Chinese Paintings 2 Vol. Set

The British Museum and the Ashmolean Museum house the largest collections of Chinese paintings in the country. While the British Museum developed a more classical collection of Chinese art, The Ashmolean focused on acquiring paintings that represented the modern, contemporary approach to the literati tradition. The collection has been acquired, almost entirely, in the past 50 years, the majority belonging primarily to the 19th and 20th century, with a few examples from the Ming and earlier Qing dynasties. This book presents a complete catalogue of Chinese paintings within the Ashmolean Museum collection. The extensive introduction details the acquirement of the collection, and the study of Chinese Art in Oxford started by William Cohn, further developed by Peter Swann. The catalogue is divided alphabetically, not by period, due to the later chronology of the collection. Each artist is listed by the romanisation in pinyin of his or her names, and artists' biographies are followed by bibliographic references to monographs and exhibition catalogues. A map is included in the introduction showing the birthplace of the artists represented.
With over 180 high-resolution, colour images, the book provides a detailed examination of the paintings, either acquired or generously donated, within the Ashmolean's Eastern Art collection. This two volume set includes 'Chinese paintings in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford' and 'Modern Chinese Paintings: The Reyes Collection in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford', bringing the entire collection together.