Week 7 Seminar: The market sourcebook

Shortlisting three disputed paintings for week 8's case study from a sourcebook of Suzhou pian production records.

19 April 2027

Before the seminar#

Skim the market sourcebook (workshop records, sale catalogues, and collector correspondence, provided as translated excerpts) and flag two or three paintings that catch your attention as genuinely contested rather than merely undocumented.

In the seminar#

As a whole group, work from everyone’s flagged paintings down to a shortlist of three: the ones with real, documented disagreement in the literature, spread across different kinds of dispute (a materials question, a stylistic one, a provenance one) rather than three versions of the same argument.

Afterwards#

The shortlist decided here is what week 8 works from, and it’s also where the dossier’s painting will usually come from. If you already know which of the three you want to argue, start reading ahead.