The Research Institute

The institute is dedicated to sustained, systematic and problem-oriented research on Chinese art history in the 20th and 21st centuries. It situates artistic practice within historical, social and intellectual contexts to advance the understanding and writing of Chinese art history.

Research focuses on Chinese art from 1900 to the present, with late-Qing painting and calligraphy since 1793 providing an important context for the early 20th century. It considers historical continuities across the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

Long-term research is organized around specific scholarly questions, encouraging dialogue between different methods.

• Art and political institutions
• Art education and knowledge production
• Exhibitions, institutions and power
• Artists’ identities and social roles
• Ruptures and transformations of artistic languages
• International historiography of Chinese art

Research questions guide the collection, organization and digitization of source materials, with attention to provenance, historical context and process-based records. Approaches include historical and intellectual history, social and institutional history, image analysis and oral history.

The institute seeks to develop scholarship through working papers, research reports, thematic studies and archival publications. It encourages scholarly discussion and peer review, collaboration around shared research questions, bilingual writing and international academic exchange.