Journal of the History of Collections vol. no. ( ) pp. – Collecting Asian art, defi ning gender roles World War II, women curators and the politics of Asian art collections in the United States
Chelsea Schlievert and Jason Steuber
This paper explores collecting and collections of Asian art during World War II to illustrate how women Downloaded from temporarily assumed leadership roles in American museums. It details abrupt changes experienced by museums following the departure of men in these traditionally male-dominated professions. For example, understood to be the ‘ right man at the right place’ at the Nelson-Atkins Museum, Ruth Lindsay Hughes was appointed Acting Curator of the Oriental collection in 1942 after Curator Laurence Sickman was
called to active service. The chronicled museum activities, showing how Hughes fashioned the Asian art http://jhc.oxfordjournals.org/ and acquisitions combined with how she utilized the collection in the home front’s wartime efforts, illustrate changes in the ways collections were curated and interpreted. Within this framework, the lens of gender brings into focus the wider context of how American collections of Asian art were incorporated into the complicated international war effort involving politics, dealers and museums.
IN MARCH , the Metropolitan Museum of Art art history after World War II. In addition, and per- at University of Washington on December 12, 2011 hosted a programme on behalf of the Chinese Art haps more importantly, the biography of Hughes Society of America. Previous guest lecturers in this affords a glimpse into the political intricacies that sur- prestigious series included notable authorities on rounded collections and collecting during the war China and Chinese art, such as Hu Shih, Alfred period. Issues of gender and the roles of women in Salmony, George Rowley, John Pope and Paul Pelliot.1 American art museums and collection development The lecture presented Qing Dynasty ( – shed light on the complex relationships between cura- ) works from the tomb of Guo Qin Wang, par- tors, art dealers, politicians and international diplo- ticularly a textile group dated – (Fig. ).2 The macy via the collection and display of Asian visual lecture’s subject was signifi cant since few Chinese arts. From the Hughes micro-history emerge impor- textiles at that time could be dated to a particular tant clues to further our understanding of collections tomb or period. However, what is more provocative to in wider historical and contemporary contexts. consider is that the lecturer, Ruth Lindsay Hughes ( Fig. ),3 then Acting Curator of the Oriental collec- tion at the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art,4 Asian art: collections, exhibitions and was the fi rst woman invited to address this distin- guished society. World War II The following examines the history of Asian art The years of the United States ’ involvement in World collections during World War II in the United States. War II ( – ) offer a fascinating period for the It highlights for the fi rst time narratives of women in study of Asian art collecting and collection develop- the development of Asian art collecting during the ment in American museums. The European theatre war by focusing on Hughes to provide new insights had been involved in confl ict since , while East into the circumstances that have informed museum Asia had been in constant fl ux since the fall of the fi nal and collection histories and, ultimately, the formation Chinese imperial dynasty in and Japanese impe- and development of Asian collections and their infl u- rialist endeavours in the region – particularly in China. ence on the redefi ning of the Western canon of Asian Gone were the great cooperative triumphs of earlier
© The Author . Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. doi: 10.1093/jhc/fhn001 Advance Access publication 3 March 2008 CHELSEA SCHLIEVERT AND JASON STEUBER
Fig. . One Hundred Cranes Imperial Robe , late- seventeenth century to early-eighteenth century, from the Guo Qin Wang Tomb. Embroidered brocade. Courtesy of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art ( – ) and Royal Academy of Arts. Downloaded from http://jhc.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Washington on December 12, 2011
twentieth-century international Asian art exhibitions, sion of American contact with Asia during and imme- such as those held in Amsterdam (), Cologne diately after the war intensifi ed interest in the culture (), Berlin () and London ( – ).5 In fact, of that continent, not least its art. ’9 China was, after such an ominous and violent future was predicted as all, an ally already pitted against Japan and the Axis. early as – by exhibition organizers at the Royal The art of China, therefore, was of particular signifi - Academy in London. As records indicate, the Acad- cance to the public and was exhibited frequently in emy, having just enjoyed one of its largest and most American museums during the war. Japanese art successful exhibitions with the Chinese show, had a experienced an altogether different reaction, to the genuine interest in hosting a similar Japanese display.6 point that some institutions, such as the Museum of However, with precursors of war on the horizon, the Fine Arts in Boston, closed their Japanese galleries for Imperial Japanese government delivered a calculated the duration of the war.10 refusal to proceed with any further negotiations with Along with the early enthusiasm enjoyed by Asian the Academy due to irreconcilable differences – art exhibitions from the s to the mid-s, many political, ideological and, eventually, military con- young curatorial professionals had already visited frontations.7 Instead, the Academy turned its focus countries in the East. Enjoying what Erwin Panofsky towards ‘ Winter Exhibitions of British Art or of termed the ‘Golden Age’ of art history in the United Works of Art from British collections ’ .8 States ( – ),11 the formative years of many cura- In terms of collection histories, the direct involve- tors provided them with opportunities to acquire ment of the United States in the war in East Asia knowledge of Asian art, cultures and languages. brought both interest in and access to Asian cultures, Laurence Sickman ( Fig. ),12 for example, travelled to particularly works of art. As Warren Cohen attests, China as Harvard’s fi rst Harvard-Yenjing fellow in ‘ There is no question but that the enormous expan- on a full scholarship.13 The intellectual drive,
WOMEN CURATORS AND THE POLITICS OF ASIAN ART COLLECTIONS Downloaded from
