Prof. Barbieri-Low awarded College Art Association Book Award

Artisans in Early Imperial China wins Charles Rufus Morey Book Award

Prof. Barbieri-Low‘s Artisans in Early Imperial China has been named as the winner of the College Art Association Charles Rufus Morey Book Award.

The Charles Rufus Morey Book Award, named in honor of one of the founding members of CAA and first teachers of art history in the United States, was established in 1953. This award honors an especially distinguished book in the history of art, published in the English language in the year from September 1, 2007 through August 31, 2008. Preference is given in the award of the prize to books, including catalogues raisonnés, by a single author. The award will be presented at the CAA Annual Conference Convocation on Wednesday, February 25th at the Convention Center in LA.

From the CAA announcement:
“In this book, a magisterial study of the myriad and mostly anonymous artisans of early imperial China, Anthony J. Barbieri-Low examines the lives of artisans—from the men and women working in the royal court to the indentured workers in prison and slave camps—who crafted objects as diverse as lacquer bowls, stone funerary monuments, bronze lamps, ceramic sculpture, and wall paintings. Artisans in Early Imperial China goes far beyond the materialist analysis of works, adding an often-overlooked human dimension to an already brilliant synthesis of social history, archaeology, anthropology, and aesthetics.”

hm 12/22/08