Minna Törmä

Forthcoming articles

2011-09-15T16:18:00.002+01:00

* "Meeting Old Friends & Colleagues, Collectors and Dealers: Osvald Sirén’s German Contacts in Berlin 1927," forthcoming in 2012 in Ostasiatische Zeitschrift

* "Osvald Sirén as collector of Chinese art," forthcoming in 2012 in Art and Collection Monthly (Diancang): the focus of the article is Sirén and his role and activities as a collector of Chinese art.

In addition to acquiring East Asian art for the museum in Stockholm, he acted as an advisor for the Honolulu Academy of Arts in 1930s. Between 1918 and 1935 he travelled extensively in East Asia and though the focus of these journeys was an research, visits to both Western, Japanese and Chinese dealers in major cities were an integral part of the programme. He also acted as an advisor for dealers and private collectors and amassed a collection of Chinese art for his own pleasure.

* "In Search of Paradise Lost: Osvald Sirén's Scholarship on Garden Art," forthcoming in 2013 in The Reception of Chinese Art across Cultures, ed. by Michelle Huang and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing: The article discusses Sirén's views on garden art as they are manifested in his scholarly studies such as Gardens of China (1948) and China and the Gardens of Eighteenth Century Europe (1950); both works are pivotal in the history of western perceptions on East Asian gardens and the relationship between China and Europe; in addition, among Sirén's scholarship the volumes mark his recent retirement and manifest a remembrance of things past, albeit in different ways.

Theosophy and the Arts

2010-10-21T16:39:00.010+01:00

Enchanting Modernity: Theosophy and the Arts in the Making of Early Twentieth-Century Culture

Liverpool Hope University

3 Dec 2010

> "In Search of Images of Religious Purity: Osvald Sirén and the Allure of Chinese Art"

paper by Dr. Minna Törmä

This paper takes a look on Osvald Sirén (1879–1966) and the way theosophy played a role in both his professional and personal life. He was internationally known historian of Italian painting and pioneering scholar of Chinese art in the West; he was institutionally placed in Stockholm, first as Professor of Art History in the University of Stockholm (1908–1923) and then as curator of the Department of Painting and Sculpture in the Nationalmuseum (1926–1944).

Theosophy played an important role in Sirén’s life, it was the basis of his world view, and he had published articles on various topics in Swedish journal Theosophia since 1900, then in 1912 appeared his first article in the English periodical The Theosophical Path, after he had visited Point Loma in California, the Theosophical Headquarters and Katherine Tingley (1847–1929), in 1911.

Historically speaking, the movement has promoted in a significant degree the knowledge of Asian cultures by popularizing Oriental religions. On the other hand, because they had a tendency to mystify matters, they sometimes went from one extreme to the other: instead of scorn, the East was seen as a paradise veiled in secrecy. Sirén himself saw that spreading knowledge of particularly East Asian art, would help a return to spiritual values which were lost in the surge of materialism.

Research II: Ten Kings of Purgatory

2010-10-17T16:33:00.004+01:00

Detail from a painting in the series Ten Kings of Purgatory from Mirrors of the Void: Buddhist Art in the National Museum of Finland by Harry Halén (1987)

This project takes as its starting point five paintings from a series of ten, representing the theme Ten Kings of Purgatory, which are in the collection of the Museum of Cultures, in Helsinki.

Both Buddhists and Daoists imagined that on death the human being would be transported to a kind of purgatory to meet the judges or kings of that realm. According to most common beliefs there were either 10 or 18 of these kings, who in their outside appearance resembled Chinese officials and in many ways the journey through purgatory was reminiscent of bureaucracy of the real world. The journey in its entirety lasted three years and began on the 7th day after death in the court of the first king, Qingguangwang. In his presence the virtuous were differentiated from the evil ones: the virtuous could expect an immediate rebirth and the evil ones a long and torturous journey through the other nine courts. The last king would then designate their fate after three years, whether one would be reborn as a divinity, a human being, an animal, a hungry ghost or be dwelling in hell for eternity.

The theme has been part of visual arts since the Song dynasty (960–1279), but its iconography has not in spite of this long history been established. One of my aims is to research which five of the ten courts are represented in the series in the Museum of Cultures.

2010-09-24T12:37:00.005+01:00

Garden as a Refuge.

Osvald Sirén’s reminiscences and appropriations of Chinese garden art

paper by Minna Törmä, Annual Meeting of British Association of Chinese Studies, Bristol, September 8-9, 2010

This paper discusses Osvald Sirén’s (1879–1966) views on Chinese garden art, as they are manifested both in his scholarly studies such as Gardens of China (1948) and in his garden practice. During the World War II, when Sirén lived isolated in Sweden, he sought refuge in memories of his wanderings in Chinese and Japanese gardens. With the aid of the photographs he had taken on his travels, the earliest ones dating to 1918, he recalled his experiences and complemented the research by looking at Chinese paintings, reading Chinese poetry and translating Ji Cheng’s Yuanye or ”Craft of Gardens.” These provided him a vehicle for his woyou or ”travelling while lying down” and an escape of the grim reality of the times.

If the first part of the paper focuses on the role of memories in Sirén’s research, the second part investigates his manner of applying ideas formed on the basis of his knowledge of East Asian gardens to his own garden in Lidingö, outside Stockholm (photo by Sirén, from an album in Art History Library, University of Helsinki). His garden practice, however, was not limited only to his own garden; in addition he assisted Cyrillus Johansson (1884–1959), Swedish architect, in designing a garden around his villa. In these two gardens Sirén was creating his own interpretations of orientalism, which will be investigated in the light of his knowledege of 18th century views on Chinese gardens and European adaptations of them, as presented in his China and the Gardens of Eighteenth Century Europe (1950).

