Portrait of a Woman, photographer in China, 1870s, albumen silver print

Dragon Women: Early Chinese Photography
Through May 15, 2024
10 W. 18th Street, 7th Floor Penthouse
By appointment only: 646-838-4576 or 410-602-3002

We start this week highlighting the Loewentheil Photography of China Collection and their fascinating exhibition, Dragon Women: Early Chinese Photography, currently on view until the 15th of May.

Curated by Stacey Lambrow, this is the first exhibition devoted to the depiction of Chinese women in early photography. The over 50 photographs selected from the Loewentheil Collection include the first photographic portraits of Chinese women, most made in the 1860s and 1870s with many never before shown. The exhibition examines women’s place in society in the late Qing dynasty and their depiction in historical photography of China. It also presents work by the few known early female photographers of China.

Highlights include a rare photograph by the first known Chinese female photographer, Mae Linda Talbot, and works by Hedda Morrison, Isabella Bird, and Eva Sandberg Xiao. Masterworks include photographs by Chinese and international artists such as Sze Yuen Ming Studio, Pun Lun Studio, A Chan Studio, Lai Fong, John Thomson, and Thomas Child. The exhibition showcases the diversity of Chinese women and their experiences during the final decades of imperial China.

Be sure to visit the show before it closes in a few weeks!

To learn more, click here.