明 胡正言 《十竹齋書畫譜》 四開 木版畫|Page from the Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy
first edition printed in 1633
Medium
Individual leaf from a printed book; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
9 7/16 x 10 3/4 in. (24 x 27.3 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
China · Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1924
Accession Number
CP95
Art Historical Context
This exquisite leaf comes from Hu Zhengyan’s *Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy*, first printed in 1633 during China’s Ming dynasty. Hu, a scholar-publisher based in Nanjing, compiled the manual as an instructional guide for aspiring artists, offering models of brushwork, composition, and color application drawn from nature and calligraphy traditions. Produced as a woodblock-printed book, each page reflects the refined aesthetic sensibilities of late-Ming literati culture, when printed manuals democratized access to artistic knowledge previously reserved for elite circles. ...
About the Artist
Hu Zhengyan · 1584–1634
Hu Zhengyan (胡正言, c. 1584–c. 1674) was a Chinese artist, publisher, seal-carver, and printmaking innovator who lived through the turbulent transition from the Ming to the Qing dynasty. Born in Xiuning in Anhui province, he eventually settled in Nanjing, where he established his home and workshop on a hill within the northern city wall and named the property the Ten Bamboo Studio, or Shizhuzhai, af...