Comments on: 50s and 60s Chinese Ancestor Paintings — Stephan clues us in

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 05:37:38 +0000

I purchased two Male/Female very large paintings like these for close to $800 about 4 years ago. They are in beautiful dark brown wood frames. My question is that I think they are hand painted on silk? Would this have been common? The male is in yellow gold and the female in red and they are over five feet tall.

By: Femme1

Femme1 — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 18:04:48 +0000

I happened to run across one of these paintings recently in a small antique store in the northern panhandle of West Virginia. I was sorely tempted to buy it, but they were asking over $600 for it, so I passed it by.

By: Retro Renovation » 50s and 60s living room favorite: Chinese Emperors

Retro Renovation » 50s and 60s living room favorite: Chinese Emperors — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 03:35:11 +0000

[...] Palm Springs Stephan clues us into their history, and where to get them. Very cool. [...]

By: 50sPam

50sPam — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 23:23:40 +0000

Great comment Femme 1. One of the really fascinating things about doing this blog, is growing to understand how every single element of humankind’s history sort of coalesced into … 50s decorating, too! The swirling impacts of all things economic, social, political, demographic, in the arts, etc. — all manifest in home decor, ultimately, it seems. And postwar America was a maelstrom of converging influences, it was such an interesting time.

By: Femme1

Femme1 — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 20:01:58 +0000

Thank you, Stephan, for all the info about these paintings. How interesting that 50s/60s decorating was tied into the Chinese Cultural Revolution! When Pam first posted the question about these, I thought perhaps there had been a popular museum exhibition (similar to the King Tut exhibit in the 80s) that had sparked an interesting decorative fad. It would be interesting to see if there were articles in decorating mags of the time about these. (Hm… a possible dissertation subject?)