The Many Names of Anonymity

Join us for an author talk and book signing for a groundbreaking new publication with close ties to PEM’s collection. In The Many Names of Anonymity: Portraitists of the Canton Trade, art historian Winnie Wong explores the vibrant community of artists working in Guangzhou, China in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Many of their paintings survive today, yet scholars have identified only a handful of the painters’ identities. Pushing against Western norms that have shaped our understanding of authorship, Wong reveals that these artists shared names, created works in multiples and signed their pieces with different names or none at all. She charts the genealogy of this naming problem by bringing to life the artists of the Qing Empire’s trade with Westerners at the port of Guangzhou, centering on a group of portraitists known by names that were recorded in a pidgin language: Chin Qua, Chit Qua, Spoilum, Lam Qua and Ting Qua.

Wong’s lavishly illustrated book explores portraiture across media, including unfired clay, reverse painting on glass, watercolor on paper, oil on canvas and the daguerreotype, to propose new ways of studying anonymity, copying and the emergence of author names in the Chinese-European visual culture of the 18th century.

Wong will present a talk to introduce the book's main themes and then talk with Karina Corrigan, Deputy Chief Curator and H. A. Crosby Forbes Curator of Asian Export Art at PEM about her ongoing research.