Bidspirit auction | Seite aus dem ”Jièziyuán Huàzhuàn”

Seite aus dem ”Jièziyuán Huàzhuàn” von Wang Gai (”Das Malereihandbuch des Senfkorn-Gartens”) - Page from the ”Jièziyuán Huàzhuàn” by Wang Gai (”The Painting Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden”) China, Qing dynasty, 18th century Woodcut print on paper w. 3 red stamps. Matted cut-out: 22.5 x 22.5 cm. Framed under glass. Frame size: 36 x 40.5 cm. Landscape motif with two poems. Condition: Slightly browned, foxing lower left and lower right, minor damage upper right. The painting manual of the Mustard Seed Garden was named after the estate in Nanjing, which belonged to the renowned playwright and novelist Li Yu (1611-1680). His son-in-law commissioned Wang Gai (1645-1710) to compile the book. The first part, devoted to landscape painting, was published in 1679. Compared to an earlier manual of a similar kind, the Collection of Calligraphy and Painting of the Ten Bamboo Studio, it takes a more art-historical and didactic approach. This print is from a later edition of the first part and was printed with two printing blocks in different shades of black to reproduce a painting by Ni Zan (1306-1374), one of the four masters of the late Yuan period (1271-1368).