Alistair Craig Clunas (born 1 December 1954 in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

) is Professor Emeritus of History of Art at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. As a historian of the art and history of China, Clunas has focused particularly on the

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

(1368–1644).

Life

Clunas attended

Aberdeen Grammar School Aberdeen Grammar School is a state secondary school in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is one of thirteen secondary schools run by the Aberdeen City Council educational department. It is the oldest school in the city and one of the oldest grammar school ...

from 1959 to 1972, which was followed by a Diploma with Distinction in spoken and written modern Chinese from the Peking Languages Institute in Beijing. He next majored in Chinese Studies at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

as an undergraduate, graduating with a BA (First Class Honours) in 1977 and afterwards went to the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...

(SOAS) at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

where he wrote his PhD dissertation on ''Injanasi's "Nigen Dabqur Asar": a Sino-Mongolian novel of the 19th century'' (completed 1983) under the supervision of

Charles Bawden Charles Roskelly Bawden, FBA (22 April 1924 – 11 August 2016) was a professor of the Mongolian language in the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London from 1970 to 1984. Early years Charles Bawden was b ...

. Clunas began his scholarly career at

the Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, where for 15 years he was on the curatorial staff and was responsible for the installation of new Chinese galleries. In 1994, he moved to the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

, where he became Professor of History of Art in 1997. In 2003, he returned to SOAS where he was the Percival David Professor of Chinese and East Asian Art from 2004. He took up the position of the University of Oxford's Professor of the History of Art in 2007, becoming - as with all previous holders of the Professorship - a fellow of

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

. He was the first holder of the Chair in the History of Art to specialise in art from Asia. He retired from the role in 2018, becoming Professor Emeritus of the History of Art, University of Oxford. He served as Visiting Professor of Chinese Art at

Gresham College Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in Central London, England. It does not enroll students or award degrees. It was founded in 1596 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham, and hosts ove ...

in London in 2017-18, delivering a series of lectures. He has contributed to radio programmes including ''

In Our Time In Our Time may refer to: * ''In Our Time'' (1944 film), a film starring Ida Lupino and Paul Henreid * ''In Our Time'' (1982 film), a Taiwanese anthology film featuring director Edward Yang; considered the beginning of the "New Taiwan Cinema" * ''In ...

'' with

Melvyn Bragg Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg, (born 6 October 1939), is an English broadcaster, author and parliamentarian. He is best known for his work with ITV as editor and presenter of ''The South Bank Show'' (1978–2010), and for the BBC Radio 4 documenta ...

and ''

A History of the World in 100 Objects ''A History of the World in 100 Objects'' was a joint project of BBC Radio 4 and the British Museum, consisting of a 100-part radio series written and presented by British Museum director Neil MacGregor. In 15-minute presentations broadcast on ...

'' with

Neil MacGregor Robert Neil MacGregor (born 16 June 1946) is a British art historian and former museum director. He was editor of the ''The Burlington Magazine, Burlington Magazine'' from 1981 to 1987, then Director of the National Gallery, London, from 1987 ...

Publications

Clunas has published extensively on early modern China, his books include: * ''Superfluous Things: Material Culture and Social Status in Early Modern China'' (1991) * ''Fruitful Sites: Garden Culture in Ming Dynasty China'' (1996) * ''Pictures and Visuality in Early Modern China'' (1997) * ''Art in China'' (1997; 2009) * ''Elegant Debts: The Social Art of Wen Zhengming, 1470–1559'' (2004) * ''Empire of Great Brightness: Visual and Material Cultures of Ming China, 1368–1644'' (2007), based on his lectures as

Slade Professor of Fine Art The Slade Professorship of Fine Art is the oldest professorship of art and art history at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and University College, London. History The chairs were founded concurrently in 1869 by a bequest from the art collecto ...

at Oxford in 2004 * ''Screen of Kings: Royal Art and Power in Ming China'' (2013) * (ed., with Harrison-Hall, Jessica), ''Ming: 50 years that changed China'', 2014 (exhibition catalogue), British Museum Press, * ''Chinese Painting and its Audiences'' (Princeton University Press, 2017)

References

* "Craig Clunas", in Jason Kuo ed, ''Discovering Chinese Painting: Dialogues with Art Historians'' (Dubuque Iowa, 2006), pp. 217–26

External links

Biography at University of OxfordBibliography of Publications by Craig Clunas, 1978-2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clunas, Craig 1954 births Living people British sinologists Scottish art historians Slade Professors of Fine Art (University of Oxford) People educated at Aberdeen Grammar School