Episode No. 709 of The Modern Art Notes Podcast features author Adrienne L. Childs and curator Iris Moon.
Childs is the author of “Ornamental Blackness: The Black Figure in European Decorative Arts.” The book, which was published by Yale University Press, examines the role decorative arts played in the representation of Black people within European visual and material culture. Amazon and Bookshop offer it for $44-78.
From the show:
- The exhibition guide to the 2022-23 Henry Moore Institute exhibition “Race, Sexuality and Disorder in Victorian Sculpture,” which Childs co-curated.
Moon is the curator of “Monstrous Beauty: A Feminist Revision of Chinoiserie” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The exhibition is a feminist construction of the story of European porcelain. Chinese porcelain arrived in early modern Europe and led to the emergence of chinoiserie, a decorative style that foregrounded European fantasies about the East and the exotic, as well as about women, sexuality, and race. It is on view through August 17. The exhibition catalogue was published by the Met. Amazon and Bookshop offer it for about $35.
Instagram: Adrienne Childs, Tyler Green.
Air date: June 5, 2025.
Baldassarre Longhena in collaboration with four other men, Tomb of Doge Giovanni Pesaro, 1665-69.
Andrea Brustolon, Portavaso, ca. 1690-1710.
No longer known maker, Camel with Two Moors, ca. 1700-05.
Johann Joachim Kändler and Johann Friedrich Eberlien, Meissen, Sugar Bowl in the Shape of a Woman near a Basket, 1741.
Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory, Pair of sugar boxes, ca. 1760.
No longer known maker, Pair of sugar casters in the form of slaves carrying sugarcane, ca. 1730-40.
Sugar bowl, blue glass, about 1820-30.
Charles-Henri-Joseph Cordier, African Venus, ca. 1851, (RISD Museum.)
Charles Cordier, African Venus, 1852. (Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.)
Charles Cordier, The African Woman, 1867.
Charles Cordier, Sudanese Man in Algerian Costume, 1856-57.
Unknown Chinese maker for the European market, Woman with a pipe, ca. 1760-80.
Adriaen Kocks, The ‘Greek A’ Factory, Ewer and Stand, ca. 1694.
China, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period, Vase with women enjoying scholarly pursuits, late 17th-early 18thC.
Godfrey Kneller, Diana de Vere, Duchess of Saint Albans, ca. 1691.
The ‘Greek A’ factory, Tile with a bust of William III, ca. 1694.
Daniel Marot, ‘Greek A’ factory, Milk pan, ca. 1689-94.
Chinese, made for the European market, Figurines of possibly pregnant ladies in repose, ca. 1750.
Chelsea porcelain manufactory, Joseph Willems modeler, Lady with a child and a cat playing with a string toy, ca. 1750-52.
Chelsea porcelain manufactory, Joseph Willems modeler, Lady with a child and a cat playing with a string toy, ca. 1750-52.
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