Sherman E. Lee and Chinese Art Collecting in Postwar America

Chinese art scholar and professor Noelle Giuffrida presents the history of collecting and exhibiting Chinese art in post-WWII America through the lens of the career of renowned Cleveland Museum of Art curator and museum director Sherman E. Lee. Drawing upon artworks and archival materials, Giuffrida excavates an international society of collectors, dealers, curators, and scholars who constituted the art world in which Lee operated. From his early training in Michigan and his work in occupied Japan as a “monuments man” to his acquisitions, exhibitions, and publications for museums in Detroit, Seattle, and Cleveland, this lecture highlights how Lee shaped public and scholarly understanding of Chinese art. This is the Cleveland launch for Giuffrida’s recent book, Separating Sheep from Goats: Sherman E. Lee and Chinese Art Collecting in Postwar America.

Free; no reservation required.