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A Picture Book on the Study of Paintings (Ehon hitsuryō)

Sadatoshi, active 1716-1736 · 1751 · Kyoto: Kikuya Kihei 菊屋喜兵衞 · 20 pictures

A Picture Book on the Study of Paintings is a Japanese woodblock instruction manual published in Kyoto in 1751 by Kikuya Kihei, with pictures by Sadatoshi, who was active 1716 to 1736, for students learning to paint. The pages show ink-line figures of Chinese sages and hermits, pines, and landscapes with inscribed captions. A designer could take from them the economy of a brush line, figures set against open paper, and the way short poetic texts sit beside images.

Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art · No known copyright restrictions · More from this library