Fig. . Laurence Sickman , c. . Courtesy of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Archives. http://jhc.oxfordjournals.org/
Kirkwood Hall. Despite the changing atmosphere and role of the Gallery, the staff were ‘determined to maintain consistent operations standards, public pro- gramming and accessibility to art ’. 16 Thus, during the war, museums were renegotiating their roles, becom- Fig. . Lindsay Hughes , . Courtesy of The Nelson-Atkins ing patriotic institutions as well as centres of art col- Museum of Art Archives. lection, appreciation and education. Though at University of Washington on December 12, 2011 attendance and staff numbers dipped during the war years, many art museums attempted to pursue a pol- fuelled by new funding and university training pro- icy of business as usual. grammes, resulted in many scholars and specialists in The absence of men from administrative roles in Asian art. In less than a decade, this emerging genera- museums created opportunities for women, if only tion would become sought after by the American mil- temporarily. As men entered the armed forces in large itary in their efforts in the Asian theatre. Asian art numbers, women – at least those who did not go over- authorities and curators, such as Sickman at the seas alongside men as military and Red Cross nurses – Nelson Gallery and Howard Hollis at the Cleveland were informed, through popular images such as that Museum of Art, were called to active service, as were of Rosie the Riveter, that their duty to the country Richard Edwards, Sherman Lee and James Cahill, all was to either enter the workforce (if not already a part of whom would later become major curators and of it) or occupy jobs commonly held by men.17 In scholars in the fi eld.14 As a result, the collections of addition, women understood that when the war many American museums – particularly of Chinese ended, men would resume their positions. In muse- and Indian art – benefi ted greatly from the stationing ums, as in institutions, factories and companies of these men abroad.15 nationwide, women adjusted to wartime needs. Curators were not the only employees taking leave Female replacements in museums were often the from their positions at museums. As with nearly all assistants or wives of curators and administrators. At employment sectors during the war, museums expe- the Museum of Modern Art, when the Curator of rienced losses in personnel at all levels. In addition, Photography, Beaumont Newhall, was called to serv- many, such as the Nelson Gallery, became sites ice, his wife Nancy took his place; similarly, at the where war-related activities as well as Red Cross and Brooklyn Museum of Art, when the Curator of Asian civil defence training classes took place. The Gal- Art and Museum Director Laurance P. Roberts took lery’s north mezzanine operated as a service lounge, leave to join the Army, his wife, Isabel, oversaw his and dances were held for servicemen and women in duties. 18 At the Nelson Gallery, when the Director,
CHELSEA SCHLIEVERT AND JASON STEUBER
Paul Gardner, took leave to serve and was commis- roles in Asian art collections at American museums. sioned an Army major, he suggested to the Gallery’s Furthermore, Asian art history, like other fi elds, was trustees that his Secretary, Ethlyne Jackson, be established upon heavily masculinized canons and appointed as Acting Director; once Sickman was discourses, a structure that has tended to either over- called to serve, he too recommended that his assistant, look or marginalize women’s roles and contributions Lindsay Hughes, should assume the responsibilities to the fi eld. 24 In addition, even if women were active as Acting Curator of the Oriental Art Department.19 in curatorial and art historical dialogues, their sub- Jackson served as Acting Director and Hughes as Act- jects were often confi ned to subsidiary ‘ traditional ing Curator from until . female specialties ’: travel writing, textiles, interior By World War II, there was nothing new in the design, gardening, crafts, decorative arts and prints. 25 phenomenon of women working in or affi liated with In effect, what changed with World War II was the museums: they had been involved since the initial access that women had to administrative and primary Downloaded from stages of museum and collection development in the positions in the management and development of United States in the late-nineteenth and early- collections. 26 twentieth centuries.20 Yet many of these women, During the war, then, the gender defi nitions that though making signifi cant contributions, were also affected the roles and expectations of individuals exceptional in the American art world. Because of underwent a fundamental change.27 Home and home http://jhc.oxfordjournals.org/ their fi nancial standing and the access allowed to front were rendered feminine by a discourse that them due to class and race privileges, their experi- regarded war and militarism as masculine. Masculin- ences are not representative of those of most women ity and femininity are relational, as are the sociocul- in arts institutions. Many working in museums tural shifts evident during the war. Although museum found themselves in jobs subordinate to men. Crit- administration clearly did not stop with men’s ics, such as Kendall Taylor, outline the history of absence, it did change. The experiential and narrative women’s involvement in American museums in the shifts of those working in museums require revisiting. at University of Washington on December 12, 2011 early s, acknowledging the feminization of Among the questions that arise are the following: docentry and museum education and children’s What were the roles of the museum during World programmes, the masculinization of leadership roles War II? How did art function in these roles? Were such as those of curators and directors (often requir- curatorial exhibition narratives affected? How were ing more specialized training and advanced degrees, female curators both shaping and being shaped by the which were more socially acceptable – and more politics of wartime museum administration? How easily attainable – for men than for women), and the were collections and collecting affected? feminization of secondary, supporting roles such as offi ce assistants, secretaries and registrars. Gen- dered tasks such as these eventually led to sharp Lindsay Hughes at the Nelson Gallery divisions between the expectations of men and Hughes was not a new addition to the staff of the women employees in a museum setting.21 For exam- Nelson Gallery by the time that the United States ple, as early as , docentry