across unforgiving deserts

Of all the East-West encounters, few are as strange as the story at the heart of the Louvre show of 44 French 18th-century prints on view until May 18, under the title “The Chinese Emperor’s Battles: When the Qianlong Emperor Sent His Requests for Prints to Louis XV.” [...]

The sets bear no connection to Chinese art. Qianlong wrote poems about his victories, but these do not appear in the images as Chinese tradition would have it. Mr. Torres sees in the imperial commission an act of political “propaganda.” But aimed at whom? To be effective, propaganda images must deliver an instant punch. They should not look unfamiliar, let alone alien, as these French prints were bound to be perceived by the Far Eastern public, particularly the literati steeped in classical Chinese art and culture. Yet the print runs of the French impressions did not exceed 200.

The inevitable conclusion seems to be that the sets were commissioned for the private satisfaction of the emperor, presumably keen to remind his immediate entourage of his splendid achievements.

But why European prints? Granting that later Chinese editions of the sets included Chinese text (incomprehensibly, none are in the show), they remained stylistically far removed from the art that the Chinese might be expected to respond to with any measure of spontaneity. (read)

Exhibition at the Louvre Feb. 12- May 18, 2009