The second half of the 19th century and first half of the 20th century witnessed rapid increase in Asian art collecting in the United States.

Dr. Warren I. Cohen, Senior Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations makes a case for how the economics of art collecting, chaotic political conditions in China in the early 20th century and the American occupation of Japan after WWII combined to create the golden age of Asian art collecting in America.

To do so, Cohen examines the historical background against which the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Seattle Art Museum and the National Gallery in Kansas City acquired their Asian art collections and the connoisseur’s career of Charles Freer, John Ferguson and Langdon Warner.

Co–sponsored by the library and UW-River Falls Department of History and Philosophy.