Artwork Page for Westlake Panorama

Details / Information for Westlake Panorama

Westlake Panorama

西湖全景

mid-1700s

China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Qianlong reign

(1736–95)
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Medium
One of four woodblock prints; ink on paper; printed with three woodblocks in shades of black
Measurements
Image: 34.4 x 55.2 cm (13 9/16 x 21 3/4 in.); Paper: 37.7 x 59.2 cm (14 13/16 x 23 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2025.82.3
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Revived by the southern imperial inspection tours, West Lake imagery became a popular subject during the early Qing dynasty. This panorama is composed of four prints, showing the Ten Scenes of the West Lake in Hangzhou along with other sights. The vanishing point perspective and the hatching lines that depict shading, water, or sky derive from European copperplate prints, introduced by missionaries to China, and were celebrated novelties in 18th-century Suzhou prints. These prints also reached Europe to furnish 18th-century palace interiors.
A woodblock print depicts a vast landscape in black ink. In the foreground, figures sit in an open pavilion, and laborers carry a suspended load. Island estates and willow trees dot a wide body of water traversed by small boats and a causeway. Rugged mountains with a waterfall rise in the background beneath patterned clouds. Sharp, rhythmic line work defines the water surface and the textures of the mountain slopes.

Westlake Panorama

mid-1700s

China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Qianlong reign (1736–95)

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