Xu Zhong’ou 徐仲偶
Chinese, born 1952
Sparrow Rock (麻雀岩)
INV-1829
Xu Zhong’ou 徐仲偶
Chinese, born 19521998
Sparrow Rock (麻雀岩)
Xu Zhong’ou 徐仲偶 Chinese, born 1952 →Chinese (culture or style)woodcutprint
Date
1998
Medium
Multi-block woodcut print; oil-based ink on paper
Dimensions
89 × 49.8 cm (35 × 19 5/8 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Margaret Gentles Fund
Woodblock printing on paper emerged in China around the seventh century as a way to preserve and copy Buddhist texts. Since that time, printmakers in East Asia have refined the technique by experimenting with color, size, and ways of bringing the ink and paper into contact with the block.
Today, Chinese artists employ this time-honored medium to depict everything from landscapes to abstract forms. They also use different types of pigments to create varying degrees of opacity. This work comes from a portfolio that was commissioned in 1999 by the Muban Foundation in London to recognize the achievements of Chinese printmakers. This work demonstrates the woodblock print’s potential to connect the visual worlds of traditional and contemporary China.
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