Celebrating 25 Years: The Old and the New
2026-27 Season Subscriptions Subscription renewals are currently available. Orders for new subscribers will be available Monday, August 10. Donors at the Supporter level and above have early access to new subscriptions — please contact patron services to subscribe today.
How Chinese Architecture Became Modern
Tuesday, January 12, 2027, 10:30am
Sharon and Timothy Ubben Signature Event Space
Nancy Steinhardt, Ph.D., Curator of Chinese Art, University of Pennsylvania
Explore the dramatic and human factors that transformed the Chinese landscape from wooden buildings to twisted metal and mega-tall skyscrapers. In this lecture, we examine the political and emotional story that involves six wars and the international architects and patrons who transformed China into a global power.
Flowers Beneath the Snow
Chinese Influence on Japanese Artistic Traditions
Tuesday, January 19, 2027, 10:30am
Sharon and Timothy Ubben Signature Event Space
Marjorie Williams, Ph.D., Senior Director for Endowment Development, The Cleveland Museum of Art
Throughout history, Chinese and continental influences served as catalysts to Japanese culture and art, inspiring unique aesthetic and artistic traditions. In this lecture, we examine the impact Chinese culture had on Japan, beginning with the introduction of Buddhism.
Voices and Spaces of a Chinese Home
and Its Voyage to America
Tuesday, January 26, 2027, 10:30am
Sharon and Timothy Ubben Signature Event Space
Nancy Berliner, Ph.D., Professor of East Asian Art, Curator of Chinese Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Moving a home from one location to another isn’t easy, especially when the home is 250 years old and it’s being moved across an ocean and a continent. Join Nancy Berliner as she tells the story of the Yin Yu Tang house now standing at the center of the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts.
Xu Bing
China’s Foremost Avant-Garde Artist
Tuesday, February 2, 2027, 10:30am
Sharon and Timothy Ubben Signature Event Space
Clarissa von Spee, Ph.D., Chair of Asian Art and Donna and James Reid Curator of Chinese Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art
Learn about the extraordinary life and career of one of the world’s most innovative and resourceful artists: Xu Bing. A pioneering figure known for exploring language and communication through innovative mediums, this lecture promises a fascinating look at his artistic evolution from printmaking to landscripts.
Uli Sigg, M+
China’s First Avant-Garde Art Collection
and Chinese New Year Luncheon
Tuesday, February 9, 2027, 10:30am
Sharon and Timothy Ubben Signature Event Space
Clarissa von Spee, Ph.D., Chair of Asian Art and Donna and James Reid Curator of Chinese Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art
Join Clarissa von Spee as she leads a fascinating discussion about Uli Sigg, a pioneering Chinese contemporary art collector who built the country’s first avant-garde art collection while working there as a Swiss diplomat in the 1990s.
The Global Trade in Chinese Export Porcelain
Tuesday, February 16, 2027, 10:30am
Sharon and Timothy Ubben Signature Event Space
William Sargent, Ph.D., Independent Curator and Former Curator of Asian Export Art, Peabody Essex Museum
From raw materials to finished products — from the first pieces brought to Europe on the Silk Road through the discovery of sea routes and the invention of hard-paste porcelain at Meissen to today — this lecture examines Chinese porcelain and the special place it continues to hold on our tables and in our minds.
Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan
Barbarians or Contributors to Civilization
Tuesday, February 23, 2027, 10:30am
Sharon and Timothy Ubben Signature Event Space
Morris Rossabi, Ph.D., Associate Adjunct Professor of Chinese History, Columbia University
Genghis and Kublai Khan conquered the largest landmass in world history. They were barbarians who massacred anyone standing in their way, but there was much more to them than simply spilling the blood of their enemies. Learn about their religious tolerance and their support of artisans and the arts.
How to Read Chinese Painting 2.0
Tuesday, March 2, 2027, 10:30am
Sharon and Timothy Ubben Signature Event Space
Maxwell Hearn, Ph.D., Douglas Dillon Chair, Department of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
There is more to understanding Chinese paintings than simply looking at them. In this lecture, we explore du hua, the process of “reading” a Chinese painting. Only once one is able to “read” a painting — to examine its style, brushwork and calligraphic elements — can one understand the artist’s inner essence and fully appreciate the multisensory experience.
Series banner: Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, 1760-1859). Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), also known as The Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei), c. 1830-32. Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, 10 1/8 x 14 15/16 in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929, JP1847. Public Domain. Flowers Beneath the Snow: ASesshū Tōyō. Winter Landscape. Muromachi period, c. 1470s. Ink on paper hanging scroll, 47.7 x 30.2 cm. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, Japan. The Global Trade in Chinese Export Porcelain: Punch Bowl, 1800-1815, Gift of Elizabeth Dorchester and Anonymous, 1982, E72007, Peabody Essex Museum. Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan: Portait of Kublai Khan, 1294, artist, Aramiko, National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan; Portait of Genghis Khan, ink an colour on silk, National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan. How to Read Chinese Painting 2.0: Griffin, Peter. Chinese Painting. Photograph from Public Domain Pictures.