Duoyunxuan header
Research trip

Woodblock printed paintings (Shanghai)

Research trip to China: November, December 2023

Towards the end of 2023 a team from the Wereldmuseum set off for China in preparation for the museum’s Made in China exhibition. Along with journalist Cindy Zhu Huijgen and photographer and cameraman Matjaž Tančič, they travelled from Beijing to Jingdezhen, Yixing, Shanghai and, finally, Hong Kong. During their travels, they spoke with many interesting and passionate makers and artists, and brought back a host of information in the form of interviews, photographic material and objects. Some initial impressions of a number of these encounters are given here.

Shanghai reis

Duoyunxuan in Shanghai

In Shanghai we visited Duoyunxuan, a studio where prints of famous ink paintings are made using carved wooden blocks. Only artists with many years of experience make these ‘woodblock printed paintings’. Many hands are involved in the process: painters, woodblock carvers, those who make the prints and those who mount the prints as scroll paintings. Sometimes, hundreds of blocks are needed for a single painting. The block printed paintings are so accurate that they can barely be distinguished from the original. The technique, which has is now on the intangible cultural heritage list, enables people to purchase at an affordable price artworks that would otherwise be accessible to only a few, or only in a museum.

The Wereldmuseum has some five hundred block-printed paintings produced by Rongbaozhai, a Chinese calligraphy and painting studio with a long tradition (Duoyunxuan used to be the Shanghai branch of Rongbaozhai). This studio was the first to reproduce paintings in a large format using this advanced woodblock printing technique. Several important works by this studio are displayed in the exhibition, along with footage that we were able to film at the Duoyunxuan studio.

blokdruk

Making a woodblock painting

Craftspeople analyse the image and the style of the original painting very closely to decide how many wooden blocks they will need to reproduce all the elements and colour gradations. First, an experienced painter paints a copy of the work.

Blokdruk

When the painting is finished, the woodblock carvers use it to carve the wooden blocks.

houtblokken

Inking and printing the wooden blocks is a very meticulous process.

houtblokdrukken

Once the woodblock printed painting is ready, it is handed over to the mounter, who mounts it on a paper and silk backing, and turns it into a traditional scroll painting.

houtblokschildering
Blokdruk Os

Research project

If you would like to know more about woodblock printed paintings at the Wereldmuseum, check out Pao-Yi Yang’s research on the Rongbaozhai collection, performed with the support of the Rembrandt Association (courtesy of its Kroese-Duijsters Fund). She wrote an article (in English) in our journal Provenance, as well as an article (in Dutch) for the Rembrandt Association Bulletin.

Houtblokdrukkunst-uit-China.pdf

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