Page 58 - A Re-examination of Late Qing Dynasty Porcelain, 1850-1920 THESIS

It is clear that the empress dowager had extreme control over what was produced during

the period, subjecting each work to scrutiny and providing the painters with further

instructions. Each painter had to work with Cixi in order to complete any paintings. This

direct connection within the realm of painting established Cixi’s ownership of imperial

patronage.

While Cixi invited many artists to paint at the Forbidden City, she specifically

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employed several female painters to instruct her. Art historical research indicates that
China had known female artists prior to Cixi’s rule. The empress dowager was among

the first to surround herself with female painters within the palace. Cixi actively

recruited female artists to work in her personal studio within the Forbidden City, which

was known as the Studio of Great Elegance. It is this action of surrounding herself with

female artists that highlights yet another facet of Cixi’s feminist viewpoint. The

inclusion of numerous women within the court demonstrates Cixi’s acceptance of a much

more modern world than she has been given credit for by the historical record. This

appointment of specifically female court painters became the first official recruitment of

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professional female painters within the Chinese imperial court.

39 Claudia Brown and Ju-Hsi Chou, Transcending Turmoil: Painting at the Close of China’s
Empire, 1796-1911 (Phoenix: Phoenix Art Museum, 1992), 36-37. A hanging scroll from the
Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, attributed to Cixi entitled, Fungi
and Bats (Long Life and Happiness), offers evidence of the Empress Dowager’s instruction.
Small sketched lines near the painted bats suggests another artist provided Cixi with guidance
during the painting process. Another hanging scroll by Cixi held by Denver Art Museum entitled
Flower and Insect Sketches, provides further evidence of Cixi’s painting instruction. Areas that
required improvement were circled in red by the instructor, indicating Cixi’s continued
cultivation of her painting techniques. For further information, see Marsha Smith Weidner, Views
From Jade Terrace: Chinese Women Artists 1300 - 1912 (New York: Rizzoli, 1988): 162-163.
40 Ka Bo Tsang, “In Her Majesty’s Service: Women Painters in China at the Court of the Empress
Dowager Cixi,” in Local/Global: Women Artists in the Nineteenth Century, ed. Janice Helland
(London: Routledge, 2006), 35-58.

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