Worlding China: Huo Mingzhi’s transnational dealership and global narrative of Chinese art in the early twentieth century

Abstract

This article studies the multifaceted interactions between a Beijing-based art dealer Huo Mingzhi (霍明志, 1880-?) and the Euro-American art market in the early twentieth century. By delving into the circulations of both Huo’s stock of Chinese antiquities and his transcultural narrative, this article provides a sketch of Huo’s strategies to reify Chinese cultural identities through Chinese antiquities in the international arena and a glimpse into the cultural environment of collecting Chinese art at the time. Despite being an influential tastemaker and expert in Chinese antiques during his day, Huo has rarely been studied either in art history or general historical research. By tracing Huo’s contact with institutions and individuals within the changing context of the early twentieth century art market, I explore Huo’s self-presentation as a mercenary dealer and also as a transcultural scholar, whose monographs and collections re-trained the eyes of a broad range of connoisseurs and amateurs for Chinese art, domestically and internationally. Studying Huo’s bilingual writings: Bowu Huizhi 博物彚志 and Preuves des antiquités de Chine 達古齋古证录, I argue that Huo not only contributed to the transmission of Chinese material culture and the acceptance of Chinese art abroad, but also conjured a strategic vision for cosmopolitan Chineseness.