was understood as entered World War II in December . She had women’s work in museums. The docent’s guide- joined the Gallery as an employee two months before book prepared by Louise Connolly, Educational its grand opening in . Reportedly, Hughes, ‘ who Adviser of the Newark Museum in New Jersey, had been besieging Gardner [the Director] for eight- declared that docents were assumed to be women een months asking for a job, was hired in September ‘ of good accent, ’ who possessed, among other quali- at the munifi cent salary of ten dollars per week ’ .28 ties, tact and liveliness.22 Though Hughes had taken courses at Mills College Similarly, in Asian art, women like Hughes were in California, Lindenwood College in Missouri and not new to the fi eld by the time war broke out. Women received her Bachelor’s degree in from the Uni- such as Isabella Stewart Gardner, Helen E. Fernald versity of Missouri in the History of Art, she was and Wilma Fairbank led the establishment of Asian immediately put to work cleaning and mending collections. 23 However, these were exceptions, as it objects in preparation for the Gallery’s opening. was overwhelmingly men who held the leadership Thus, whether or not her employment was the result
WOMEN CURATORS AND THE POLITICS OF ASIAN ART COLLECTIONS of ‘ besieging ’ the director or ‘ pure sparkling persist- expectations of men and women in the workplace, ence’ , her hiring was not the result of her academic as well as in the domestic sphere, were not necessar- background in art history; rather, she was hired ily accurate refl ections of the experiences of all because she could type and sew.29 Americans, what is diffi cult to deny is the overriding In , when Sickman joined the Gallery as Cura- prevalence of gender ideologies in the media and tor of the Oriental collection, Hughes became his through popular culture – in other words, the ways assistant. Before his arrival, Hughes’s work at the in which expectations of gender took no account of Gallery had developed into secretarial work as well as the lives of non-white, non-middle/upper class men writing handbooks on the collection and lecturing on and women. Indian and Persian art. She also assumed additional An important vehicle through which gender expec- responsibilities, serving as librarian, producer of a tations were marketed to women during the s was radio art programme and magazine publicity coordi- popular women’s magazines.35 Though publications Downloaded from nator.30 With an interest in drama, Hughes wrote such as Glamour and Mademoiselle targeted college plays involving the collection. Her directorial debut at and working women aged eighteen to thirty-four, they the Gallery in was marked with a marionette still reiterated the importance of femininity and the show for a newly developed children’s class. She domestic in American women’s lives. These maga- remembered, ‘ We had advertised a class for children zines presented images of ‘the working girl ’ to their http://jhc.oxfordjournals.org/ and were completely overwhelmed when appeared readers.36 In October , Hughes was featured in on a Wednesday. We had to do something! So I wrote Glamour . The article highlighted her achievements in a play by Thursday, cast the staff and presented it in the museum world as assistant to the Curator of Ori- costume by Friday. ’31 Hazelle Hedges, the staff tele- ental Art, a title noted by the magazine as ‘ pretty phone operator, created marionette puppets, and this impressive and learned … to our ways of thinking ’. 37 presentation marked the fi rst of many that, ultimately, Hughes was introduced as a ‘ gallery girl ’ in this arti- were instrumental in developing a children’s depart- cle: ‘ not the kind that worships matinee idols from at University of Washington on December 12, 2011 ment at the Gallery.32 afar or follows golf stars from tee to green, but a genu- Hughes’s interest in art history and languages ine art gallery offi cial and authority ’ .38 Readers were intensifi ed while working at the Nelson Gallery. She informed: pursued graduate studies at Princeton, Harvard and It took Lindsey [ sic] eighteen months of bi-weekly visits to the University of Chicago, focusing particularly on convince the director of the William Rockhill Nelson Gal- Oriental and Persian art, along with Chinese and lery and Atkins Museum of Fine Arts in Kansas City that Arabic languages. She was awarded a number of she really wanted a job there. And when she fi nally got it, it scholarships during this time, among them one from wasn’t because of her B.A. or her work in history of art but the American Council of Learned Societies to study because she could sew and mend and dust and clean. Those are important jobs in a gallery.39 Arabic and Islamic Arts at Princeton, a Carnegie Scholarship to work with the Fogg Museum collec- The article briefl y described some of Hughes’s projects tion at Harvard, and, later, a Chinese Cultural Schol- and duties at the Gallery and concluded that although arship awarded by the Chinese Government for the Lindsay ‘says modestly that the job is much more – academic year to research at the University of interesting than she herself’ , the staff at Glamour ‘ take Chicago, of which she was one of the fi ve recipients our hats off to a girl who literally made her career and nationally. built it up into a really important job! ’40 By December , it remained rare to fi nd a The way in which this Glamour article marketed woman in a leadership role such as director or cura- Hughes’s success to its readers both reinforces and tor.33 As Taylor notes, ‘ The majority of women in complicates gender and work ideologies. First, it museums played the same role as most women in the carefully acknowledged Hughes’s persistence and domestic sphere: supporters of male counterparts. cited her hard work and dedication to the Gallery as Men were the heads of households and heads of the means by which she had received her notable institutions; they made the rules and set the tone at position, while the article as a whole continued to both home and work. Women fulfi lled men’s direc- enforce work roles along gender stereotypes. tives, tidied up, kept the records … ’34 Although the Through this ideological juxtaposition, women were
CHELSEA SCHLIEVERT AND JASON STEUBER invited to look up to Hughes for her self-promotion and were encouraged to celebrate her position as support staff. For the readers of , Hughes had attained a great achievement – she was a working girl who had become established at a museum by follow- ing the socially constructed parameters of gender expectations.
