Week 13: Western Collectors

April 18 and 20

Western art collectors became interested in Chinese art (other than porcelain, discussed previously) in the second half of the nineteenth century. Buying art was not always easy: they competed against Chinese and Japanese collectors. But momentous changes in the international political situation around that time opened up the art market to Western capital, as the Qing government crumbled and was no longer able to defend its territory against foreign encroachment.

Slides

Readings and class details

Tuesday

Meeting in Ettinger 212, 3.30PM

  • Meyer, Karl E, and Shareen Blair Brysac. The China Collectors : America’s Century-Long Hunt for Asian Art Treasures. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.
    • PDF
    • Chapter 6 explains how U Penn’s Art Museum in Philly got hold of the famous bas-reliefs of Tang Taizong’s horses.
  • “The Treasures of China”, by Justin Jacobs. Indiana Jones in History: From Pompei to the Moon. (Youtube link, 13mins)
  • “A Question of Artefacts”, presented by David Baker. Analysis, BBC Radio 4, Oct. 20, 2019. (podcast with transcription, 28mins)
    • NOTE: this is a machine transcription, far from perfect!
    • This podcast discusses examples that range far beyond China, but the basic issues are the same: foreigners took many objects from China during a time when there was no strong central government (loot, and trade with imperialist characteristics?)
  • USEFUL STUDY AIDS: If you need more historical background, either of these textbooks will help you find your way:
    • Moïse Edwin E. Modern China: A History Third ed. Harlow, England: Pearson/Longman, 2008.
      • This is a super-condensed version and may be a bit too concise but useful if you’re short on time. (ebook Trexler):Chapter 2
    • Dillon, Michael. China: A Modern History. London: I.B. Tauris, 2010
      • This will give you a broad overview; chapter 2 focuses more on internal issues but foreign influences play an important role in the Taiping rebellion. (ebook Trexler): Chapters 1-5 – use the headings to navigate quickly.

Optional extras

  • Metrick-Chen, Lenore. Collecting Objects/excluding People : Chinese Subjects and American Visual Culture, 1830-1900. Albany N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 2012. (PDF)
    • Excerpts from chapter 2 (indicated with red brackets). The first part of the chapter talks about the ideas and “mission” behind the creation of the first big art museums in the US (Boston’s Museum for Fine Arts, and the Metropolitan Museum in New York) from a more general perspective. The indicated sections focus more on the interactions with Chinese and Japanese art.
      • Bear in mind that all this took place against a background of increasing anti-Chinese sentiment. The Chinese exclusion act was voted into law in 1882.
      • Guiding questions: What is the impact of Chinese and Japanese art on the art scene in America? Who got to decide what the canon was of Chinese art?
  • Netting, Lara Jaishree. A Perpetual Fire : John C. Ferguson and His Quest for Chinese Art and Culture. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2013.(PDF)
    • “Chapter 4: ‘A Number of the Paintings Are Not of the High Order Desirable for This Museum”.
    • John Ferguson (mentioned in the “Treasures in China” video was given the task by the new Metropolitan Museum in New York to buy Chinese art for the collection. Ferguson had learned his trade from Chinese art dealers and collectors – and he shared many of the problems we saw on last week, with authenticating paintings from the earlier dynasties.
  • Bowie, Theodore Robert. Langdon Warner through His Letters. Indiana University Humanities Series, No. 62. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1966.
    • Langdon Warner was an art historian of East Asia, a teacher, and once upon a time a collector for various American museums. He also damaged some of the murals in Dunhuang he was trying to bring back for the Fogg Museum (Boston, Harvard) – I draw your attention to the description of the (failed) technique on p. 114. (PDF, 35min read). This is about as close to “Indiana Jones” as we get in this course, but if you’re interested in this stuff, please check out the following:
  • Jacobs, Justin. The Compensations of Plunder: How China Lost Its Treasures. Silk Roads. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2020. (ebook Trexler)
  • Hopkirk, Peter. Foreign Devils on the Silk Road: The Search for the Lost Cities and Treasures of Chinese Central Asia. London: Murray, 1980. (classic stuff about Dunhuang and connected sites from Week 5)

Thursday: Writing workshop

Meeting in Trexler Library B-01, 3.30PM

Focus on flow! Often when I ask what students want feedback on, they say “flow”- but what does that mean? Check out these resources in advance and we can spend some additional time in class to find ways to help each other with structuring your current ideas for better “flow” in your project.

Assignments

1. Reminder: Blog post (content week 12)

5 points, due Sun. April 16, 11:59PM

Write a blog post exploring themes or ideas based on your reading. You do not need to have all the answers. In fact, learning to ask good analytical or research questions is a skill you can develop during the semester. Remember the description of the assignment from the syllabus.

  • Length: approx. 400 words. excl. list of materials consulted.
  • Add the list of materials consulted at the end of the post, in Chicago notes and bibliography style.
    • TOP TIP: Just copy the bibliography information from the Reading list on this webpage, do not add the descriptive notes I provide for your information.
  • Add the words “Week 12” in the title.
    • Please use this exact phrase, so your post will show up in the blog stream.
  • Indicate which Exploration Pack you chose.
  • Include a relevant image, and add a caption with the source/credit, and an Alt text description
  • Post on your website, and add to the category hst137.

When you’re done, read this declaration carefully and then fill out the Canvas quiz to collect your points.

