Realistic Perfection: The Making of Oriental Ceramic Art
March 12, 2011–June 04, 2011
In 1889, William Walters commissioned Louis Prang & Co., the foremost practitioners of the art of chromolithography, to reproduce Chinese porcelains from his extensive collection. The resulting publication, Oriental Ceramic Art by Dr. Stephen W. Bushell, was both a catalog of the collection and a work of art unto itself. Beginning with a Walters’ Chinese porcelain and its watercolor portrait and ending with the ten-volume presentation set, this show will take you through the production of Oriental Ceramic Art. It will showcase the unique series of progressive proofs illustrating the exacting technique used to create the prints bound into this important early catalog.