Acting Curator, 1942– 5 With Sickman’s call to service in , Hughes assumed the title of Acting Curator of the Oriental Downloaded from collection. As such, she submitted the annual Depart- mental report from the Oriental art offi ce for the years – . In her summaries, she outlined the duties that had been fulfi lled. In , she ensured that the Gallery’s Wednesday Night Lecture Series, which http://jhc.oxfordjournals.org/ had been initiated by Sickman, continued. Hughes delivered thirty-fi ve lectures that year, including one entitled, ‘The Preservation of Art Treasures in War- time’ . She outlined notable visitors with whom she met, object loans and acquisitions (four purchases had been made in ) with which the Department was involved, and arts institutions she, as Acting Curator, at University of Washington on December 12, 2011 had visited. With the assistance of Mary Louise Clifton, who worked as a volunteer in the Oriental Department during the summer of , Hughes saw Fig. . Standing Buddha , c. AD (Gupta period AD – ), to it that the department functioned as it would have Dhanesar Khera (Uttar Pradesh). Bronze (. × . × . cm). done under Sickman.41 Courtesy of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art ( – ). It is important to acknowledge that even though Sickman was not physically present at the Gallery and while he may have recognized Hughes as capable Hughes was acutely aware of this situation. of fi lling in for him, he remained very active with the Although she had been given the responsibility to Gallery’s collection and business from abroad. By perform men’s work, to act as curator on the museum maintaining correspondence with Hughes at the stage, she realized that the position was temporary. Gallery, Sickman continued to acquire Asian objects She never assumed the title of Curator – she identi- for the Gallery while overseas. He was stationed in fi ed herself and was continually cited by others as India and England during the early part of the war the Acting Curator. When notable art dealer C. T. and, as Cohen notes, ‘Not surprisingly, the Nelson Loo ( Fig. ), who had been working closely with the Gallery acquired a few items in London and New Gallery’s Oriental Department for many years prior Delhi – and the Indian collection received more to the war, heard that Hughes had been appointed attention that it had previously ’. 42 One example of by Sickman to assume acting leadership of the these acquisitions was a fi fth-century Indian bronze department, he expressed his confi dence in her abil- Buddha sculpture ( Fig. ). Though the development ity to perform this task and acknowledged her as ‘the of the collections did not cease during the war, it right man at the right place ’ to oversee the Gallery’s becomes evident that Hughes did not perform in the collection. 43 museum instead of or in place of Sickman; rather, she Thus, it is possible to gain insights into how Hughes acted as his surrogate in acquiring objects as part of interpreted what it meant to be a curator, as well as an international team. those of others, such as Loo. The role of curator – at
WOMEN CURATORS AND THE POLITICS OF ASIAN ART COLLECTIONS
of that year, with proceeds going to the Chinese War Relief. 45 This benefi t, which included a series of lec- tures by painter Alison Stilwell, F. St George Spendlove of the Royal Ontario Museum, and Lang- don Warner, Curator of Oriental Art at the Fogg Museum, was coordinated in connection with the Chinese Women’s Relief Association of New York and its work to raise money to help Chinese War Orphans. Hughes organized the lecture series and, working in connection with Tsuifeng Lin and Rose Loo, who served as president and second vice- president of the New York organization, raised Downloaded from money for the orphan fund. 46 This benefi t serves as a multifaceted and complex area for analysis in the history of collections. Not only did the benefi t involve global war issues, but it also illustrates how art dealers joined with museum http://jhc.oxfordjournals.org/ collections to serve the public and build war relief funds. The war years in America saw an important re-evaluation of how collections might be rede- ployed for wartime activities and fund reliefs. First, it can be acknowledged how Hughes, though per- haps unconsciously, was fulfi lling mainstream expectations of gender. Though acting in the mas- at University of Washington on December 12, 2011 Fig. . C.T. Loo , c. s. Courtesy of The Nelson-Atkins culinized role of curator, through her involvement Museum of Art Archives. with the Chinese War Relief fundraising, she reaf- fi rms her femininity; she not only fi lls the masculine role associated with male museum curators, by least in the case of Oriental Art Curator at the Nelson being involved in wartime women’s activities (such Gallery – was reserved for and understood to be a as benefi t organization and fundraising, particularly man’s job. in connection with a women’s group acting on Hughes served as Acting Curator until , and behalf of children) but also reasserts herself as a her development in this position