LEARN // Chinese Papp Seminar - When Salt Was Gold: Yangzhou

Thursday, March 20, 2025 | 10:30 am

Presented in Singer Hall

TICKETS: Free for PhxArt Members | Included in general admission for the general public* | Free for ASU students with ID

*Ticket price includes Museum General Admission

Yangzhou, situated on the Yangzi River and along the Grand Canal, was a center of Buddhism and bronze mirror production during the Tang dynasty (618–906), emerging as the most thriving city in China in the 1700s. The Cleveland Museum of Art holds an extraordinary number of paintings by 18th century artists from this city. Hear Dr. von Spee, Chair of Asian Art and Donna and James Reid Curator of Chinese Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art, discuss how the city at the center of the country’s salt administration came to legendary wealth, attracting artists who painted in a distinctive style that catered to the tastes of merchants and urban dwellers. Characteristics of their works include eccentricity, humor, close-up compositions, and a sketchy approach, all innovations that would later inspire modern artists in Shanghai.

About Dr. Clarissa von Spee

Dr. Clarissa von Spee is Chair of Asian Art and Donna and James Reid Curator of Chinese Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art. She was Curator of the Chinese and Central Asian collections at the British Museum from 2008 to 2016 and taught East Asian Art History at Heidelberg University from 2005 to 2008. She studied in Heidelberg, Paris, and Taipei, and received her PhD from Heidelberg University. Dr. von Spee curated numerous exhibitions, including The Printed Image in China from the 8th to the 21st Centuries and China’s Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta. Her publications include Wu Hufan: A Twentieth Century Art Connoisseur in Shanghai and The Perfect Brush: Chinese Painting 1300 -1900.

Funded by the Marilyn A. Papp Chinese Painting Endowment Fund.