Check It Out

Professor Wong's recent book, “Parting the Mists: Discovering Japan and the Rise of National-Style Painting in Modern China,” has been called "one of the most impartial accounts of the Sino-Japanese relationship in recent years." Order it at  Amazon.com.

Aida Yuen Wong

Associate Professor of Fine Arts
Ph.D., Columbia University

Current research
I am looking at representations of Asian cities through the full range of visual media — not only painting and photography, but also film, architecture and commercial art such as advertisements. I am also doing research on the interactions between China and Japan in modern calligraphy and seal carving; my particular interest here is in the status of ideographic expressions as “fine arts.”   

Favorite classroom experience
My favorite classroom moments are when students go from mute admiration of art to eloquent talk about it. They look at a striking piece of Ming Dynasty porcelain, for example, and are able to analyze the aesthetic relationship between glaze and form, or gaze at a Song Dynasty landscape painting and describe the complex brushwork. 

What makes Brandeis special
The culture of Brandeis values academic excellence, and at the same time appreciates fine creative activities by faculty and students, such as studio art, theater and musical performances. The Rose Art Museum presents world-class exhibitions, featuring our renowned collection as well as many contemporary talents in the United States and abroad.

Last book read for pleasure
A volume of short stories by Kunikida Doppo (1871-1908), a Japanese exponent of romanticism whose short and frustrated life informed his deeply humane and lyrical narratives. Doppo’s portrayals of a mentally retarded child, a laborer stricken with tuberculosis and an Adonis doomed by his good looks are poignant reminders of our physical and spiritual mortality.

Favorite world city to visit
Bruges, Belgium. It preserves some of the most beautiful medieval buildings and cobble-stone streets in Europe. The city is colorful and picturesque.