Touring in Spring, Enjoying Summer
1766
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1766
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Touring in Spring, Enjoying Summer is a 1766 by Unknown, a Baroque work, depicting Qianlong Reign, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a busy street in spring: ladies in silk robes stroll under blossoming trees, servants carry parasols, and merchants sell tea from painted carts. This painting was made as a cheap wall print in 1700s China. Most art from that time was for the rich—this one was for regular people. The colors were stamped from carved wood blocks, like a fancy rubber stamp. Look up more about the subject: *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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