An original early 20th-century linocut print, Katharine Jowett, P'ai-lou, Peking (Beijing, China).A fabulous linocut print by Katharine Jowett (1883–1972) showing the Tung Tan Pailou (or archway) on Hatamen Street in Peking (modern-day Beijing). Katherine Jowett was one of only a few Western female artists who chose to live and work in Japan, Korea and northern China in the years between the two world wars. Along with Bertha Lum and other émigré European and American artists, she was a proponent of the shin-hanga style of printing, which revitalised traditional ukiyo-e art. Some of her works are rumoured to have been the only Western art pieces to be displayed in Mao Zedong's personal chambers.Her rare prints exclusively focus on the architecture of Peking and employ a unique linocut technique which is celebrated for its innovation and sense of atmosphere. Unlike traditional woodblock prints, Jowett did not use a keyblock to outline her design. She also eschewed the use of water-based pigments in favour of oil-based inks, which she would layer in the manner of an impressionistic painting. Her linocuts all have a thick dark printed border, reminiscent of woodblock prints from the Arts and Crafts movement. As is the case for this example at the Tung Tan Pailou, she would often view buildings and landmarks from an unusual angle and the faces of any figures would be anonymous, creating a sense of an artistic whole rather than a detailed topographical representation.Born in Devon into a very religious family, the daughter of Timothy Wheatley, a Methodist minister in Exeter, Katharine first left for China in 1904 following a Methodist missionary that she intended to marry. Instead, however, she ended up marrying in 1910 another Methodist missionary in China, the Reverend Hardy Jowett.The Jowetts became socially prominent expats in Peking in the 1920s and 1930s. Hardy Jowett was appointed Peking Manager of the Asiatic Petroleum Company and became a great connoisseur of the Chinese capital, writing the preface for a 1927 book titled 'Sidelights on Peking Life'. He was an active member of numerous clubs, including the Rotary Club and the Peiping Institute of Fine Arts—where Katharine Jowett volunteered. Through this she was introduced to the printmaker Bertha Lum, who had learned shin-hanga in Japan, and Helen Burton, an American gallery-owner, who acted as her representative in promoting and selling her works. A number of her works were acquired in 1940 by Robert O. Muller, a prolific collector of Asian art, on his visit to China.After her husband's death in 1936, Katharine Jowett remained in Beijing but in 1943 she was interned by the Japanese in a prisoner of war camp. Released in 1945, she returned to England, where by this time both her sons were living.Despite mixing in the upper echelons of Peking society and the high regard in which her prints were held, Jowett preferred to paint for pleasure and never considered herself a professional artist. She died in Devon in 1972.Linocut on cream wove paper. Pencil signed and inscribed. Signed: Pencil signed lower right. Inscribed: Pencil inscribed lower left. Height: 20.9cm (8.2″) Width: 23.5cm (9.3″) Condition: There is age toning to the paper, most pronounced towards the edges and on the verso, due to historic mounting glue. Possibly some fading to the ink (to which her inks were susceptible). Jowett did also produce colour variants of the same image, which can account for colour variation in her prints. Please see photos for detail. Presented: Unframed.
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