Chinese Printmaking Today: Woodblock Printing in China 1980-2000

Chinese Printmaking Today analyses the contemporary manifestations of an art form that has long occupied an important place in Chinese art. Using works from the Muban Foundation, the foremost research collection of Chinese woodblock prints, the author shows how China's new artistic and political climate has produced images of surprising virtuosity and eloquence. Through detailed examination of works by ninety artists, continuities and innovations in Chinese printmaking are explored. The works are grouped into seven broad themes: text and image, folk traditions, the political legacy, the concrete jungle, the land and its people, the human form, and new directions. Essays by Chinese and British scholars explore the political and literary context of printmaking in modern China; the role of Lu Xun, China's greatest twentieth century writer who was also an enthusiast for woodblock printing; and the materials, tools and techniques that Chinese printmakers use. The history of China's academies of printmaking and short biographies of the print artists are included as appendices, along with a bibliography of works in Chinese, Japanese, and English.