Reconstructed Landscape no. 10 China | Cleveland Museum of Art

Reconstructed Landscape no. 10

重构山水10号

2015

Cao Ou 曹欧

(Chinese, b. 1987)

China

Set of 10 woodblock prints mounted in handscroll format, printed with water-soluble colors

Painting: 48 x 821.1 cm (18 7/8 x 323 1/4 in.); Overall: 52.8 x 1084.9 cm (20 13/16 x 427 1/8 in.)

Alma and Robert D. Milne Fund 2020.65

Location: not on view

This artwork is known to be under copyright.

Did You Know?

The arched bridges and soft hills along the lakeshore evoke an image of the West Lake in Hangzhou, where Cao Ou resides.

Description

Cao Ou made this series of ten prints at the age of 28. The edition acquired by the CMA was mounted by the artist in traditional handscroll format. Its bold colors, combining a brilliant red, green, and blue, were impressed in separately cut woodblocks on the paper. The color scheme references traditional blue-and-green landscape paintings. The composition is inspired by a handscroll by Wang Ximeng (1096–1119), A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, now in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing.

The construction of the scenery out of blocks is reminiscent of Legos or the computer game, Minecraft, that simulates the reconstruction of iconic sights and famous landmarks in 3-D.