through the direc- woman by fulfi lling her feminine patriotic duty. tions and projects she assumed over the years may That said, the ties that were made between the be traced. In the annual report, she noted that Nelson Gallery and Hughes’s work with the Chinese she was the only employee in the Department, Women’s Relief Association offer much more to though she stated that she functioned on the ‘writ- consider in terms of the art market and international ten encouragement and advice of Mr. Sickman ’ . politics. This women’s organization, headed inter- Again, she reported that she delivered lectures (this nationally by Madame Chiang Kai-Shek (Mei-ling year, there were in all fi fty-eight), met with visitors, Soong), worked in connection with other Chinese visited other museums ’ collections and oversaw relief organizations, such as United China Relief, loans and the acquisition of twenty-four objects, Inc., founded in .47 Rose Loo, with whom among them Chinese and Indian textiles, as well as Hughes corresponded in preparation for the Kansas paintings from Persia (Iran). 44 Here, particularly City fundraising event, was married to C. T. Loo, with the acquisitions of Persian works, Hughes the noted dealer. Thus, questions related to dealing appears to have personally led the drive to collect in Chinese art and its use to legitimize and support works she selected from the market ( Fig. ). She also national/international political and military goals noted that the Department hosted Chinese painter during World War II can be raised while examining Chang Shu-Chi and a series of lectures in February Hughes’s and the Oriental department’s connection
CHELSEA SCHLIEVERT AND JASON STEUBER
Fig. . Birds and Beasts in a Flowery Landscape , attributed to Master Muhammad Siyah Qalam (Persian, – ), late fi fteenth century, ink on paper ( . × . cm). Courtesy of The Nelson- Atkins Museum of Art ( – / ). Downloaded from http://jhc.oxfordjournals.org/
with this Nationalist Chinese organization through seems something from my heart is gone, as you know . how I loved those great monumental animals; they are at University of Washington on December 12, 2011 In , Hughes expanded her curatorial duties. In certainly grand and will always be recognized as such the annual report of that year, she continued to note in the future. ’49 public lectures, meeting with museum visitors and vis- The annual report of that same year also includes iting other museums, and monitoring loans; however, mention of the Oriental department’s Special ‘Chinese there was a marked shift in the ways in which she Fair ’ Exhibition, which Hughes coordinated with the described the projects of the Oriental department. assistance of Clifton. Held on the fi rst fl oor of the First, she presented acquisition information in a new Gallery, the exhibition, which was ‘installed with con- manner. In her departmental reports of and siderable time and effort ’ opened on October , she acknowledged acquisitions; although they and was displayed throughout November.50 The exhi- are not outlined in specifi c detail, it is implied that bition opened with an evening at the fair, featuring Sickman played a major part in coordinating most of both a wide array of objects from the Gallery’s Orien- the purchases. However, in the report, there was tal art collection as well as items for sale by service a signifi cant distinction. Hughes certainly acknowl- agencies such as United China Relief, the Chinese edged Sickman’s purchases of objects while abroad, Women’s Relief Association and Service for America. but she also noted the acquisition of two limestone Objects and booths were arranged together so that Chinese lions, chimera ( Fig. ). The pair of chimera, visitors could celebrate the collection as well as sup- which now fl ank the doorway to the museum’s Chinese porting organizations raising money for war relief. The Temple Room, was an immensely important addition atmosphere of the Exhibition and Fair, which assumed to the Gallery’s collection.48 However, it was not until a bazaar-like feel, encouraged visitors to experience the Hughes secured their purchase from Loo in that wares of the service agencies with as much interest and they were added to the collection. Shortly after the intent as the Gallery’s art objects ( Fig. ). A newspaper transaction’s completion, Loo wrote to Hughes: ‘I … column announcing the Fair describes the atmosphere must not wait any longer without writing this to pay to the Kansas City community: you compliments for your success in acquiring those In the central gallery, [there] will be innumerable shops lions. You know that although I got the money, it where ancestor paintings crowd cloisonné tea caddies, and
WOMEN CURATORS AND THE POLITICS OF ASIAN ART COLLECTIONS
Fig. . Chimera (one of pair), Eastern Han dynasty (AD – ), limestone ( . × . × . cm). Courtesy of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art ( – / ). Downloaded from http://jhc.oxfordjournals.org/
Fig. . Chinese Fair , . at University of Washington on December 12, 2011 Courtesy of The Nelson- Atkins Museum of Art Archives.
