The Mustard Seed Garden Painting Manual : [volume 1] (Japanese reprint)

Wang, Gai, active 1677-1705 · 1753 · Kyoto: Kōnanrō 江南堂; Kōnan shirōuemon 江南四郎右衛門; and Osaka: Onoki Ichibei 大野木市兵衛; Edo: Nishimura Genroku 西村源六 · 3 pictures

This is a 1753 Japanese reprint of the Mustard Seed Garden Painting Manual, a Chinese treatise on painting compiled by Wang Gai and published in Kyoto, Osaka and Edo for artists and students. The three pages show dense columns of woodblock-printed classical Chinese text with a small landscape illustration and a seal-stamped title page, laid out in a plain, orderly format. A designer might take from them the strong vertical rhythm of columned type and the restrained use of a single small image among text.

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