A Commercial Street in Guangzhou (c. 1880): Art, History and Details

A Commercial Street in Guangzhou (c. 1880) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Lai Fong (Afong Studio) (Chinese, c. 1839–1890).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Guangzhou, formerly known as Canton, is located on the Pearl River and has for centuries been a center of trade and commerce. The photographer emphasizes the energy and bustle of this street of shops and businesses through the blurred figure in motion at bottom left. Other men peer out to watch the photographer—not a common sight in those days—as he captures their image on film.

Object facts

• Title: A Commercial Street in Guangzhou
• Date: c. 1880
• Creator attribution: Lai Fong (Afong Studio) (Chinese, c. 1839–1890)
• Culture: China
• Type: Photograph
• Technique: albumen print
• Dimensions: Sheet: 29 x 22.5 cm (11 7/16 x 8 7/8 in.)
• Collection: PH - Misc. 19th Century
• Department: Photography
• Accession number: 2022.341

A detail from the museum

Lai Fong’s studio, Afong Studio, was the most successful in China in the late 1800s, selling well to both Chinese and non-Chinese customers.

Collection credit

Gift of Michael F. Resch

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.