1943.162: H. I. M., the Empress Dowager of China, Cixi (1835-1908)

Identification and Creation

Object Number

1943.162

People

Hubert Vos, American (Maastricht, Holland 1855 - 1935 New York, NY)

Title

H. I. M., the Empress Dowager of China, Cixi (1835-1908)

Classification

Paintings

Work Type

painting

Date

1905-1906

Culture

American

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/311922

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

169.6 x 123.6 cm (66 3/4 x 48 11/16 in.)
framed: 169.6 x 123.2 x 7 cm (66 3/4 x 48 1/2 x 2 3/4 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• Signed: l.l., in Chinese: Respectfully painted by Hubert Vos

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Collection of the artist, sold [through Vos sale, Kende Galleries, New York, October 24-25, 1940, no. 98]; to Grenville L. Winthrop, bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1943

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop

Accession Year

1943

Object Number

1943.162

Division

European and American Art

Contact

am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu

Permissions

THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT BY THE TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION TO THE HARVARD ART MUSEUMS.

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Publication History

• Virginia Anderson, "'A Semi-Chinese Picture': Hubert Vos and the Empress Dowager of China, East-West Interchanges in American Art: A Long and Tumultuous Relationship, ed. Cynthia Mills, Lee Glazer, and Amelia A. Goerlitz, Smithsonian Institution Press (Washington, D.C.), 97-109, pp. 97-98, 105-106, fig. 2
• John Seed, Hubert Vos Court Painter of Empress Dowager Cixi, Arts of Asia, Arts of Asia Publications (Kowloon, Hong Kong, Jan/Feb 2015), Vol 45, No. 1, pp. 108-119, p. 114, repr. p. 115
• "Watrous's Art Will Go on Sale", New York Times (New York, October 20, 1940), p. 54
• Marina Warner, The Dragon Empress: Life and Times of Tz'u-hsi 1833-1908, Empress Dowager of China, Sphere Books, Ltd. (New York, 1974), reproduced in color on cover
• Emily MacFarquhar, "The Dowager Got a Bad Rap", The New York Times Book Review (New York, NY, May 3, 1992), p. 12, reproduced in b/w
• Sterling Seagrave, Dragon Lady: the Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. (New York, NY, 1992), reproduced opposite p. 172
• John Fraser, "The Wicked Witch of the East", Saturday Night (Toronto, Ontario, Canada, June 1993), pps. 10-11, reproduced in color p. 10
• Timothy Anglin Burgard, American Art at Harvard: Cultures and Contexts, brochure, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 1994), p. 12, cat. 87
• Desiree Raemaekers, "Hubert Vos - Nederlandse schilder aan het Chinese hof", Nouveau, Nouveau (Hoofddorp, The Netherlands, March 2004), Jaargang 18, p. 85, reproduced in color; text pp. 84-87
• Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr., Virginia Anderson, and Kimberly Orcutt, ed., American Paintings at Harvard, Volume Two, Paintings, Drawings, Pastels and Stained Glass by Artists Born 1826-1856, Harvard Art Museums and Yale University Press (U.S.) (Cambridge, MA and New Haven, CT, 2008), p. 386-87, cat. no. 418, reproduced in color, p. 387
• Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, auct. cat., Christie's, Hong Kong Limited (Hong Kong, December 2, 2015), p. 124, under lot 3129
• Craig Clunas, Chinese Painting and Its Audiences, Princeton University Press and National Gallery of Art (Princeton, 2017), p. 171, fig. 5.15
• Libby Lai-Pik Chan, ed., The Grand Gathering of the Century: Zodiac Heads form the Yuanmingyuan and Important Treasures, exh. cat., Indra and Harry Banga Gallery, City University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong, 2023), p. 192

Exhibition History

• Annual Exhibition, 1906, Salon, Paris, Paris, 01/01/1906 - 12/31/1906
• American Art at Harvard: Cultures and Contexts, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/01/1994 - 12/30/1994
• Art of the Fan: China, Korea, Japan, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 04/15/1995 - 10/08/1995

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