Later Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, 1800-1950. [v. 1. Text and captions -- v. 2. Painting -- v. 3. Calligraphy]
New York: Random House, 1987. First edition. Hardcover. Folio (14-1/2" x 11"). 3 volumes. Text in English and Chinese. Index. Vol. 1 is bound in blue silk, Vol. 2 in green silk, Vol. 3 in orange silk. All 3 vols. with gilt lettering on spines are housed in publisher's sturdy black cloth clamshell box with a reproduced color painting mounted on the top lid. A fine, as new set still in the publisher's original shipping carton.
Western critics and historians had long looked upon Chinese paintings of the 19th and 20th century as a "dead zone" of creativity following the "eccentric" masters of the 17th and 18th century. Maverick collector Robert H. Ellsworth here reveals the error of that assumption in this monumental work which reproduces all 471 paintings that Ellsworth donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1987, along with hundreds of images of calligraphic scrolls and fans. The index alone contains commentaries and biographies of 300 artists and calligraphers, along with transliterations into Chinese script of every inscription and seal.
This work was originally published by Random House for $800. Fine, as new. Item #54112
ISBN: 0394554639
Price: $325.00