FORTHCOMING 2010: Nichibunken, Kyoto

2010-05-06T11:25:00.005+01:00

Shizilin (Lion Grove Garden, Suzhou), the rockery under construction in early 1920s, photographed by Sirén (photo in the Siren Archive, Museum of Far eastern Antiquities, Stockholm)

> Nichibunken, Kyoto, November 2010

Questioning Oriental Aesthetics and Thinking: Conflicting Visions of ”Asia” under the Colonial Empires

Osvald Sirén’s Encounter with the Arts of China and Japan

> session: Western Rediscoveries of Oriental Culture: Materiality and Spirituality

Minna Törmä

My paper focuses on two early texts by Finnish-Swedish art historian Osvald Sirén (1879–1966), Rytm och form (”Rhythm and Form”, 1917) and Den Gyllene Paviljongen (”The Golden Pavilion”, 1919). Partial translations of these texts have appeared in English; however, they are generally not well known. Yet these two books reveal his enchantment and appreaciation of the arts of China and Japan, respectively, and the initial discoveries that lay at the base of his later scholarship on the arts of China. Sirén, an ardent theosophist throughout his life, was always in search of the spiritual values in art, whether in sculpture, painting, architecture or garden art. These spiritual values were manifested not only in works born under the aegis of Buddhism or Daoism – Sirén particlulary appreciated Chan Buddhist painting – but in landscape paintings or the rock formations of East Asian gardens.

CAA 2010

2010-05-06T11:12:00.004+01:00

Didrichsen Museum of Art and Culture, Helsinki: view of the China room with an exhibition case containing some objects which originally belonged to Sirén's personal collection (photo: Minna Törmä)

Panel: Roles of Acquistion

CAA Chicago Feb. 12, 2010

”Playing All the Roles: Osvald Sirén as Curator, Collector, Dealer and Art Historian”

Dr. Minna Törmä

Adjunct Professor of Art History, University of Helsinki

Lecturer/Tutor, Christie’s Education

This paper focuses on the combined roles of curator/collector/dealer/art historian and examines this phenomenon through the career of Osvald Sirén (1879–1966). These roles are fraught with conflicts of interest, yet it was not uncommon for one person to be active in all these roles during the early part of the twentieth century.

The research presented in this paper is based on previously unpublished archival material (letters, notebooks and invoices), most of which is in the Sirén Archive of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm. The issues discussed briefly here today will be treated more comprehensively in my forthcoming publication: New Horizons in East Asia: Osvald Sirén’s Encounter with Chinese Art.

Osvald Sirén was internationally known historian of Italian painting and pioneering scholar of Chinese art in the West. Though he was institutionally attached to Stockholm, first as Professor of Art History in the University of Stockholm (1908–1923) and then as curator of the Department of Painting and Sculpture in the Nationalmuseum (1926–1944), he was associated with collectors and museums in both Europe and the United States. In addition to acquiring art for the museum in Stockholm, he acted as an advisor for the Honolulu Academy of Arts in the 1930s.

Besides buying from the well-known dealers such as Yamanaka and C.T. Loo, Sirén travelled in East Asia in 1918, 1921–1923, 1929–1930 and 1935. Though the focus on these journeys was on research, the visits to both Western, Japanese and Chinese dealers of antiquities, for example Otto Burchard, and curio-dealers in major cities were an integral part of the programme. While making acquisitions of paintings and sculpture on the behalf of the Nationalmuseum, he bought small objects and paintings for his own collection. His personal collection was not stable, instead, he would sell objects from it in order to fund his research and travel in East Asia, and doing so acted as a dealer himself.

First International Contemporary Chinese Art Forum

2010-05-06T10:58:00.004+01:00

Visits to the studios of Chinese contemporary artists, May 2009: Xu Longsen, Zhan Wang, Xu Bing (from top to bottom; photos: Minna Törmä

International Conference on Art Theory and Criticism

Beijing University

May 26-30, 2009

CHANGING PERCEPTIONS OF CHINESE ART:

the choices of western academics and collectors in the early 20th century

The focus in this paper is on western perceptions on Chinese painting, though other art works will be discussed briefly (when appropriate) and temporally this covers from ca. 1900 to early 1960s. The emphasis will be on the texts by western writings, but collectors come into the picture as well, since collecting and research were in many instances entangled with each other (though there are exceptions). Besides, the same person could take up the roles of curator/collector/dealer/art historian.

Research I: Sirén

2009-07-30T07:00:00.004+01:00

NEW HORIZONS IN EAST ASIA

Osvald Sirén’s Encounter with Chinese Art

Minna Törmä

Abstract

This research focuses on the reconstruction of the East Asian voyages of Osvald Sirén (1879–1966), Finnish-Swedish art historian. Sirén made four voyages to East Asia: 1918, 1921–1923, 1929–1930 and 1935. He spent most of his time during these travels in China and Japan, but he visited Korea as well. In general, the period from ca. 1900–late 1930’s was an intense period of reseach and travel in China and many of the Western collections of Chinese art were formed at this time. It was also a time when archaeological excavations began in a systematic fashion in China. Sirén, among several other western scholars or dealers, was involved in this process. The growing market for ancient grave goods, especially, promoted widespread interest in China’s ancient arts and created new collectors.

The reconstruction of the itineraries, acquisitions and personal contacts is based mainly on the unpublished material – letters, notebooks, receipts of acquisitions – in the Sirén archive (Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm). This helps us to understand Sirén’s choices for research topics at those times, for example, why was this well-known scholar of painting suddenly enthusiastic about archaeology and planned an archaeological excavation in China? The study will also clarify what made this internationally known scholar of Italian art to turn to Chinese art and in a sense begin his career anew.

Contents

1. In the Forbidden City [introduction]

2. Enchanted by Lohans in Boston

3. The first voyage to East Asia [1918]

4. The expedition that lasted too long [1921–1923]

5. The fruits of the 1921–1923 voyage

6. ”Promise full service”

7. Language lessons and curio-dealers [1929–1930]

8. Enhancing the Asian collection in the Nationalmuseum [1935]

9. The Canon of Chinese Painting

10. Garden as a refuge [epilogue]

This study is part of the research project A PORTRAIT OF ART HISTORY. CRITICAL APPROACHES TO THE FINNISH ART HISTORY AND HISTORIANS

dir. prof. Renja Suominen-Kokkonen

funded by Academy of Finland (2008–2011)

University of Helsinki, Institute fro Art Research, Art History

Abstracts II: Nordforsk

2009-07-29T06:19:00.007+01:00

Photograph by Osvald Sirén of his garden in Lidingö, Sweden, 1938 (from photo album in the Department of Art History, University of Helsinki)

NORDFORSK NETWORK

VISIONS OF THE PAST: IMAGES AS HISTORICAL SOURCES AND THE HISTORY OF ART HISTORY

Minna Törmä

> Reflection/Practice: Historiography, History and Conceptions of Contemporaneity

Stockholm, Sweden, September 2010

"Discovering Chinese Art and Art History"

The history of Western writings on Chinese art history is fairly young, roughly one hundred years. One of the pivotal figures among Western scholars and collectors when it comes to pioneering research and defining the canon of Chinese art is Finnish-Swedish art historian Osvald Sirén (1879–1966). My own research and the forthcoming publication New Horizons in East Asia: Osvald Sirén’s Encounter with Chinese Art focuses on the middle years of Sirén’s career mid-1910s to late 1930s, when the internationally known scholar of Italian art turned his eyes towards the East and in many respects began his career again.

