UMAG Online Lecture Series (2025-2026) 💬 Lecture 2

‘Oriental Illuminated Manuscripts’: Rediscovering Chinese Paintings in the 19th-Century British Rare Book Trade

This study re-examines the circulation of Chinese paintings for the domestic market in nineteenth-century Britain, challenging the prevailing view that such works attracted little attention in the West before the early twentieth century. It is generally believed that pre-twentieth-century examples of Chinese paintings were dominated by ‘export paintings’, produced for foreign markets and often regarded as souvenirs or as painted wallpaper for interior decoration. By contrast, the few examples of paintings made for domestic taste that entered the UK were primarily linked to the looting of imperial palaces. These works attracted little notice compared with more prized artefacts such as cloisonné or porcelain, and it is believed that their artistic value remained poorly understood or appreciated until the following century.
However, during the course of his PhD research into the provenance of a Qing imperial album, Haoyang Zhao discovered that paintings intended for the domestic Chinese market were in fact traded in Britain during the late nineteenth century, though primarily within the rare book trade, rather than the better-studied antique market. By analysing catalogues of rare book dealers, records of specialised auction sales, and the activities of a prominent manuscript collector, this presentation aims to showcase observations on how Chinese paintings made for the domestic market were catalogued, circulated, and understood in the UK at the time.
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🗣️Speaker: Haoyang Zhao, Associate Lecturer, The Courtauld Institute of Art
🗣️Discussant: Florian Knothe, Director, University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong
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[Online Lecture] ‘Oriental Illuminated Manuscripts’: Rediscovering Chinese Paintings in the 19th-Century British Rare Book Trade

📅 Monday, 12 January 2026
🕕 4:00–5:00 p.m. (GMT+8)
📍 Online via Zoom
🗣️ Language: English
🎟️ Registration Required
🔗 For more information, please check the link in bio!
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’What does it mean to be human and open-hearted?’

Join us in the “Life and Death in a Grain of Sand: Experiencing Sand Art” workshop, presented in conjunction with the exhibition “Zhao Hai Tien—Cultivation: 50 Years of Painting.” Led by sand art artist Machai (@chaichai1974) you will learn the fundamental techniques of sand art and then be gently guided through its expressive possibilities, exploring the highs and lows as nature of life. Together, you will reconnect with the energy of the world and quietly dive into the profound mystery that lies between the vast universe and the cycle of life and death.

⌛ In this workshop, you will:
•Discover how sand art captures reflections on time, memory, and life in images that appear and vanish in an instant
•Experiment with the weight, flow, and texture of sand to create your own one-of-a-kind sand scenes
•Step into a space of layered light and shadow, where your emotions can soften, be held, and gradually find release 💬

If you are drawn to art, healing, or questions of life and death, this workshop welcomes you. Between the grains of sand, you may find not only the world, but also a clearer sense of yourself. 💫

「人算什麼？竟然可以如此豁達。」

歡迎參加配合《修持：趙海天繪畫五十年》展覽的「從大世界到生與死：沙畫與生命的對話工作坊」，跟隨沙畫藝術家馬穎章（馬仔）@chaichai1974 由沙畫技法出發，帶領你遊走生命中每個高低起跌，再次感悟世界的能量，體會大世界與生死間的玄妙。

⌛在沙畫工作坊，你將會：
•認識沙畫如何在轉瞬即逝的畫面中，承載關於時間、記憶與生命的思考
•在現場親試沙的重量、流動與觸感，創作自己的創意沙畫片段
•在光影交疊的空間裡，為情緒尋到可以被溫柔承接的出口💬

歡迎對藝術、療癒、生命議題有興趣的你報名參加！一沙一世界，在沙畫中，見眾生，見自己💫 ...