Michael J. Hatch

Position
Ph.D., 2015
Role
Chinese Art
Bio/Description

Profile

Michael J. Hatch is an assistant professor of East Asian art history at Miami University in Ohio. He researches the history of Chinese painting from the 18th century to the 21st century, with interests in: the theories of painting, the question of modernity in China, the historiography of Chinese painting, and the relationships between painting and other media.

His current research takes the work of the literati painter Qian Du (1764–1844) as a case study in order to argue that the senses of touch, hearing, and smell were central to the processes of appreciating literati painting in China, and that throughout the history of literati painting in China, from 1100–1900, there existed a sensuous mode of viewing that complimented more blatantly intellectual ways of appreciating painting. He is pursuing a second research topic on ideas of linearity and brushwork in early modern and modern Chinese painting.

Michael has a background working in museums, auction houses, and galleries. In 2012 he curated a show titled “Qian Du (1764–1844) and Style in Qing Dynasty Landscape Painting” at the Princeton University Art Museum. He has written arts criticism for The Brooklyn Rail, Artforum International, Artforum.com, and Yishu: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art. From 2006 to 2008 he lived in Beijing, where he was a client relations officer at China’s preeminent auction house, China Guardian, and before that he worked in New York at Kaikodo Gallery.

Selected Publications

“Learning about Asian Art from Ad Reinhardt,” The Brooklyn Rail, Ad Reinhardt Centennial, 1913–2013 (Dec. 2013–Jan. 2014).

 “Fresh Ink: Ten Takes on Chinese Tradition, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,” LEAP: The Bilingual Art Magazine of Contemporary China 7 (January, 2011).

“The Third Mind: American Artists Contemplate Asia: 1860–1989, and Outside In: Chinese × American × Contemporary Art,” Yishu: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art 8.4 (July/August 2009).

“Reviews, Beijing—Zhao Liang: Three Shadows Photography Art Center,” Artforum International 47.1 (September 2008).

“Reboot—The Third Chengdu Biennale: A Review,” Yishu: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art 7.1 (January/February 2008).