The choice of focus on those particular decades springs not only from the fact that they form a fascinating period in Sirén’s career, but also from the importance of reflecting on the events from post-colonial perspective. The directions of present day research interests affect our choices when we define the scope and issues to be covered in our research. While endeavoring to understand the motives behind Sirén’s change of career and his subsequent projects concerning Chinese art, it is useful to keep in mind our own motives: why have I chosen this particular period? What does that choice tell about the present?

This research contains, in addition, reflection on the multiplicity of narrating the history of Chinese art: who is the narrator and what is the background? In Sirén’s times, there was a clear distinction whether the story was narrated by a Chinese or Japanese. Like Sirén, a western scholar or a collector would in the early years on the 20th century be introduced to Chinese art by a Japanese, which then determined the choice of emphasis. Presently, it is the western discipline of art history which directs and dominates the field.

> What Do Visual Representations Do? Processes, Performativity and Tradition

Bergen, Norway, September 2009

”A Chinese Emperor Plays Photographers Assistant”: Osvald Sirén’s Images of China

On a late May day in 1922, Osvald Sirén (1879–1966) was setting up his photographing equipment in one of the inner courtyards of the Forbidden City in Beijing. He had been granted a special priviledge to photograph the private quarters of the palace, where Puyi, the Last Emperor, resided with his court. His project took an interesting turn when the young Emperor appeared at his side directing him to views which would present the place to its best advantage.

My paper focuses on Sirén as a photographer and considers both the documentary and aesthetic dimensions of his work. The material consists of his photographs taken in China in 1918–1935, most of which have been published: The Walls and Gates of Peking (1924), Chinese Sculpture from the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century (1925), The Imperial Palaces of Peking (1926), Bilder från Kina (1936) and Gardens of China (1948). These publications have still today documentary value, since so much of what he captured by his camera was destroyed during the following turbulent decades in Chinese history. The illustrations form the outwork of the published research, like prefaces and introductions, bibliographies, critical reviews and footnotes. The documentary aspect of images is discussed in relation with the text: are the images explained or left alone to tell their own story.

The camera was, however, for Sirén more than a tool to document objectively for his research what he saw around him. He has mentioned that it was also his ”brush”: he could not use the brush like a Chinese painter, but he could paint with the camera. Photography was for him a form of expression, an art. In this respect, a question to be posed is whether one can detect changes over the years in the way Sirén composes his images.

> Encountering the Past: Theoretical Challenges and Critical Concepts

Pyhtää, Finland, 2008

The Formation of a Canon: Leading Masters of the History of Chinese Painting?

This paper focuses on different approaches to the Chinese painting canon by scholars and connoisseurs, the foremost example being the work of Osvald Sirén (1879–1966). Sirén was an internationally known scholar of Italian art and a pioneer of Chinese art studies in the West.

Sirén had formed his approach to analyzing paintings according to stylistic analysis, following the ideas of Giovenni Morelli and Bernanrd Berenson. From the Renaissance masters he moved in his researches to earlier periods concentrating on Giotto and also the so called primitive masters of the trecento and duegento. Around 1914 Sirén became captivated by Chinese art and decided to begin his career again, in a way. During the 1930s he concentrated on researching and writing the basic histories of Chinese painting: ”A History of Early Chinese Painting” (1933), ”The Chinese on the Art of Painting” (1936 and ”A History of Later Chinese Painting” (1938).

In Sirén’s work one can detect traces of the impact of Japanese scholarship on Chinese painting as well as the tradition of art history in China. In 1910s, when he first travelled to East Asia, he was introduced to Chinese art by connoisseurs and scholars in Japan. The Japanese had a long tradition of collecting Chinese art and since Japan was, in those days, more accessible for a foreign visitor, it was understandable that the Japanese collectors and scholars served as mediators and ’teachers’ for several westerners. During the 1920’s this situation began to change, when China slowly became more accessible and more westerners settled in Beijing and the Shanghai area.

Japan, then, formed one context where certain clearly defined conventions ruled and tastes determined what was to be appreciated and collected. In contrast, the context for the activities of a foreign collector or a scholar where only taking shape in China. Westerners were able to take on a more active role than in Japan: they could, for example, act as dealers as well, not only as admiring buyers. The investigation of Sirén’s work during this time will bring into focus various details related to this development and changes in the ways of action. In this respect, this study is part of the ongoing re-evaluation of orientalism. While the focus has been largely on orientalism concerning the Near East, Middle East, India – major examples in post-colonial criticism – some studies have recently taken a closer look at Chinese or Japanese cultural studies.

Abstracts I

2009-07-27T15:33:00.005+01:00

NORDIK 2009: MIND AND MATTER

Jyväskylä 17.–19.9.2009

session: ”Spiritual Landscapes”
> www.jyu.fi/hum/laitokset/taiku/en/nordik2009/timetable

Minna Törmä

Adjunct Professor of Art History

University of Helsinki

mktorma@gmail.com

AUSPICIOUS FURNISHINGS FOR THE DREAM ENVIRONMENT

This paper focuses on the use of landscape representations as a way of escape from the mundane world. The starting point for my discussion is a painting by an unidentified Academy painter called Palace Banquet (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) which has been associated with the Five Dynasties period (907–960) and the court of the Southern Tang dynasty (937–975). In this painting we have an illustration of a palace compound and the architecture is depicted in such a way that it offers glimpses into the interior quarters of the palace. Most importantly, it features screens and wall paintings with landscape images in the inner quarters where the inhabitants spent their leisure time and slept.

