"Winnie Wong embarks on a fascinating endeavor to unpack the crisis of naming and agency as it arises in the creative worlds of artists in southern China who created works for foreign clientele."
"The vague yet persistent category of 'Asian export art' has long troubled the boundaries that condition us to read artworks as intrinsically 'Western' or 'Asian.' Wong reminds us that this term was retroactively conceived in the 20th century."
"Wong proposes 'Canton trade painting' as an alternative term that groups these works not by their conditions of shipping and consumption, but rather by their unique cultural and historical contexts."
Winnie Wong's book, The Many Names of Anonymity: Portraitists of the Canton Trade, explores the challenges of naming and agency among 18th and 19th-century artists in southern China. These artists created portraits for foreign clients under the Canton system, which regulated Western trade. Wong critiques the term 'Asian export art' for oversimplifying the cultural context and proposes 'Canton trade painting' as a more accurate descriptor. This redefinition aims to better reflect the unique circumstances surrounding these artworks and their creators.
Read at Hyperallergic
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