daily life. Look up *qing dynasty (1644–1911)* to see more of these quiet, everyday moments.
In the 1600s, printing flourished in such Jiangnan cities as Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Huizhou, evolving from privately enjoyed illustrated books printed in color to more commercialized single-sheet color prints that were hung on walls and became part of the rich urban visual culture.
Woodblock printing in color reached a height in China in the 1600s to 1700s. The prints were executed by means of sets of separate blocks, each carved to print a different color.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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