The Chinese have a long tradition of paying careful attention to the way they furnish their living quarters. Images – in the format of wallpaintings, hanging scrolls and screens – played an important part in creating a harmonious and auspicious environment. The mind could be set at ease also by gazing at images in portable formats: album leaves, fans and handscrolls. Their gardens were created as microcosmoses which provided proper settings for reclusion.

The Chinese have a expression woyou which literally means ”travelling while lying down” and which is a kind of contemplation. The most important types of screen paintings in this respect were couch screen and pillow screens. Both kinds of screens surrounded a person when resting or sleeping: a perfect moment for mind-travel. The main reasons behind mind-travel were: old age, sickness, relaxation in general, and meditation. Li is one of the basic concepts in Chinese philosophy and it can be translated as ”constitutive principlte”: it determines how things are structured. Paintings provide help in visualization. Therefore, paintings must follow and manifest the same li as is found in real landscape. Then, it is possible to relive the actual experience of wandering in one’s own mind. How this was understood to function in practice is discussed with the help of specific examples of screen and handscroll paintings.

Landscape Experience as Visual Narrative: Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127) Landscape Handscrolls in the Li Cheng – Yan Wengui Tradition

Minna Törmä

Ph.D., University of Helsinki

This study focuses on two landscape handscroll ”Luxuriant Forests and Distant Peaks,” in the Liaoning Provincial Museum, attributed to Li Cheng (919–967) and ”Pavilions and Mansion by Rivers and Mountains,” in the Osaka Municipal Art Museum, attributed to Yan Wengui (ca. 967–1044). The investigation of the relationship of these scrolls raises two related issues toward a better understanding of the history of the landscape handscrolls in the Northern Song period.

First, the Liaoning picture includes a colophon stating that the painting was originally mounted as a small folding screen. It has been argued that we must account for the specific characteristics of handscrolls, i.e., they were intended to be viewed section by section, but landscape screens like the Liaoning picture were clearly intended so that the entire composition should be on view. This habit of changing the format, which was common in China, should be taken into account in the structural analysis of these paintings.

The second issues concerns the functions of these paintings. A small folding screen could be a screen framing a bed or a pillow screen. Both kinds of screens were used in private quarters when resting or sleeping, the original context for woyou, ”mind-travel” (literally ”travelling while lying down”). A landscape handscroll could be used for the same purpose.

The study concludes by considering this relationship between sleep and dreams and the function of landscape paintings as environments for mind-travel. Analysis of the narrative structure of these scrolls in comparison with other Northern Song scrolls shows that in order for a composition to function well in this context, it should be structured so that it absorbs the viewer’s attention and recalls impressions of experienced wanderings.

Published by Academia Scientiarum Fennica:

Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennica, Humaniora 318 (2002)

> www.tsv.fi > bookstore

Curriculum Vitae (revised 23.9.2011)

2009-07-26T09:56:00.003+01:00

Lecturer/tutor of Arts of China

Christie's Education, London

Adjunct Professor of Art History

University of Helsinki

1. Academic and professional qualifications

4.5.2002: Ph.D. in Art History, Institute for Art Research, University of Helsinki

dissertation: Landscape Experience as Visual Narrative: Northern Song Landscape Handscrolls in the Li Cheng – Yan Wengui Tradition

2.6.1998: Licentiate of Philosophy, Art History

thesis: Pictorial Space in Chinese Painting: Interpretations of Western Art Historians

18.12.1990: Master’s degree in Art History (minors: Theatre History; Art Education)

additional studies abroad

5.1.-5.6.1998 post-graduate study: School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, prof. Roderick Whitfield

12.9.-18.9.1994 Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing: a short course on Chinese painting techniques and subjects

1.4.1993-30.3.1994 research and postgraduate studies in United States, funded by the Academy of Finland

- research in the following museums: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Cleveland Museum of Art, Nelson- Atkins Museum (Kansas City) ja Freer Gallery (Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.)

- post-graduate study: University of California Berkeley, prof. James Cahill

language skills

- native language: Finnish

- good active skills: English, Swedish, German

- passive: Chinese, French, Italian

2. Employment history

academic positions

1.10.2009 > Lecturer/tutor of Arts of China, Christie's Education, London (Associate staff, Art History, University of Glasgow)

1.1.–31.12.2008 Researcher, Research project A Portrait of Art History. Critical Approaches to the Finnish Art History and Historians, Institute of Art Research, Art History, U. of Helsinki (2008–2011; funded by the Academy of Finland)

> New Horizons in East Asia: Osvald Sirén’s Encounter with Chinese Art

1.3.–31.5.2007 deputy University lecturer in Art History, Institute of Art Research, Art History, U. of Helsinki

1.8.1996-31.7.1999 Research associate, Research project The Study of Asian and African Art (1996-2002; funded by the Academy of Finland)

> Landscape Experience as Visual Narrative: Northern Song Landscape Handscrolls in the Li Cheng – Yan Wengui Tradition

expert assistance to institutions

2007 ”With Osvald Sirén in Chinese Gardens”, organization committee of the exhibition, Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm

2005 ”Beliefs and Rituals in Ming–Qing Chinese Art”, an outline and a draft for an exhibition commissioned by Museum of Cultures, Helsinki (this was planned as a cultural exchange project (Finland-China))

2004 ”China-room” in the permanent collection, advisor and additional research on Chinese paintings, Museum of Cultures, Helsinki

administrative duties

- 1993 and 1997: member of the planning-committee of cultural exchange between Ministry of Education, Finland and Ministry of Culture, China

- 1996: curator of Finland, Sao Paulo Internation Biennial of Contemporary Art

- 1983: Tuusula, deputy director of museum Halosenniemi (4 1/2 months)

3. Teaching record

academic teaching in Finland

University of Helsinki

Courses given the Department of Art Research (art history) and Department of Asian and African Studies (sinology)

Practical course in Finnish art history spring 2004

Practical course in general art history autumn 2003

Practical course in Finnish art history spring 2003

Practical course in general art history autumn 2002

Painting and the history of art history autumn 2002

History of art during the Five Dynasties and the Song spring 2002

History of Chinese art autumn 2001

History of Chinese art 1996-1997

Lecture-seminar on non-western art 1994-1995

Regular duties:

