Join us for an author talk and book signing for a groundbreaking new publication with close ties to PEM’s collection. In The Many Names of Anonymity: Portraitists of the Canton Trade, art historian Winnie Wong explores the vibrant community of artists working in Guangzhou, China in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Many of their paintings survive today, yet scholars have identified only a handful of the painters’ identities. Pushing against Western norms that have shaped our understanding of authorship, Wong reveals that these artists shared names, created works in multiples and signed their pieces with different names or none at all. She charts the genealogy of this naming problem by bringing to life the artists of the Qing Empire’s trade with Westerners at the port of Guangzhou, centering on a group of portraitists known by names that were recorded in a pidgin language: Chin Qua, Chit Qua, Spoilum, Lam Qua and Ting Qua.