Walking Tour: Monstrous Beauty: A Feminist Revision of Chinoiserie at the Met

Using a feminist lens, Monstrous Beauty (running March 24, 2025, through August 17, 2025) radically reinterprets the history of European porcelain. When porcelain first arrived in Europe from China, it led to a decorative style fixated on the East as exotic. Explore how this art form shaped not only European women's identities but also the racial and cultural stereotypes of Asian women. When viewed with a critical eye through the lens of female empowerment, this exhibit of nearly 200 porcelain works from the sixteenth century to the present shatters the illusion of chinoiserie and a neutral, harmless fantasy.