by Jon Lackman | 21 September 2010 | Asia, Books
Despite suffering major heart problems, James Cahill, the CAA “lifetime achievement” award-winner noted for “championing previously ignored painters and restoring them to a more prominent place in the artistic pantheon,” has brought to completion a new, amply illustrated book titled Pictures for Use and Pleasure: Vernacular Painting in High Qing China.
These lesser known paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries “were intended not so much for pure aesthetic appreciation as for hanging on particular occasions such as New Year’s celebrations and birthdays, or for serving particular functions, such as setting the tone in certain rooms of the house or illustrating a story.” Produced not by the famed amateur literati painters but rather by professional artists, these works “fell outside the categories of painting praised by critics and preserved by collectors, which were valued, by contrast, as individual creations and personal expressions of prestigious masters.” They “explore the real world around them far more freely” and illustrate contemporary “fascination with erotic culture … and revise our understanding of gender” and the use by Chinese painters of European styles. It appears that in this genre women were often the artists and the intended consumers.
According to Cahill’s blog, the book was originally to contain a long sixth chapter, “Chinese Erotic Paintings and Prints,” which he has spun off into another book. Cahill also describes in his blog the frustrations he encountered publishing an excerpt of the book in a Chinese journal.
I like the idea of hanging a painting for a special event and not just having it up all the time