door gods fl ank bronze sacrifi cial vessels, lacquer screens prints, rugs, books and rubbings, altar cloths and k’o-ssu show above tomb fi gures and wooden temples are alongside robes, landscapes, pictures on glass and some of iron. Every- porcelain bowls. There will be sculptures, wood block thing will be there …51
CHELSEA SCHLIEVERT AND JASON STEUBER
The bazaar featured entertainment for visitors of all erally accessible to women, must have been a compli- ages; art installations, theatrical performances, pup- cated experience. Years later she wrote of this pet shows, contemporary paintings, refreshments transition: ‘ When the war was over, it could have been and shopping. New York artist Wilma Prezzi was a sticky situation. Ethlyne [Jackson] and I were used invited to display her Chinese-style still-life paint- to shouldering responsibilities, making decisions and ings, reported to be ‘her fi rst -woman show ’. 52 acting accordingly. Now we were giving the Gallery C. T. Loo made a trip to Kansas City from New back to the men. At this time I think we showed great York as well, accompanied by the art dealer C. F. intelligence. ’58 Both Sickman and Gardner returned Yau, 53 who presented four watercolour paintings by in – , and Hughes and Jackson returned to their Chinese artist Ching-chih Yee. Loo, who wrote to supporting roles as assistants. Shortly thereafter, both Hughes shortly after the opening, expressing his women resigned and married. Hughes continues, excitement and approval of the show and telling ‘ Mr. Gardner returned and Ethlyne married Germain Downloaded from Hughes that, ‘[Y]ou are certainly wonderful in Seligman; Mr. Sickman returned and I married Frank putting up this exhibition and give yourself such Cooper, and we both went to live in New York. ’59 Yet hard work in doing so. ’ He continues, ‘I admire you she did not abandon her interest in working with more and more and I feel that you are not only a Asian arts in Kansas City: once in the New York area, scientist but also a wonderful artist and very effi cient she was offered a position at the Metropolitan Museum http://jhc.oxfordjournals.org/ for exhibition arrangement. ’54 For the , people of Art but was ‘ wooed away ’ from it by Loo, who who attended the exhibition opening, the Nelson asked her to be an associate in his New York gallery Gallery became an active site of community building offi ce of C. T. Loo & Co.60 through art, where the collections and the public During American involvement in World War II, could come together to learn, appreciate, raise historical circumstances temporarily shifted employ- awareness and support. 55 ment demands and opportunities for men and women. The years – raise broad issues concerning how at University of Washington on December 12, 2011 Asian art collections and collecting were developed and defi ned in America. As illustrated in the experi- Conclusions ence of Hughes, the Nelson Gallery’s Asian art collec- After , Hughes’s term as Acting Curator drew to tions continued to grow through communications a close. In , she was invited to address the Chinese between Hughes and Sickman. However, it is evident Art Society at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, after that there emerged marked differences in behaviour the publication of two articles she had written on and self-awareness in the manner in which Hughes Chinese textiles appeared in Gazette des Beaux-Arts recorded curatorial activities and acquisitions. Over and created much interest.56 Shortly after she deliv- her brief curatorial tenure, Hughes developed from ered her talk, she was granted a leave of absence from working in the echoes of Sickman to single handedly the Nelson Gallery to accept a scholarship from the leading acquisitions of Persian and Chinese art, fi elds Chinese Government to study at the University of distinctly drawn from her own expertise. The tempo- Chicago. She returned to Kansas City in and, by rary alteration of workplace gender roles during the time Sickman had rejoined the Gallery, she had World War II helps to refi ne our understanding of the resigned to marry Frank Morrow Cooper, though complicated junctures among Asian art collections apparently her devotion to the Gallery was such as and collection development with art dealers, wartime that she remained ‘ on the job at the Nelson until noon politics and the socio-political roles of museums. the day of [her] wedding ’ .57 It is diffi cult to discern what this transition meant to Hughes. Having the opportunity to lead a depart- Address for correspondence ment that comprised one of the most prominent col- Chelsea Schlievert, Photography Department, The Nelson-Atkins lections of Asian art in the United States, to be asked Museum of Art, Oak Street, Kansas City, MO , USA, to fi ll the wartime vacancy left by Laurence Sickman, and Jason Steuber, Cofrin Curator of Asian Art, Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, P.O. Box , Gaines- and to be a woman doing all of this at a time when ville, FL , USA. such responsibilities and opportunities were not gen- [email protected]; [email protected]fl .edu
WOMEN CURATORS AND THE POLITICS OF ASIAN ART COLLECTIONS
