Jottings from the Granite Studio

Ming dynasty historian Craig Clunas, author of the classic Superfluous Things: Material Culture and Social Status in Ming China, has been named chair of the Art History department at Oxford University. Clunas’ work explores the intersection between material and social culture, most notably in his application of Bourdieu’s theories of ’social capital’ to describe elite strategies to define and perpetuate their status in times of social or economic upheavel. Two of his other books are also highly recommended, Elegant Debts: The Social art of Wen Zhengming and Fruitful Sites: Garden Culture in Ming China. (If you’ve noticed a trend/formula to his titles, you’re not alone.) He is also the author of the forthcoming Empire of Great Brightness: Visual and Material Culture of Ming China, 1368-1644.
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painting on right, Wen Zhengming, “Garden of an Unsuccessful Politician,” 1551