Media Relations
News Releases
For Release Upon Receipt - August 9, 2000
Contact:
Joan Schwartz, , joans@bu.edu
OF BATTLE AND BEAUTY: FELICE BEATO'S PHOTOGRAPHS OF CHINA AT THE BOSTON UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY
(Boston, Mass.) — This extraordinary series of images, photographed in 1860 during the Second Opium War, was made by Felice Beato, a commercial photographer who accompanied the British and French forces fighting in China over period of eight months.
They are among the earliest photographs known, and the first taken during an actual military campaign. Beato documented European forces as they seized Beijing, destroyed the Old Summer Palace, and forced the Chinese Empire to accept a new and sweeping treaty.
The exhibition includes 85 photographs, including the earliest known images of Beijing, and the only surviving photographs of Wanshoushan, an imperial park burnt by British forces in 1860. The exhibition was organized by the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and exhibited there in March and April of this year. Boston University is the second venue for this exhibition.
Prince Kung, Brother of the Emperor
of China, Signer of the Treaty
November 2, 1860
Albumen Silver Print
Treasury Street, Canton, April 1860
Albumen Silver Print
Courtesy of the Wilson Center for Photography
Exhibition dates: Friday, November 3 - Sunday, December 17
Where: BU Art Gallery, 855 Commonwealth Ave, Boston
John Stomberg, Gallery Director
Hours: Tuesday - Friday, 10 am to 5 p.m., Saturday & Sunday, 1 - 5 p.m.
Opening Reception: Friday, November 3, 6 - 8 p.m.
For information: 617-353-3329
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