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Contributing Institution:
Special Collections
Title: Regeneration
Identifier/Call Number: 2023.PR.14
Physical Description:
18 prints
(1 portfolio)
Date: 2021
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Abstract: The portfolio
Regeneration showcases the work of eighteen contemporary young Chinese
printmakers who are experimenting with and revitalizing the traditional woodblock printmaking process. The prints range from
single-block monochrome
images to complex multi-block prints using as many as fifty-three blocks. Some are printed with oil-based ink, while others
use the traditional Chinese
technique of printing with water-soluble colors that suggest wash-like effects.
Language of Material: Collection material is in Chinese.
Contact
Library Reproductions and
Permissions
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Regeneration, 2021, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2023.PR.14.
https://www.getty.edu/research/collections/collection/1142YV
The portfolio
Regeneration showcases the work of eighteen contemporary young Chinese printmakers who are experimenting with and
revitalizing the traditional woodblock printmaking process. This process, with its origins dating back to at least the 8th
century in China, has
continuously played a vital role in Chinese culture. The prints range from single-block monochrome images to complex multi-block
prints using as many as
fifty-three blocks. Some are printed with oil-based ink, while others use the traditional Chinese technique of printing with
water-soluble colors that
suggest wash-like effects.
The portfolio was commissioned by the Muban Educational Trust (MET), which is a registered charity dedicated to the research,
collection, and promotion
of Chinese woodblock prints and printmaking. The annual MET woodblock printmaking award is for young printmakers of Chinese
nationality who graduated
from undergraduate and postgraduate printmaking courses in China.
The printmakers selected for this portfolio, which is the second portfolio commissioned by MET, are: Cao Ou (1987-), Chen
Mingming (1982-), Gu Xiuhua
(1988-), Guo Shuang (1990-), He Sanqing (1988-), Li Wenpeng (1991-), Liu Jing (1983-), Liu Keji (1992-), Lu Yan (1980-), Shao
Weifeng (1990-), Shi Lei
(1982-), Wu Jiantang (1986-), Xu Na (1986-), Xu Zhonghong (1991-), Yao Yuanlu (1987-), Zhang Lingrui (1992-), Zhang Qiuyuan
(1993-), and Zuo Wei
(1987-).
To address the topic of the portfolio, "regeneration," the printmakers have variously reflected on human life cycles, the
extinction of animal species,
the metamorphosis of butterflies, the COVID-19 pandemic, the place of humankind within the cosmos, and Buddhism. While the
work of Zhang Qiuyuan is
abstract, many of the other compositions are landscapes that include traditional motifs such as mountains, forests, cranes,
and butterflies. The
compositions of Xu Zhonghong and Liu Jing focus with nearly photographic realism on large-scale images, respectively a Covid
surgical mask and human
figures. Li Wenpeng has cut directly into the woodblock to create minute intricate landscape scenes, while most of the printmakers
made preparatory
drawings for their compositions.
The portfolio was issued in an edition of 60.
Each sheet is signed, titled in Chinese, dated ("2021"), and numbered ("14/60") in pencil by the artist in the lower margin.
For statements from the artists and from the judges who selected the printmakers, see:
Regeneration: The Making of the Prints: A Companion
Volume to a Portfolio of 18 Contemporary Chinese Prints...
(London : Muban Educational Trust, 2022).
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Acquired with support from MUFG N.A. (Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. U.S. Operations). Acquired in 2023.
Karen Meyer-Roux cataloged the portfolio in August 2023.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Landscapes -- China
Life cycle, Human
Prints, Chinese -- 21st century
Prints (visual works) -- China -- 21st century.
Relief prints -- China -- 21st century.
Woodcuts (prints) -- China -- 21st century.
Wood engravings (prints) -- China -- 21st century.
Color prints (prints) -- China -- 21st century.