Anita Xiaoming Wang

Visiting Period: July - December 2017

Mentor: Professor Jiang Jiehong

Research Objectives

As a post-doctoral research fellow at the State Art Museum Dresden (SKD),Germany. Dr. Anita Xiaoming Wang’s specific research is to work on the project “Asiatica and Chinoiserie at the Saxon Court”of the SKD, which includes the study of the internationally important collections of Chinese popular paintings and prints and Chinoiserie graphics from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries acquired under August II (1670–1733) and August III (1696–1763). Her work has been to incorporate an initial phase of recording the approximately 1,200 art works in the collection and writing detailed analyses and commentaries in English on each item. All of this work will culminate in the compilation of an on-line catalogue publication in 2018.

In order to place the collection in the context of other European collections, she is doing a “Europe Research Stay” in the Centre for Chinese Visual Arts (CCVA) of Birmingham City University to research UK-based collections associated with the Dresden items. Her research will examine significant collections with strong connections to the Dresden collection, including Chinese woodblock prints, popular paintings, exported Chinese water-colour paintings and popular prints used as wallpaper in the collections of the British Museum, the British Library, the National Trust, and the Muban Educational Trust in London.

Her study will firstly focus on exploring the similarities between the woodblock prints collections in both the SKD and the British Museum. Comparing and contrasting these prints will provide deeper insights into both collections. Furthermore, the research will examine Chinese artworks exported during the Age of Discovery by the East Indian companies of Europe, and pay attention to the possible routes by which the objects came to Europe, possible trading lines in Europe, and early collectors and purchasers of the artworks. The research will aid more accurate dating of pieces, provide information about European markets for Chinese artworks, and provide insights about the reception of Chinese art in Europe in line with the original aims of her project.

The comparison work between the collections in these institutions in England will add depth to the catalogue and associated essays of the SKD collections and provide vital information about collections in Europe in general.

The CCVA of Birmingham City University currently focuses on a project entitled ‘Everyday Legend‘ which focuses on the place of traditional Chinese arts, crafts and cultures in modern-day China. The historical record of Chinese art held outside of China, including collections such as that in Dresden and those in the UK, are vital in understanding the cultural traditions of China. This work ties in closely to Anita Xiaoming Wang’s project and previous work including extensive field research and publications relating to Chinese art and intangible cultural heritage.

During her time in the CCVA as a visiting scholar, she will cooperate with the expert staff at the institute and aim to deliver lectures to share her research knowledge and experience of her field research on Chinese folk arts studies.

Biography

Dr. Anita Xiaoming Wang works as an art historian at the State Art Museum Dresden,Germany under the support of the Alexander Von Humboldt post-doctoral Fellowship. In the past she was a lecturer at the Feng Jicai Institute of Literature and Art of the Tianjin University and has studied Chinese art and culture since 2003. She was awarded a PhD in the area of Chinese intangible culture heritage with a focus on Chinese popular art in 2013. Through her work and study, she gained a wide knowledge of Chinese society, culture, popular art and research methods. She published on a diverse range of subjects, including Chinese intangible cultural heritage studies, social studies and Chinese art and folk art, particularly the oral history books of Chinese wood-block prints artists, contain detailed descriptions and analyses of Chinese traditional and contemporary folk art.