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Yangliuqing Longevity New Year Painting, c. 1920

c. 1920

Chinese New Year paintings (nian hua) are colorful folk paintings created to celebrate the annual Spring Festival. Drawn or printed by folk artists in regional studios, nian hua paintings featured exaggerated characters with bright and contrasting colors. Put up around the home to beckon luck and happiness in the coming year, most paintings depicted mythical guardians, scenes from folk operas, or auspicious symbols of good luck. This New Year painting depicts a young woman with a child and is hand-painted in a palette of red, blue, and purple. Belonging to a genre known as 'beauties and babies,' the painting represents a harmonious family life. The early 20th century painting is from the town of Yangliuqing, one of the leading producers of traditional New Year's paintings known for its combination of woodblock printing...

Despite its explicit content, this intimate scene conveys a sense of tenderness and romantic love characteristic of Chinese erotic art. Known as “sp...

Chinese New Year paintings (nian hua) are colorful folk paintings created to celebrate the annual Spring Festival. Drawn or printed by folk artists in regional studios, nian hua pain...

A stunning antique Chinese school ink wash painting, 19th century, ink and color on silk, finely detailed, richly decorated, elegantly colored, depicting landscape courtier processio...