Title

Selected Chinese prints of the 20th century.

Venues

Canberra Museum And Art Gallery (24 June 2005 – 14 August 2005)

Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery (10 September 2005 – 16 October 2005)

QUT Art Museum (27 October 2005 – 18 December 2005)

Gold Coast City Art Gallery (21 January 2006 – 12 March 2006)

Cairns Regional Gallery (8 December 2006 – 4 February 2006)

Date

(2005 – 2006)

Summary

Multi-artist exhibition

Documentation

invitation.

Countries of context

Australia | China

Abstract

The history of China’s woodblock prints dates back over two thousand years. Woodblock prints were widespread in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), developed fully during the Song (960-1207) and Yuan (1206-1368) dynasties, and reached their height in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). However, at the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), when other printing techniques like lithography entered China, woodblock printing gradually went into decline. The “New Woodblock Print” of China, a movement launched by Lu Xun in 1931, marked a turning point in the history of China’s print art. It differs from traditional prints not only in techniques, but also in artistic ideals and social implications. From day one, the “New Print” has been closely tied to the liberation cause of the Chinese nation, and the life of the Chinese people. After a period of suspension during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), China’s print art burst into an unprecedented full bloom, thanks to the nation’s reform and opening policy. A great variety of techniques have been used, including woodblock, lithography, copper plate, silkscreen, and gypsography and many mixtures of usage. The workmanship and visual languages of print works have attained remarkable degrees of maturity and purity, ranking highly among their peers across the world. The 100 pieces of China’s print artworks showcased here in this exhibition are careful selections from thousands of Chinese prints produced over the 20th century. The scale of this collection is unparalleled in the history of the Peoples Republic of China. Presented in collaboration with the Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China in Australia. [Exhibition PR]