Notes and references it was a time of ‘ great uneasiness’ for him; see Cohen, op. cit. (note ). Hu Shih ( – ), cultural critic, philosopher and educator, served as Chinese ambassador to the United E. Panofsky, ‘ The history of art’ , in W. Crawford (ed.), States from to . Alfred Salmony ( – ) was The Cultural Migration: The European Scholar in America a renowned Chinese art scholar of bronzes and jades. George (Philadelphia, ), pp. – , especially p. . Rowley ( – ) established the Far Eastern Art Studies Laurence Sickman ( – ) was hired in the early s to at Princeton University. John Pope ( – ) specialized in acquire objects for the Nelson Gallery’s Oriental collection Chinese art at the Freer Gallery, serving as Director from while in China. He served as Oriental Art Curator at the to . Paul Pelliot ( – ) conducted archaeological Gallery ( – ) and as Director ( – ). expeditions in China. See Churchman and Erbes, op. cit. (note ), p. . L. Hughes, ‘ The Kuo Ch’in Wang textiles ’ , Gazette des Beaux- During the war, Sickman was commissioned fi rst lieutenant Arts ( ), pp. – , and L. Hughes, ‘ The Kuo Ch’in in the Army, serving in England, India and China. Howard Wang brocades ’ , Gazette des Beaux-Arts ( ), pp. – . Hollis became Curator of Oriental Art at the Cleveland Both were reprinted in The Kuo Ch’in Wang Textiles (New Museum of Art in . He served in Tokyo for the War Downloaded from York, ). The Nelson loaned a Kuo Ch’in Wang robe to Department as Chief of the Arts and Monuments Division, the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, The International working with Sherman Lee, a naval offi cer during the war. Exhibition of Chinese Art (London, ), cat. no. . See After the war, the two worked together in Tokyo and ‘ watched further J. Mailey, ‘ Ancestors and tomb robes ’ , Metropolitan over the restoration of museums and monuments, oversaw Museum of Art Bulletin ( ), pp. – . The authors the disposition of confi scated art properties, and followed the thank Ling-en Lu, Assistant Curator of Chinese Art at the course of collections that came on the market’ ; see Cohen, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, for assistance. op. cit. (note ), p. . Lee later was Curator of Oriental http://jhc.oxfordjournals.org/ Prior to , Ruth Lindsay Hughes ( – ) went by the Art at both the Detroit Institute of Arts and, in , the name of Lindsay Hughes. After marrying in , she is Cleveland Museum of Art. For more on Hollis and Lee, see E. referred to in records as either Lindsay Hughes Cooper or Turner (ed.), Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum Mrs Frank Cooper. Materials are located in the Nelson-Atkins (Cleveland, ). Museum of Art Archives, Kansas City, Missouri (hereafter See Cohen, op. cit. (note ), pp. – , for an in-depth Museum Archives), including Hughes archival fi les ( – ) discussion. (hereafter LH Files) and Lindsay Hughes Cooper Vertical Files (hereafter LHCV Files). Churchman and Erbes, op. cit. (note ), p. . I n , the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Atkins For more on Rosie the Riveter, see S. Gluck, Rosie the Riveter at University of Washington on December 12, 2011 Museum of Fine Arts in Kansas City, Missouri, was renamed Revisited: Women, the War, and Social Change (Boston, ); the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Here, it is referred to as P. Coleman, Rosie the Riveter: Women Working on the Homefront the Nelson Gallery or as the Gallery, as it was known during in World War II (New York, ); S. Hartmann, Home Front the s and s. For a history, see M. Churchman and and Beyond: American Women in the s (Boston, ); S. Erbes, High Ideals and Aspirations: The Nelson-Atkins and M. Honey, Creating Rosie the Riveter: Class, Gender, and Museum of Art, – (Kansas City, ). Also, the term Propaganda during World War II (Amherst, ). The authors ‘ Oriental ’ is used instead of ‘ Asian ’ to refl ect early-twentieth- thank Sherrie Tucker, Professor of American Studies at the century usage. University of Kansas, for her suggestions. For more on these exhibitions, particularly London, see K. Davis, An American Century of Photography: From Dry- J. Steuber, ‘ The exhibition of Chinese art at Burlington House, Plate to Digital , nd edn (Kansas City, ), p. ; A. Poster, London, – ’ , Burlington Magazine (), pp. – Journey Through Asia: Masterpieces in the Brooklyn Museum of ; and J. Steuber, ‘ The – international exhibition of Art (Brooklyn, ), p. ; and A. Poster, ‘ The fi rst century Chinese art: contexts, narratives and canons ’ , Arts of Asia of the Asian Art Department: the Brooklyn Museum’ , Arts of no. (), pp. – . Asia no. (), pp. – . Annual Report from the Council of The Royal Academy … for Records of these announcements are in the Nelson Gallery’s the Year (London, ), p. . In addition, the Royal director’s annual reports, and , Museum Archives. Academy was planning a similar exhibition for German art. Lizzie Plummer Bliss ( – ) and Abby Aldrich The authors thank Mark Pomeroy for his assistance. Rockefeller ( – ) helped to found the Museum of Annual Report from the Council of The Royal Academy … for the Modern Art in New York in . Rockefeller also worked with Year (London, ), p. . Edith Halpert to open the Folk Art Museum in Williamsburg, Virginia. Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney ( – ) and Annual Report , op. cit. (note ), p. . The Japanese and Juliana Force ( – ) established the Whitney Museum German exhibitions were cancelled prior to World War II and of American Art in . Mary McAfee Atkins ( – ), replaced with British-themed exhibitions. a Kansas City schoolteacher, left $ , to build a fi ne arts W. Cohen, East Asian Art and American Culture: A Study in museum. Her resources, combined with those from William International Relations (New York, ), p. . Rockhill Nelson, funded the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, A History of the Asiatic of Art and Atkins Museum of Fine Arts in Kansas City. For Department: A Series of Illustrated Lectures Given in by biographical studies of women and the arts, see C. Sherman with A. Holcomb (eds.), Women as Interpreters of the Visual Kojiro Tomita ( – ) (Boston, ), p. . Curator Kojiro Tomita (– ) emigrated to the United Arts, – (Westport, ). States from Japan in and remained a Japanese citizen. K. Taylor, ‘ Pioneering efforts of early museum women’ , Though never threatened with deportation during the war, in J. Glaser and A. Zenetou (eds.), Gender Perspectives:
CHELSEA SCHLIEVERT AND JASON STEUBER