- "Chinese art" and "Art in the Islamic world" -lectures as a part of the yearly introductory course of art history 1996-2010

- examiner of the sections of "East Asian art", ”Chinese and Japanese art” and "Islamic art" 1994-2008

University of Turku

Dept. of Cultural Production and Landscape Studies

lecture: ”Landscape Experience in Chinese Art” 14.9.2005

Art History

lecture series ”Painting and the history of art history” autumn 2003

Open University, Helsinki

- Practical course in general art history spring 2007

- since 1999: "Chinese art" lecture as a part of the yearly introductory course of art history

University of Industrial Arts and Design

- lectures on Chinese calligraphy and painting Feb. 2000

Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki

- lecture on Chinese landscape painting (2003) and a series of lectures on Chinese art (1994–1995)

Free Art School, Helsinki

- Painting and the history of art history (spring 2007)
- individual lectures on Chinese art (1999–2006) and lecture series on general art history (1991–1995)

Visiting lecturer (outside Finland)

University of Oxford

- Department of Art History

17.2.2011 lecture: ”Sweden, Italy and China: The Diverse World of Osvald Sirén’s Art Studies”

University of Zürich

- Institute of Art History, East Asian Art History

14.5.2009 lecture: ”New Horizons in East Asia: Osvald Sirén (1879–1966), a Pioneer of Chinese Art Studies”

School of Oriental and African Studies, London

- Department of Art and Archaeology

25.4.2008 lecture: ”New Horizons in East Asia: Osvald Sirén (1879–1966), a Pioneer of Chinese Art Studies” (East Asian Research Seminar)

University of Heidelberg

- Institute of East Asian Art History

8.2.2008 lecture: ”New Horizons in East Asia: Osvald Sirén (1879–1966), a Pioneer of Chinese Art Studies”

University of Geneva

- Département d’histoire de l’art

13.12.2006 lecture: ”Woyou: Travelling while lying down”

University of Stockholm

- Dept. of Oriental Languages

6.9.2004 lecture: ”Introduction to Chinese Art”

- Dept. of Art History

7.9.2004 lecture: ”Osvald Sirén: An Outline fo a Biography”

7.9.2004 seminar: ”Osvald Sirén and Research on Painting”

Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Stockholm

10.10.1996 lecture: ”Travelling in a painted landscape: Chinese landscape experience”

Christie’s Education, Lontoo

15.6.2009 lecture: ”Gardens of the Ming and Qing Dynasties”
24.4.2009 lecture: ”The Wu School and Dong Qichang”
2.3.2009 lecture: ”Landscape painting of the Yuan”
30.1.2009 lecture: ”Landscape painting of the Southern Song”
9.1.2009 lecture: ”Landscape Painting from the Tang to the Northern Song”
5.6.2008 lecture: ”Chinese Gardens in the Company of Osvald Sirén: Early 20th Century Perceptions”
24.4.2008 lecture: ”New Horizons in East Asia: Osvald Sirén (1879–1966), a Pioneer of Chinese Art Studies”

evaluations of doctoral dissertations

- opponent in a doctoral disputation: 28.5.2004, Fang Hai, Chinesism in Modern Furniture Design: The Chair as an Example, University of Industrial Arts and Design, Helsinki

- member of the evaluation board of doctoral dissertation: 22.2.2008, Si Han, A Chinese Word on Image: Zheng Qiao (1104–1162) and His Thought on Images, Dept. of Art History and Visual Studies, University of Gothenburg

- preliminary examiner of doctoral dissertation: 30.10.2006, Inkamaija Iitiä, Käsitteellisestä ruumiilliseen, sitaatiosta paikkaan [”From Conceptual to Physical, from Situation to Place”], Institute for Art Research, Art History, U. of Helsinki

supervised doctoral dissertations

2005-2008 Hanne Selkokari, ”Taidehistorioitsija Eliel Aspelin-Haapkylä keräilijän roolissa” [”Treasures of a Patriot, Eliel Aspelin Haapkylä as an Art Collector and Art Historian”], Institute for Art Research, Art History, U. of Helsinki

2005-2011 Minna Valjakka, ”Many faces of Mao Zedong”, Institute for Art Research, Art History, U. of Helsinki

2002-2008 Jukka O. Miettinen, ”Dance Images in Temples of Mainland Southeast Asia”, Dept. of Dance, Theatre Academy, Helsinki

post-graduate workshops

21.9.2006 ”Tradition and Visual Culture” NORDIK-conference, University of Bergen: supervisor-commentator in a one-day-workshop for Ph.D. candidates

evaluation and supervision of Master’s theses

19.5.2008 Anu Isoaho, ”Päivitetyt pin up -kuvat – David LaChapellen valokuvat spektaakkelin yhteiskunnassa” [”Updated Pin-up Images – the photographs of David LaChapelle in the Society of Spectacle”], Institute for Art Research, Art History, U. of Helsinki

19.5.2008 Katja Kuuramaa, ”Kan B’ahlam and the Maize God – Picture Program of a Classic Maya Ruler”, Institute for Art Research, Art History, U. of Helsinki

16.5.2007 Eero Ehanti, ”The Zeituna House: A Damascene Courtyard House and its Restoration”, Institute for Art Research, Art History, U. of Helsinki

17.5.2006 Kaija Ikäläinen, ”Postmodernia irrottelua: komiikasta nykytaiteessa” [”Postmodern Loosening: Comic Aspects in Contemporary Art”], Institute for Art Research, Art History, U. of Helsinki

2003-2005 Minna Valjakka, ”Zhuangzin tarinoiden kuvaaminen taolaisessa taiteessa” [”Representations of Zhuangzi in Daoist Art”], Institute of Asian and African Studies, Sinology, U. of Helsinki

2002-2004 Arja Parkkonen, ”Zen-buddhalaisten kuvamotiivien vaellushistoria ja kuvan ja tekstin suhde” [”Transformations of Zen-Buddhist Pictorial Motifs and the Relationship between Image and Text”], Institute for Art Research, Art History, U. of Helsinki

other diploma work
26.2.2007 Andreas Lycke, Diploma work in the Dept. of Space-Time, Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki

13.5.2003 Sandra Kantanen, Diploma work in the Dept. of Photography, University of Industrial Arts and Design, Helsinki

Development of appropriate teaching materials

University of Helsinki, The prize for teaching technology, honorary prize 2002

”Software for the organization and presentation of visual material: Easel”

group: Ph.D. Minna Törmä, Phil.lic. Johanna Vakkari and photographer Tuomo Lehtinen

Significant research funding and scholarships received

2009 Wihuri Foundation (10000€): ”Ten Kings of Purgatory”
2007 Finnish Cultural Foundation (16000€): Osvald Sirén in East Asia 1918–1935

2007 Finnish Swedish Cultural Foundation (1 week/Stockholm)

2005 Finnish Cultural Foundation (16000€): Osvald Sirén’s scholarly and curatorial work

2004 Finnish Swedish Cultural Foundation (2 weeks/Stockholm)

2004 Wihuri Foundation (14000€): Chinese art in Finnish collections

2001 Finnish Cultural Foundation (2000€): Travel grant, Association of Asian Studies, Annual Meeting/Chicago

2000 Rector’s grant (University of Helsinki) (3000€): Ph.D. dissertation

1996 Finnish Cultural Foundation: travel-grant for Song-Yuan symposium, New York & Princeton, New Jersey

1993-1994 Academy of Finland: post-graduate studies in United States: University of California, Berkeley

4. Publications

scientific monographs

--, 2002. Landscape Experience as Visual Narrative: Northern Song Dynasty Landscape Handscrolls in the Li Cheng – Yan Wengui Tradition. Humaniora 318. 105 pages + 53 images. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica.

scientific publications: referee practice

--, 2013 (forthcoming). "In Search of Paradise Lost: Osvald Sirén's Scholarship on Garden Art," in Reception of Chinese Art across Cultures, ed. by Michelle Huang. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
--, 2009. ”Tour around the World of Art: An Art Historical Excursion to Berlin in 1919”, in Towards a Science of Art History: J.J. Tikkanen and Art Historical Scholarship in Europe, ed. by Johanna Vakkari. Art Historical Studies 38. Helsinki

--, 2006/2007. ”Osvald Sirén: Tracing His Path in Art History”, in Zurich Studies in the History of Art, Georges Bloch Annual, vol. 13/14, ed. by Wolfgang F. Kersten ja R. Daniel Schneiter, 333-339. Zürich.

--, 2007. ”Decade of Change: 1920’s in the Life of Osvald Sirén”, in The Shaping of Art History in Finland, ed. by Renja Suominen-Kokkonen, 157-168. Art Historical Studies 36. Helsinki: The Society of Art History.

--, 1999. ”Looking at Chinese Landscape Painting: Problems of Spatial Representation”, in Looking at Other Cultures: Works of Art as Icons of Memory, ed. by Anja Kervanto-Nevanlinna, 119-135. Art Historical Studies 22. Helsinki: The Society of Art History.

other scientific publications

--, 2012 (forthcoming). "Osvald Sirén as a Collector of Chinese Art." Art and Collection Monthly (Diancang)
--, 2012 (forthcoming). "Osvald Sirén's German Contacts in Berlin 1927." Ostasiatische Zeitschrift
--, 2011 (forthcoming). ”James Elkins. Chinese Landscape Painting as Western Art History.” Konsthistorisk tidskrift. (book review)

--, 2011. ”Osvald Sirén’s Encounter with the Arts of China and Japan,” in Questioning Oriental Aesthetics and Thinking: Conflicting Visions of ”Asia” under the Colonial Empires, ed. by Shigemi Inaga, 83-90. Kyoto: International Center for Japanese Studies.
--, 2009. ”Enchanted by Lohans in Boston: Tales of Osvald Sirén’s Encounter with Chinese Art” (in English and in Chinese), in The First China Contemporary Art Forum, Collection of Essays, vol. 1, 55-67. Beijing.

--, 2008. The Art Seminar: Landscape Theory. James Elkins, Racheal DeLue, Minna Törmä et al., 87-156. London: Routledge. (This is the publication born from the roundtable discussion held in Ballyvaughn, Ireland in 2006, my contribution is part of the transcript of the discussion which was taped and edited.)

--, 2007. ”The Roles of Art in the Life of a Chinese Literatus. (Craig Clunas, Elegant Debts: The Social Art of Wen Zhengming). Konsthistorisk tidskrift, vol. 76/4, 247-249. (book review)

--, 2006. ”Taiteen rooleista kiinalaisen oppineen virkamiehen elämässä” (Craig Clunas, Elegant Debts: The Social Art of Wen Zhengming), Synteesi 1/2006: 97-99. (book review)

--, 2003. ”Osvald Sirén”, Svenskt biografiskt lexikon, vol. 157, ed. by Åsa Karlsson, 266-273. Stockholm.

--, 1993. ”Kiinalaisen maisemamaalauksen kuvatila: tulkintaongelmia” [”Pictorial Space in Chinese Landscape Painting: Problems in Interpretation”], in Kultaa, mirhamia: 10 kirjoitusta taidehistoriasta, ed. by Jukka Ervamaa, 82-97. Helsinki: Dept. of Art History, University of Helsinki.

--, 1993. ”Osvald Sirén – Kiinan taiteen tutkimuksen edelläkävijä” [”Osvald Sirén – A Pioneer of Chinese Art Studies”], in Katse Kaukoitään – Suomalaista Itä-Aasian tutkimusta, ed. by Lauri Harvilahti ja Jouko Seppänen. Helsinki: Society of East Asian Studies.

books related with scientific work

--, 2000 (2nd printing 2011). Kirja teestä. Translation of Kakuzo Okakura’s Book of Tea with an introduction. 117 pages. Helsinki: Taide.

--, 1999. Metsien ja virtojen ylevä viesti. Guo Xin (n. 1001 - n. 1090) ajatuksia maisemamaalauksesta. Translations from Chinese Linquan gaozhi [”The Lofty Message of Forests and Streams”] with an introduction and commentary. 101 pages. Helsinki: Taide.

articles related with scientific work

--, 2011. ”Kolme täydellisyyttä – kalligrafia, runous ja maalaustaide” [”The Three Perfections – Calligraphy, Poetry and Painting”], in Itämaiden estetiikka, ed. by Minna Eväsoja. Helsinki: University of Helsinki Press.

