Book Review
Unraveling the Imperial Impulses of Chinese Textiles
Like an art history detective, Mei Mei Rado mines textiles and techniques to reveal cross-cultural Chinese-European liaisons driven by nationalism and a keen interest in design.
Qing Dynasty
Art
The Empresses of China's Forbidden City Get a Splendorous Look
Within their historical context in an exhibition at Freer | Sackler, the empresses of China’s Qing Dynasty succeeded in making meaningful lives for themselves, and that is something to celebrate and admire.
Art
The Material Legacy of Matrilineal Power in China’s Qing Dynasty
Many of the objects in Empresses of China's Forbidden City, 1644-1912 at Freer | Sackler have not previously been available for research, have never traveled outside of China, and might not be likely to reemerge again.
Art
Power and Beauty in China as Seen Through the Designs of Robert Wilson
Sensory pleasure inspires this exhibition design, treating the last imperial dynasty of China as a feast instead of a major art movement.
Art
A British Photographer in 19th-Century Peking
In 1870, 29-year-old British photographer Thomas Child moved to Peking — as Beijing was formerly known — to work as a gas engineer for the Imperial Maritime Customs Service.
Art
Fantasy and Utopia in the Metropolitan Museum’s Chinese Fashion Show
China was, and will always be, in its heart of hearts, an empire — whether it is royal, revolutionary, or techno-bureaucratic-communist-cum-capitalist.