Essays on Women in Museums (Washington, ), p. . This information is noted in the Director’s annual report, See also M. Schwarzer, ‘ Women in the temple: gender and , Museum Archives, and in an article entitled ‘ Art Curator leadership in museums’ , Museum News no. (), pp. On Program ’ , Sedalia Democrat and Capital( October ); – . LHCV Files, Museum Archives. After Frances Webb and L. Connolly, Docentry (Newark, ), p. . Louise Nelson, who were staffi ng the Education Department at the Gallery, left for overseas service with the Red Cross, Isabella Stewart Gardner ( – ) collected Oriental art Clifton became head of the Education Department offi ce, between the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Helen where she worked for three years. E. Fernald ( – ) worked with the Royal Ontario Museum of Archaeology and published widely. Wilma Cohen, op. cit. (note ), p. . Fairbank ( – ) wrote on Chinese art and archaeology C. T. Loo to Hughes, May ; LH Files, Record and assisted with diplomatic issues between China and the US Group / Box , File ‘ C. T. Loo ’ , Museum Archives. State Department. C. T. (Ching Tsai) Loo ( – ) was born in China and In addition, as artists, women have been overlooked throughout established an art dealership in Paris and New York. Loo was instrumental in the establishment of a number of Oriental the study of Asian art history. Only recently have women’s Downloaded from pre-World War II artistic contributions to Asian art been collections in the West. The authors thank Holly Wright at recognized. Some of the earliest exhibitions to acknowledge the Nelson-Atkins Museum Archives for assistance. Also see the works of Asian women artists include Japanese Women E. von der Heydt, ‘ Cheng-Tsai Loo’ , Artibus Asiae no. Artists: – , curated by P. Fister for the Spencer ( ), p. . Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, and For more on the museum’s Persian art collection, see L. Views From Jade Terrace: Chinese Women Artists, – , Cooper, ‘ Genius and invention: artists and artisans of Iran’ , curated by M. Weidner, E. Johnston Laing and organized by Apollo no. (), pp. – . http://jhc.oxfordjournals.org/ J. Robinson of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Director’s annual report, , Museum Archives. Indiana. These exhibitions, which both opened in , were the fi rst critically to examine women as artists in Chinese and Correspondence between Tsuifeng Lin, Rose Loo and Lindsay Japanese art. For more regarding gender and art historical Hughes is located in the LH Files, Record Group / Box canon formations, see L. Nochlin, ‘ Why have there been no , File ‘ China War Orphans’ , Museum Archives. great women artists? ’ , ARTnews no. (), pp. – , Another example is the China fundraising at Wellesley – . College for the Mayling (Mei-ling) Soong Foundation. It C. Sherman, ‘ The tradition continues ( – ) ’ , in included an exhibition of Chinese art loaned from American Sherman and Holcomb, op. cit. (note ), pp. – , especially museums and dealers Loo and Ton-Ying and Company; see pp. – . Farnsworth Museum of Art, ‘ Exhibition of Chinese ritual at University of Washington on December 12, 2011 bronzes and paintings’ , The Art Museum , Wellesley College Certainly there are exceptions. Before World War II, women Bulletin no. (), pp. – ; and J. Allen, ‘ Sirarpie Der working in Oriental art collections included Associate Curator Nersessian (b. ): educator and scholar in Byzantine and Margaret Gentles (d. ) and Assistant Curator Helen Armenian art’ , in Sherman and Holcomb, op. cit. (note ), Gunsaulus ( – ) at the Art Institute of Chicago; see p. . Sherman and Holcomb, op. cit. (note ), p. . One of few existing pairs known to be intact, the sculptures, See M. Randolph Higonnet, J. Jenson, S. Michel and which date to the third or fourth century AD, are lion-like M. Collins Weitz (eds.), Behind the Lines: Gender and the Two creatures that originally stood guard along a tomb pathway. World Wars (New Haven, ). As a pair consisting of one male and one female creature, their Churchman and Erbes, op. cit. (note ), p. . duty is to protect against evil. They had been intensely sought Ibid.; J. Helmers, ‘ Sustaining profi le … an interesting woman ’ , after following the appearance of Loo’s sale advertisement in the Royal Academy’s – Chinese art exhibition catalogue; Kansas City Junior League (October ), p. ; LHCV Files, Museum Archives. see The International Exhibition of Chinese Art (London, ), Advertisement Supplement, p. . Churchman and Erbes, op. cit. (note ), pp. – . Loo to Hughes, July ; LH Files, Record Group / Helmers, op. cit. (note ), p. . Box , File ‘ C. T. Loo ’ , Museum Archives. Ibid. Director’s annual report, , Museum Archives. For more on the subject, see Sherman, op. cit. (note ), ‘ An air of old China’ (author, date and original source especially pp. – . unknown); LHCV Files, Museum Archives. Taylor, op. cit. (note ), p. . ‘ Gay at Chinese Fair ’ , Kansas City Times( October ); For discussion of s and s women’s magazines, see LHCV Files, Museum Archives. N. Walker, Shaping Our Mothers’ World: American Women’s C. F. Yau was President of Ton-Ying & Co. (New York). Magazines (Jackson, ). Ton-Ying was started in Paris () by Zhang Renjie ( – Ibid., p. xvi. ), a successful fi nancier, Chinese Government offi cial and sponsor of Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek. The authors ‘ Career Councillor [ sic ] and Curator ’ , Glamour (October ), thank Nick Pearce of Glasgow University for confi rming Ton- p. ; LHCV Files, Museum Archives. Ying information. Ibid. Hughes was years old when the article was published. Loo to Hughes, October ; LH Files, Record Group Ibid. / Box , File ‘ C. T. Loo’ , Museum Archives. Ibid. Director’s annual report, , Museum Archives.
WOMEN CURATORS AND THE POLITICS OF ASIAN ART COLLECTIONS
See Hughes, op. cit. (note ). Churchman and Erbes, op. cit. (note ), p. . ‘ My favorite thing at the Nelson ’ (author, date, original source Helmers, op. cit. (note ), p. . After living in New York, unknown); LHCV Files, Museum Archives. California, and for a short time in Iran, the Coopers returned L. Cooper, ‘ A night of remembrance ’ , Typescript, to Kansas City in . Lindsay Hughes Cooper took a job November , p. ; see Churchman and Erbes, op. cit. as special assistant to Laurence Sickman, who was then the (note ), p. . museum’s Director. Downloaded from http://jhc.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Washington on December 12, 2011