Looking at Modern Art in Cambridge and Around
This project, “Picturing Animals in Paris: Manet’s Bestiary and Naturalism” was conducted from August 2015 through July 2016, and made possible by the generous research grant from TUSA (Top Universities Strategic Alliance), Ministry of Education, of Taiwan, in association with Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University, as well as a partial grant from Fulbright Foundation. As a TUSA and Fulbright scholar affiliated to the Department of History of Art and Architecture at Harvard University, I have been able to expand the scope of my research in modern art and culture, as well as professional contact. This project investigates the connections in Manet’s animal subjects and contemporary naturalist observations. As planned, I study how Manet depicted dog breeds and postures, as well as cat theatrics, in relation to the identity of personages, within the context of France’s response to the new interest in biology during 1830-1880. Manet’s bestiary shall be compared to contemporary illustrations of La Fontaine’s fables, primarily the works of J.J. Grandville, Gustave Doré and Eugène Lambert. Beyond that, I probed into the understanding of East Asian art in Manet’s circle. The project seeks to explain how Manet reflected the changing relationship of humans and animals within
