The Printed Image in China

Clarissa von Spee, curator, Chinese and Central Asian collections, Department of Asia, The British Museum

Delve into the history of printing and papermaking—invented in China centuries before it was known in Europe—and gain further insight into The Printed Image in China, 8th--21st Century, an exhibition presenting over 130 Chinese prints from the British Museum's comprehensive collection. Works discussed include Buddhist prints from the Silk Road, colorful images used in folk rituals and festivals, imperial engravings, antiwar images from the Modern Woodcut Movement, and internationally acclaimed contemporary prints.

The Printed Image in China, 8th--21st Century

May 5--July 29, 2012 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Learn more: http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2012/printed-image-in-china

The exhibition was organized by the British Museum with the support of the American Friends of the British Museum.

According to current scholarship, printing on paper was invented in China about 700 A.D., making China the country with the longest history of printing in the world.

Exhibition Themes

• Printing and the Spread of Buddhism
• Popularizing Elite Culture
• Printing at the Qing Court
• Popular Prints
• Prints in the Post-1949 Era
• Prints in the Post–Cultural Revolution Era
• Contemporary Prints
• Printing Techniques
  
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