Shaping Chinese art history: Pang Yuanji and his painting collection

Abstract

"Pang Yuanji (1864-1949) was the collector from China with not only the largest number of high-quality antique paintings but also the most comprehensive and scholarly record of his collection. This is the first study that takes the innovative and unique approach to collection analysis by quantifying Pang's collection and comparing it to a selection of contemporaneous private collectors. In doing so, it shows how their tastes and interests were all shaped by the same Qing canon. More broadly, it explains that Pang did not merely absorb this canon, but then also purposefully and systematically used it and his collection to protect China's traditions into an uncertain future"--

Contents

The painting collection of Pang Yuanji -- Analysis of the Xu Zhai Collection -- The Pang family -- Pang Yuanji, entrepreneur and philanthropist -- Pang Yuanji and the culture of Nanxun -- The fate of the collection.