Cover art · autumn

Conversation in Autumn

Hua Yan (Chinese, 1682–c. 1765), 1732.

Conversation in Autumn
Conversation in Autumn — Cleveland Museum of Art

Using it on a cover

The print file prints up to 4.6 x 11.3 in at 300 ppi — fine for smaller trims or inset artwork, but too small to fill a 6 x 9 in cover at 300 ppi. Taller than a 6 x 9 cover: crop about 39% of the height.

About the work

Two figures sit conversing in a thatched cottage. This painting illustrates two poetic lines: My guest came to sit beyond the dust, In a narrow room, we talked about the autumnal sounds of autumn. Hua Yan presented an intimate world—simple and rustic—amid a landscape. The cool wilderness depicted in this work conveys an aloofness that may reveal the inner world of a scholar-artist who failed the civil service examination but preserved a sense of pride and endurance in his humble surroundings.

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