Shanghai 1860-1949: Historical Photographs

Shanghai 1860-1949: Historical Photographs
  • Closed
May 1, 2008 to January 25, 2009
  • Level 1, Levy Gallery

About

A complement to Shanghai Kaleidoscope, Shanghai 1860-1949 presents eighty historical photographs that document Shanghai’s architecture, inhabitants and way of life in the hundred years up to 1949.

Shanghai’s current incarnation as China’s most modern and booming metropolis is not the first time it has held that position: in the late 19th and early 20th century, western and Chinese entrepreneurs flocked to the city, making Shanghai China’s commercial and financial hub. This period of rapid growth is shown in beautiful albumen prints, panoramic vistas and candid shots, made possible by recent gifts from Joey and Toby Tanenbaum and family albums from Jacob Way and Amelia Gertrud Way-Evans.

Twelve photographs by celebrated photographer Sam Tata examine the Chinese Civil War of 1949. These photographs, on loan from the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography in Ottawa, depict the inception of the Chinese Communist rule and the end of Shanghai’s reign as “Paris of the East.”

Authored by: Kait Sykes

Authored by: Kait Sykes