--, 2009. ”Ruotsi, Italia ja Kiina – Osvald Sirénin taiteentutkimuksen maailma”/”Sverige, Italien och Kina – Osvald Sirén och konstforskningen”/”Sweden, Italy and China – the Diverse World of Osvald Sirén’s Art Studies”, in Kokoelma/Samling/Collection Osvald Sirén, ed. by Maria Didrichsen, 10-17/18-25/26-33. Helsinki.

--, 2008. ”Insiders in the Landscape”, in exhibition catalogue Insiders in Landscape, 7-8. Helsinki: Frame.

--, 2007. ”Miten kirjoittaa taiteesta globaalissa maailmassa?” [”How to Write about Art in the Global World”?], interview of James Elkins, Taide 3/07, 16-18.

--, 2007. ”China Memories: Excerpts from Osvald Sirén’s Notebooks and Correspondece”/”Minnen Från Kina: utdrag ur Osvald Siréns anteckiningar och korrespondens”, in I Kinas Trädgårdar med Osvald Sirén/With Osvald Sirén in the Chinese Gardens, 16-23/9-15. Stockholm: Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities.

--, 2006. ”Kustaa Hiekan kiinalaiset matkamuistot” [”The Chinese Souvernirs of Kustaa Hiekka”], 101-112. Tampere: Hiekka Art Museum.

--, 2005. ”Kiinalainen juttu valokuvassa”/”Något kinesiskt”/”Something Chinese”, in Sandra Kantanen: maisema ja muunnelmia/landscape and variations, 3-5/6-8/9-11. Helsinki: Galleria Anhava

--, 2004. ”Ristiin rastiin Kiinassa: junassa, jalkapatikassa ja nojatuolissa matkaten” [”Criss-cross around China: in trains, by foot and in arm-chair”], in Minun Kiinani, ed. by Riikka Saarenpää, 96-101. Helsinki: The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission.

--, 2004, ”Maalari tilassa” [The Painter in Space”], Katsaus 2-3/2004: 9-11.

--. 2004. ”Silkeille kirjottu” [”Embroidered on Silk”], in Neulalla maalattu: silkkikirjonta kuvataiteena, 17-20. Helsinki: Finland-China Society.

--, 2004. ”Landscape: Photographs of Time and Place”, Framework 1/2004, 119 (book review)

--, 2003. ”Huomioita Kiinan taiteesta”/”Observations on Chinese Art”, in Aarteita Afrikasta ja keisarien Kiinasta/Treasures from Africa and Imperial China, ed. by Tuulikki Vilhunen, 77-80. Hämeenlinna: Karisto.

--, 2003. ”Maalaus ja valokuva – ontologisia pohdintoja” [”Painting ans Photography – Ontological Musings”] Taide 4/03, 8-11.

--, 2002. ”Pinta ja sanat: Victor Segalenin kertomia kuvia” [”Surface and Words: The Images Narrated by Victor Segalen”]. Foreword to Victor Segalen’s Peintures, translated into Finnish by Marja Haapio, 5-11. Helsinki: Basam Books.

--, 2000. "Art and art history: views of Ming artists on the history of Chinese art", in Bamboo and the garden stone: Chinese art of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), 30-36. Espoo: Espoo City.

--, 2000. ”Dong Qichang – kulttuuripersoona Ming-kaudelta” [”Dong Qichang – Cultural Personage from the Ming Dynasty”], Kiina sanoin ja kuvin 3, 20-22.

--, 2000. ”Kulttuurimatkailua Itä-Aasiassa 1400–1600-luvuilla” [”Culture Travels in East Asian from the 15th to 17th century”], Helsingin Sanomat, 3.9.2000.

--, 1997. ”Kiinalaista taidekäsityötä” [”Chinese arts and crafts”], Kiina sanoin ja kuvin 1, 7-8.

--, 1996. "Nature Document", in Bienal Internacional de Sao Paulo, 23, Sao Paulo, 162-165. Sao Paulo: Fundacao Bienal de Sao Paulo.

--, 1996. ”Katsoja matkaa maalatussa maisemassa ja tutkii samalla mielensä ulottuvuuksia” [”The Viewer Travels Through a Painted Landscape and Explores the Dimensions if His Mind”], Iisalmen Sanomat, 29.9.1996.

--, 1996. ”Keisari ja maalausrulla: Kiinan keisarilliset taideaarteet kiertävät Yhdysvaltoja” [The Empror and the Handscoll: Chinese Imperial Treasures on a Tour in the United States”] , Helsingin Sanomat, 11.9.1996.

--, 1996. ”Keisarillisen taidekokoelman loistoa” [”The splendour of the imperial art collection”], Kiina sanoin ja kuvin 2, 7-9.

--, 1996. ”Keittiössä Su Dongpon seurassa” [”In the kitchen with Su Dongpo”], Kiina sanoin ja kuvin 4, 14.

--, 1996. ”Kiinan etnohistoriaa & pronssipeilejä” [China’s etnohistory and bronze mirrors”], interview of professor Juha Janhunen, Kiina sanoin ja kuvin 1, 2-6.

--, 1996. ”Matolta tuolille: kiinalaisen huonekalun matka taide-esineeksi” [”From mat to chair: the journey of Chinese furniture to art”], Kiina sanoin ja kuvin 3, 3-4.

--, 1995. ”Kiinan naiset” [”Women in China”], Kiina sanoin ja kuvin 3.

--, 1995, ”Muodon muutoksia” [”Transformations”], Kiina sanoin ja kuvin 2.

--, 1995. ”Small cult objects for devotional exercises”, in Pekka Nevalainen: Piiri/Sphere, 30-31. Publications of the Museum for Contemporary Art 32. Helsinki: Museum of Contemporary Art.

--, 1995. ”Runosta kuvaksi” [”From poem to picture”], Kiina sanoin ja kuvin 4.

--, 1994. ”Kiinalaista?” [”Chinese?”], Out of the Centre – Chinese Contemporary Art In the Pori Art Museum, Taide 4/94.

