Haoyang Zhao’s research focuses on the visual and material culture of imperial China, as well as the collecting histories, circulation and provenance of Chinese art in the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century British market. His principal research project examines looted pages from the Qing imperial album Huangchao Liqi Tushi (皇朝礼器图式), with particular attention to the reconstruction, commission, material representation and provenance of its dispersed illustrated pages.
His wider research interests include Chinese paintings in the nineteenth-century rare-book market; the provenance of objects looted from the Yuanmingyuan; art-market studies of Chinese art and related fields in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; the production, labour structures and working mechanisms of Qing imperial workshops; textiles and costume at the Qing court; cross-cultural exchange; as well as porcelain of the Ming–Qing transitional period (1620–1683).
He completed his PhD in History of Art at the University of Glasgow, where his research brought together art-historical and provenance-based approaches. He also holds an MRes in History of Art from the University of Glasgow, as well as an MA and a BA in History of Art and Archaeology from SOAS, University of London. Before joining 91影视, Zhao worked as Researcher in the Chinese Works of Art Department at Sotheby’s and as Research Assistant for the Butler Collection, contributing to a database of dated porcelain and pieces bearing hallmarks. He is also Editorial Assistant at Orientations magazine.
