Jennifer Purtle

Jennifer Purtle (Chinese name: 裴珍妮) is Associate Professor of Chinese and East Asian Art History in the Department of History, University of Toronto. Her research focuses on the artistic landscape of China, especially that of Fujian province, engaging questions of local and regional production of painting in relation to Chinese empires (e.g., in a forthcoming monograph, Placing Local Painting in Late Imperial China). She is also interested in the circulation of art objects in the medieval world system, especially in the Great Mongol Empire. Dr. Purtle is currently working on a book-length project that traces the intersection of local and global art history in Fujian across the Song and Yuan dynasties. She also writes on topics in premodern Chinese art history and visual culture such as women artists, eco art, and optical media.

Beyond her principal areas of interest, she developed a secondary interest in the art and visual culture of twentieth-century China by teaching this material at the undergraduate and graduate levels at The University of Chicago (1998–2005), mentored by Wu Hung. These interests have culminated in her role as curator of the exhibition Reading Revolution: Art and Literacy during China’s Cultural Revolution (Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, 2016), and a co-edited volume on modern art and visual culture in East Asia (University of Chicago, 2009).