Picture of a Cat, a Bird, and a Crabapple
1698
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Picture of a Cat, a Bird, and a Crabapple is a 1698 by Unknown, a Baroque work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a cat, a bird, and a crabapple branch on a flat, pale background. The shapes are simple, the colors soft—inky black, warm red, and a touch of green. This painting was probably a cheap print sold in Chinese cities in the 1600s. People hung them like posters, not fancy art. The artist’s name is lost, but the image feels familiar, like a folk song. If you like this quiet style, look up *china, qing dynasty (1644–1911)*.
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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