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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

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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

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu