Michael Thompson

"Dark Knight, " Mixed-Media Kite, 2008

2008

This poster from the 1930s draws from a well known Chinese opera scene. It melds the meticulous detail of traditional Chinese painting with the craft of color lithography. These advertisements, influenced by the Art Deco movement in the west, recall the economic boom of early 20th century Shanghai, an international center of business and trade. Layered with imagery of traditional Chinese life, the poster is nonetheless an advertisement for the modern cigarette industry, with several tobacco brands displayed in the top left corner, including Lan Ting, Hong Chun, and Jade Rabbit...

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...

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 holding a vase filled with peony blossoms. This combination of motifs is a visual idiom for "may you have peace and prosperity" (ping'an fu gui). 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...

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...

Late Mid Century French watercolour and Gouache on handmade paper of a pair of dancers by Damien Hermellin. Signed and dated bottom right. Pres...

Unique work made from handprinting and printed collage on paper.

The painting and the preparatory drawing are offered together. Provenance Private collection, Germany, Trier, c. 1980- 2013 Saint John the Baptist Brown ink and wash over red chalk on oatmeal paper 31 x 20.5 cm Inscribed: „Ferrau Fenzonio da Faenza invt. esque … imp. da Fran. Villamena …“. bears the collector's mark of Henry Scipio Reitlinger (1882-1950; Lugt 2274a) on a tiny label glued to the verso On the reverse is a partial drawing of a Pieta, pricked for transfer. Provenance New York, Doyle, 14. October 2015, No. 6 The painting and the preparatory drawing resemble the composition of an engraving after Ferraù Fenzoni by Francesco Villamena. Drawing, engraving and painting are almost identical, except for minor differences. Even the measurements nearly correspond: painting (32 x 25,5 cm), drawing (30 x 20,5 cm), engraving (31,1 x 23,5 cm). Dr. Guiseppe Scavizzi confirmed the attribution of the present panting to Fenzoni and he dates it to c. 1590. The inscription on the drawing reads “Ferrau Fenzonio da Faenza invt. esque. . . imp. da Fran: Villamena . . .”. The engraving’s inscription also lists place and date “Ferra Fensionius inventor/F. Villamoena sculpsit Rome/Aspectu fruitur… antra puer/cum Privilegio… 1613”. Interestingly, the engraving is not mirrored as it is in most printing processes. Painting, drawing and engraving are not reversed but the same. It is remarkable to note that there are further paintings by Fenzoni which were engraved in the same order and not reverted. They also show strong parallels regarding the compositions and the measurements (see for example “Deposition of Christ” ). Ferraù Fenzoni was an Italian painter mainly active in Todi. He is also called Il Faenzone after his birthplace (Faenza). He apprenticed in Rome during the papacy of Gregory XIII and contributed to numerous fresco cycles under pope Sixtus V, such as the Loggia della Benedizioni in the Lateran Palace, the frescoes on the walls and vaults of the Scala Santa of the adjacent Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, and the decoration in the Sistine library. His expressive canvases straddle the styles of Mannerism and Baroque. In 1594, he moved to Todi. A “Last Judgement” by him is housed in the cathedral of Todi. He returned to Faenza in 1599, where he decorated chapels in the cathedral from 1612 to 1616. In 1622, he completed a “Deposition”, now in the local Pinacoteca. In 1640, Fenzoni was named “cavaliere dello speron d’oro” by Cardinal Colonna and, on 25th April 1634, he was nominated vicar and “castellano of Granarolo”. Fenzoni‘s style is characterized by a mixture of the Mannerism of the Northern Netherlands and the Italian Baroque. Saint John the Baptist, Old Master, 17th Century, By Fenzoni, Religious Scene, Rome Art...

Expressionist Figurative water color painting by Zhang Chunyang Title: Luckiness Dimension: 29 x 36 cm Material: Gouache, Watercolor on Paper D...