Declaration
– I wrote a post of approximately 400 words in response to the readings.
– I included the bibliographic references for the materials I used for my post.
– I indicated which Exploration Pack I chose [if applicable].
– I included an image, and I provided a caption and credit (source), and an Alt text description for the image.
– I use the words Week 12 in the title, and added the post to category hst137

2. Feedback with Hypothes.is

3 points, due Tue April 18, 11:59PM

Below you find links to three blog posts from your fellow students. If one of the websites is your own, or it is twice the same person’s, refresh the page, and you should get new sites. There may be a post from an earlier week: that means it came in after I created last week’s randomizer, but still before the built-in extension of the blog post assignment.

  • Post 1:
  • Post 2:
  • Post 3:

Leave feedback, questions, thoughts, insights about the contents of the posts of your fellow students using Hypothes.is group HST137. You can ask for clarifications, point out similarities and differences with the material you covered, or with your interpretation. This should encourage you to nose around in the other materials you did not read originally, too.

Use tags in Hypothes.is: question: If you have a question (obvious); answered: if you gave an answer to a question; info: if you provide more information, looking up additional facts, drawing on knowledge from other classes; and other tags you can think of. This will help us to navigate more quickly to the questions that still need answering.

Use the “Architect’s Model” of giving feedback, and engage with concrete issues. Go beyond “Yeah, I agree,” “I like” or “I think the same”, and instead explain why you have that reaction, or if you disagree, you can try to persuade the original poster of your idea or interpretation.

Remember that Hypothes.is allows for hyperlinks, e.g. to materials that support your argument, or you can include pictures (memes! [yes, there she is again]), videos etc. that help the original poster to learn more.

When you’re done, read this declaration carefully, and then fill out the Canvas quiz to collect your points.

Declaration
– I commented on three fellow students’ weekly blog post on Week 12 materials, using the Hypothes.is group HST137.
– I made sure to leave substantial comments that help the writer to improve the post, or to identify their strengths.
– I left comments that I would like to receive myself: thoughtful, helpful, kind, but also pointing out errors so they can be fixed.

3. Full draft of final project

Due April 18, 11:59PM, 20 points

Find all the details on the dedicated web page.

4. Blog post (content week 13)

5 points, due Sun. April 23, 11:59PM

Write a blog post exploring themes or ideas based on your reading. You do not need to have all the answers. In fact, learning to ask good analytical or research questions is a skill you can develop during the semester. Remember the description of the assignment from the syllabus.

  • Length: approx. 400 words. excl. list of materials consulted.
  • Add the list of materials consulted at the end of the post, in Chicago notes and bibliography style.
    • TOP TIP: Just copy the bibliography information from the Reading list on this webpage, do not add the descriptive notes I provide for your information.
  • Add the words “Week 13” in the title.
    • Please use this exact phrase, so your post will show up in the blog stream.
  • Indicate which Exploration Pack you chose.
  • Include a relevant image, and add a caption with the source/credit, and an Alt text description
  • Post on your website, and add to the category hst137.

When you’re done, read this declaration carefully and then fill out the Canvas quiz to collect your points.

Declaration
– I wrote a post of approximately 400 words in response to the readings.
– I included the bibliographic references for the materials I used for my post.
– I indicated which Exploration Pack I chose [if applicable].
– I included an image, and I provided a caption and credit (source), and an Alt text description for the image.
– I use the words Week 13 in the title, and added the post to category hst137

Extra Credit assignments

EC13-1: Follow that footnote!

3 points, due by Sunday April. 23, 11.59pm

All the details on this webpage, incl. a link to declaration quiz.

EC13-2: Extra commenting

2 points, due by Sunday, April. 23, 11.59pm

Do you like reading your colleagues’ work? Do you like helping them out by identifying ways to make their posts better? Here’s some good news! You can earn extra credit by doing extra commenting! This assignment will be available regularly throughout the semester.

  • Go to the Blog Stream of the Class
  • Pick a post that piques your curiosity and that you have not yet commented on
  • Use Hypothes.is group HST137, and leave feedback as we practiced with the Architects’s model
  • Pick 2 other posts: they can come from other students in the blog stream, or if you like the writer, you can stay with them and comment more.
  • The only conditions are
    • that you do not comment on blog posts you already commented on before, as part of your regular weekly “sourdough starter” tasks.
    • that the post is actually written for HST137, and not some other class. Check the category, and the content :upside down smiley:
  • Add the tag extra to the comment (this helps me to keep track of how many people use this option.)

When you’re done, please read this declaration carefully and then collect your points on Canvas with the Declaration Quiz.

Declaration
I selected three blogs I have not yet commented on before, from our class’s blog stream, and I used the Hypothes.is group HST137.
I made sure to leave substantial comments that help the writer to improve the post, or to identify their strengths.
I added the tag extra to my Hypothes.is comments.
I left comments that I would like to receive myself: thoughtful, helpful, kind, but also pointing out errors so they can be fixed.

Where to get assistance?

  • Tea Room on Discord:
    • open anytime for you
    • I will be hosting Tue 2PM-3PM; Wed. 1PM-2PM, or at other times by appointment via Google Calendar (usually a 15-20min appointment is enough). You can also find me in my office during Tea Room times.
    • Private room for confidential chat available on request.
  • Discord Text Channel #hst137
  • DLAs: Digital Learning Assistants: check the schedule!
  • Writing Center: Sunday – Wednesday 3:30 – 5:30 & 7 – 11 PM; Thursday 3:30 – 5:30 PM &  7 – 9 PM
  • Trexler Library Course Subject Guide: our own dedicated subject guide for the course 
  • Safety on/around campus: report an incident