--, 1994. ”Kiinan maalaustaiteen tutkimuksen nykypäivä” [”The study of Chinese painting today”], Kiina sanoin ja kuvin 2.

--, 1994. ”Montako taideakatemiaa korkea on Taishan?” [”How many CAFA buildings would fit the height of Taishan?”], Kiina sanoin ja kuvin 3.

--, 1993. Aito kopio – jäljentäminen Kiinan taiteessa [”The Geniune Copy: Copying in Chinese Art”]. Exhibition catalogue. Helsinki: Finland-China Society.

--, 1993. ”Come piu belli li sapranno fare” (On the paintings of Silja Rantanen), Taide 3/93.

--, 1991. ”Kiinalainen juttu” [”Something Chinese”], Taide 4/91.

--, 1991. ”Tilaa ajatuksille” [”Room for Thought”], Silja Rantanen in Galerie Artek, Taide 6/91.

--, 1985. ”Matkalla kohti uusia ilmaisumuotoja” [”Towards New Forms of Expression in Art”] in Performance 85. Publications of the Art Hall. Helsinki.

--, 1984. ”Pekka Nevalaisen taiteesta”, Synkooppi 1/84.

presentations in conferences

2010 Annual Meeting of British Association of Asian Studies, Bristol: "Garden as a Refuge: Osvald Sirén's Reminiscences and Appropriations of Chinese Garden Art"
2010 College Art Association, Chicago: ”Playing All the Roles: Osvald Sirén as Curator, Collector, Dealer and Art Historian”

2009 Nordic conference of art historians, Jyväskylä, Finland: ”Auspicious Furnishings for the Dream Environment”

2009 Nordforsk network seminar, Bergen, Norway: ”A Chinese Emperor Plays Photographer’s Assistant”

2009 The First China Contemporary Art Forum, International Conference on Art Theory and Criticism, Beijing, invited speaker: ”Changing Perceptions of Chinese Art”

2008 Nordforsk network seminar Encountering the Past, Pyhtää: ”The Formation of A Canon: Leading Masters of the History of Chinese Painting”

2007 Conference Towards a Science of Art History: J.J. Tikkanen and Art Historical Scholarship in Europe, Helsinki: ”In the Netherworld: Osvald Sirén’s Role in the Art Market”

2007 Annual Meeting of the Association of Asian Studies (AAS), Boston: ”Enchanted by Lohans in Boston: A Turning Point in Osvald Sirén’s Career”

2006 Landscape Theory - roundtable, Ballyvaughan, Ireland: invited discussant

2005 Seminar of the the History of Art Historical Research in Finland, Helsinki: ”Osvald Sirén, analysis of style and the canon of Chinese painting.”

2003 Nordic conference of art historians, Aarhus, Denmark: "Ancient objects in a modern setting: The Didrichsen Art Museum."

2001 Annual Meeting of the Association of Asian Studies, Chicago: "Format, experience, and narrative structure in early Northern Song landscape painting."

1996 Erasmus II intensive course in Chinese art and archaeology, Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm: "Osvald Sirén – a biography."

1995 Ex Oriente Lux - East Asian Research in Finland, U. of Helsinki: ”Kiinalaisen maisemarullan rakenteesta” [”On the structure of a Chinese Landscape Handscroll”]

visiting lectures (recent)

Oriental Ceramic Society, Stockholm 22.9.2010
"Kinesiska möbler"
Ostasiatische Abteilung, Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Berliini 6.3.2008

”New Horizons in East Asia: Osvald Sirén, a Pioneer of Chinese Art Studies”

Vapriikki, Tampere 19.9.2007

”Metsien ja virtojen ylevä viesti” [”The Lofty Message of Forests and Streams”]

Kouvola Art Museun 9.6.2007

”Matkaajia vuorilla ja joilla: Kiinalaisesta perinteisestä maalaustaiteesta” [”Travellers on Streams and Mountains: On Traditional Chinese Painting”]

Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm 27.5.2007

”Osvald Sirén”

Satakunta College, Kankaanpää 8.2.2007

”Metsien ja virtojen ylevä viesti” [”The Lofty Message of Forests and Streams”]

Hiekka Art Museum, Tampere 7.2.2007

”Kiinalaista taidetta suomalaisissa kokoelmissa” [”Chinese Art in Finnish Collections”]

Kiasma/Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki 5.10.2006

”Metsien ja virtojen ylevä viesti” [”The Lofty Message of Forets and Streams”]

Espoon työväenopisto, Tapiola/Espoo 5.4.2006

”Kiinan maalaustaide ja kalligrafia” [”Chinese Painting and Calligraphy”]

Open University, Kotka 4.4.2006

”Kiinalainen maalaustaide” [”Chinese Painting”]

Kiasma/Museum of Conteporary Art, Helsinki 26.10.2005

”Kiinalainen puutarha mielenmaisemana” [”Chinese garden as a mind landscape”]

Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki 31.3.2004

”Kolme yksityistä kiinalaisen taiteen kokoelmaa” [”Three Private Collections of Chinese Art”]

Kiasma/Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki 4.2.2004

”Maalarin katse” [”Painter’s Gaze”]

The Art Academy, Helsinki 7.2.2003

”Matkalla kiinalaisessa maisemassa” [”Travelling in a Chinese landscape”]

The Mission Museum, Helsinki 21.10.2002

"Kiinalaisesta taiteesta"["On Chinese art"]

Art Museum, Kuopio 9.5.2001

"Kiinalainen maisemamaalaus" ["Chinese landscape painting"]

Art Museum, Hämeenlinna 1.3.2001

"Kiinalaista perinteistä maalaustaidetta" ["Traditional Chinese painting"]

Espoon työväenopisto 27.9.2000

"Maalaustaide ja kalligrafia Ming-Kaudella" ["Painting and calligraphy during the Ming dynasty"]

Galleria Otso, Espoo 23.9.2000

"Näkymiä kultivoituneeseen elämään Ming-kauden Suzhoussa" ["Glimpses of cultivated life in Ming dynasty Suzhou"]

Galleria Otso, Espoo 16.9.2000

"Kiinan maalaustaiteen historia Dong Qichangin silmin" ["The history of Chinese painting as viewed by Dong Qichang"]