Antique gold is a lovely, almond-milk-latte color, and is lovely as the background in so many antique silk paintings. I've used brown kraft and toned paper as a background for art before, but it hasn't been as lovely as this color... I've also watched the videos at the Asian on how to prepare silk for painting, and it's too much work for me to start! But I will think over whether there is room in my barely-extant painting practice to use antique gold... (Toned paper doesn't come in pads, and none are exactly the color I'm looking for, but I think I can manage it...)
Special standouts in this collage of gorgeousness are:
Upper right corner: Autumn Mountain by Chen Jialing, 1990. This doesn't have a gold base, but fits nicely with the other landscape/nature paintings. It is also completely contemporary in feeling in a way I really like. The use of reds is just outstanding.
Lower left corner: Cloudy Peaks at Dawn in Spring by Li Huayi, 1999. I love the falls, and the form of the tree in the foreground. It's just magnificent. I spent some time just standing in the alcove, appreciating it. It is a lovely use of monochrome, and a really skilled use of tones.
(Yes, you can search the SF Asian Art Museum's collection online if you have details! That's how I got to these links - I photograph the interpretive signs so I can find things again.)
