Synopses & Reviews
Thanks to Salem sea captains, Gilded Age millionaires, curators on horseback and missionaries gone native, North American museums now possess the greatest collections of Chinese art outside of East Asia itself. How did it happen?
The China Collectors is the first full account of a century-long treasure hunt in China from the Opium Wars and the Boxer Rebellion to Mao Zedongs 1949 ascent.
The principal gatherers are mostly little known and defy invention. They included “foreign devils” who braved desert sandstorms, bandits and local warlords in acquiring significant works. Adventurous curators like Langdon Warner, a forebear of Indiana Jones, argued that the caves of Dunhuang were already threatened by vandals, thereby justifying the removal of frescoes and sculptures. Other Americans include George Kates, an alumnus of Harvard, Oxford and Hollywood, who fell in love with Ming furniture. The Chinese were divided between dealers who profited from the artworks removal, and scholars who sought to protect their countrys patrimony. Duanfang, the greatest Chinese collector of his era, was beheaded in a coup and his splendid bronzes now adorn major museums. Others in this rich tapestry include Charles Lang Freer, an enlightened Detroit entrepreneur, two generations of Rockefellers, and Avery Brundage, the imperious Olympian, and Arthur Sackler, the grand acquisitor. No less important are two museum directors, Clevelands Sherman Lee and Kansas Citys Laurence Sickman, who challenged the East Coasts hegemony.
Shareen Blair Brysac and Karl E. Meyer even-handedly consider whether ancient treasures were looted or salvaged, and whether it was morally acceptable to spirit hitherto inaccessible objects westward, where they could be studied and preserved by trained museum personnel. And how should the US and Canada and their museums respond now that China has the means and will to reclaim its missing patrimony?
Review
Praise for Tournament of Shadows:
"A magisterial work of scholarship...written with elegant assurance." —Jason Goodwin, The New York Times Book Review
"An admirable achievement—an enjoyable, encyclopaedic treasure-trove of maverick adventures, duplicitous mischief and mystical swashbuckling.” —The Sunday Times (London)
"A treasure trove of anecdotes and original sources for the specialist, and a rollicking yarn for those new to the subject.” —Charles Clover, Financial Times
Praise for Kingmakers:
"Beautifully written and researched.” —The Washington Post
"Enlightening and commendably told.” —The New York Times
"The China Collectors is a treasure trove of indispensable information about North America's abiding fascination with the art, architecture, and archeology of China. It is essential reading for anyone, cognoscente and dilettante alike, with an interest in the history of the acquisition and exhibition of China's artistic heritage in the United States and Canada." -Victor H. Mair, professor of Chinese language and literature at the University of Pennsylvania
Synopsis
The untold and fascinating history of the unlikely artistic encounters between the US and China, the youngest and oldest of major powers
Synopsis
**One of The Washington Post's Notable Nonfiction Books of 2015**
Thanks to Salem sea captains, Gilded Age millionaires, curators on horseback and missionaries gone native, North American museums now possess the greatest collections of Chinese art outside of East Asia itself. How did it happen? The China Collectors is the first full account of a century-long treasure hunt in China from the Opium Wars and the Boxer Rebellion to Mao Zedong's 1949 ascent.
The principal gatherers are mostly little known and defy invention. They included "foreign devils" who braved desert sandstorms, bandits and local warlords in acquiring significant works. Adventurous curators like Langdon Warner, a forebear of Indiana Jones, argued that the caves of Dunhuang were already threatened by vandals, thereby justifying the removal of frescoes and sculptures. Other Americans include George Kates, an alumnus of Harvard, Oxford and Hollywood, who fell in love with Ming furniture. The Chinese were divided between dealers who profited from the artworks' removal, and scholars who sought to protect their country's patrimony. Duanfang, the greatest Chinese collector of his era, was beheaded in a coup and his splendid bronzes now adorn major museums. Others in this rich tapestry include Charles Lang Freer, an enlightened Detroit entrepreneur, two generations of Rockefellers, and Avery Brundage, the imperious Olympian, and Arthur Sackler, the grand acquisitor. No less important are two museum directors, Cleveland's Sherman Lee and Kansas City's Laurence Sickman, who challenged the East Coast's hegemony.
Shareen Blair Brysac and Karl E. Meyer even-handedly consider whether ancient treasures were looted or salvaged, and whether it was morally acceptable to spirit hitherto inaccessible objects westward, where they could be studied and preserved by trained museum personnel. And how should the US and Canada and their museums respond now that China has the means and will to reclaim its missing patrimony?
About the Author
Shareen Blair Brysac has been an award-winning documentary producer for CBS News, the author of four books including Tournament of Shadows and Kingmakers, and a contributing editor of Archaeology Magazine. She has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The International Herald Tribune, The Nation and Military History Quarterly.
Karl E. Meyer was a longtime foreign correspondent and editorial writer at The Washington Post and The New York Times and the Editor of the World Policy Journal. A Princeton Ph.D., he has taught at Yale, Princeton, and Tufts Fletcher School. His fourteen books include The Plundered Past, on the illicit trade in antiquities; The Art Museum: Power, Money, Ethics; and The Pleasures of Archaeology.
Table of Contents
PART ONE
Chapter One: Rules of the Game
PART TWO
Chapter Two: Pacific Overtures
Chapter Three: The Crimson
Chapter Four: Barrels of Glue
Chapter Five: Lament for Longmen
Chapter Six: Penn Corrals the Tang Horses
Chapter Seven: Mad for Ming
PART THREE
Chapter Eight: Art on the Rails
Chapter Nine: The Porcelain Bubble
Chapter Ten: Romancing the Rockefellers
Chapter Eleven: The Mandarin: Duanfang
Chapter Twelve : Canadas Tryst with China
Chapter Thirteen: Threads of Heaven: Charlotte Hill Grant, Sarah Pike Conger, Lucy Monroe Calhoun (May be dropped if we need the time)
PART FOUR
Chapter Fourteen: The Authenticator: Berthold Laufer, the American Museum of Natural History and Chicagos Field Museum
Chapter Fifteen: The Eye: Sherman Lee
Chapter Sixteen: Old Scrolls: Wen Fong and the Metropolitan Museum
Chapter Seventeen: Alien Property: Eduard von der Heydt,
Chapter Eighteen: The Shoppers: Avery Brundage and Arthur Sackler
Epilogue: Portals Through the Great Wall
Endnotes (sources)
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index