Robert Frederick Blum, American, 1857–1903
<p>Chinese street scene, after 1890
Watercolor and gouache over graphite on cream wove paper
22.8 x 15.3 cm. (9 x 6 in.)
Museum purchase
x1943-308
</p>
Though Blum spent two and half years in Japan, he never visited China. Based on his many illustrations of Japanese street scenes for Scribner’s Magazine, Blum presents an idealized yet largely plausible pastiche. The figures’ clothing and the lanterns are generally accurate, while details like the women’s unbound feet and the indecipherable characters on the sign indicate that this scene was created from Blum’s imagination.
<div class="fn value">
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Frederick_Blum" class="extiw" title="w:Robert Frederick Blum">Robert Frederick Blum</a></div>
after 1890 <div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1890-00-00T00:00:00Z/7,P1319,+1890-00-00T00:00:00Z/9</div>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princeton_University_Art_Museum" class="extiw" title="w:Princeton University Art Museum">Princeton University Art Museum</a>