Pu Quan and His Generation: Imperial Painters of Twentieth-Century China

Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2005. 96 pages, illustrations (chiefly colour), portraits (some colour); 25 cm. Catalogue of an exhibition held at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 10 December, 2004 to 12 March, 2005. Firm binding, clean inside copy. "This book features the works of Pu Songshuang from an exhibition that was held in Oxford, which included paintings from all periods of his career, documenting a change in style from traditional gongbi birds and flowers to landscapes in ink. Pu Songchuang (1913-1991) was born into the last generation of the Qing imperial family, a cousin of the last emperor Pu Yi. An exhibition of his work was held at the Ashmolean from December 2004 to March 2005 and included paintings from all periods of his career, documenting a change in style from traditional gongbi birds and flowers to sweeping landscapes in ink. Some early paintings are executed on Ming dynasty silk from the imperial treasury, while several of the later landscapes in ink on paper depict scenery from the route of the Long March, which Pu travelled in 1956 with a group of artists as part of the celebrations of the anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army. The paintings came from the collections of the artist's family in Hong Kong, and from a private collection in Oxford, and were displayed here in public for the first time. Most have never before been published." - Publisher.. 1st. Paperback. Fine. 8vo.