Chinese Art Connoisseur Short Course: Listening to the Object

What is a Connoisseur?

Connoisseur [kon-uh-sur, soor]

A person who is especially competent to pass critical judgments in an art, particularly one of the fine arts, or in matters of taste.  1. A discerning judge of the best in any field.

How do I sign up for the course?

Registration link:  https://www.isa-appraisers.org/courses/course/397

What will I learn in this course?

In collaboration with Toronto auction house A.H. Wilkens, Susan Lahey, MA, ISA CAPP, specialist in Asian art, will present a three half-day virtual online course providing knowledge essential to the connoisseurship of Chinese art.  It will focus on the traditional collecting areas of ceramics, jades and paintings, and provide familiarity with a wide range of decorative arts such as ivories, cloisonné, bronzes and snuff bottles.  A critical awareness of materials, techniques and themes will be developed, as well as an understanding of the key challenges specific to appraising Chinese works of art.  Susan will demonstrate strategies to hone observation skills through the examination of objects available at Wilkens.  The goal is for online participants to increase their ability to identify, analyze and compare examples of good, better and best works of art, including fakes. The current market for Chinese art and global history of collecting will also be discussed.

This course will take place from 12:00-5:00pm ET on June 24, 25 & 26, 2021. 

Students are expected to be present online for the entirety of the course.