MUSEUMS CLOSE ACROSS THE MIDWEST DUE TO LOW TEMPERATURES!
This is the Anish Kapoor Cloud Gate at Millennium Park, Chicago.
Chicago’s museums are mostly closed due to severe weather conditions with some temperatures as low as -51 F (-46 C ).
The Art Institute, the Field Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art are closed today, Wednesday. So are the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Toledo Museum of Art and the Dayton Art Institute.
Come to Texas and visit our museums!!!
Cheers,
Elisabeth
SIX TON SCHOLAR’S ROCK
(Photo /theartnewspaper.com)
A SIX TON SCHOLAR’S ROCK FROM LAKE TAIHU, CHINA TO BE INSTALLED AT THE SAN ANTONIO MUSEUM OF ART AT THE EDGE OF RIVER WALK.
It all started when Katherin Luber the museum director mentioned to a visiting delegation from Wuxi (the source of many famous scholar’s rocks) a desire for a Taihu Lake rock…..a thought planted in her mind by Dr. Emily Sano, senior advisor for Asian art, and Shawn Yuan, assistant curator for Asian art. And so it happened that a 12 feet tall and 8 feet wide rock of inverted triangle shape was picked and chosen by Katherine Luber, Emily Sano, and Shawn Yuan and a museum trustee along Lake Taihu in December 2018. The rock will be shipped from Shanghai to the port of Houston early 2019.
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China and collectors worldwide have appreciated such stones for centuries and used them for inspiration, especially by scholars, poets and painters. The rocks figure prominently in Chinese gardens, and in smaller size on a scholar’s desk.
The rock is expected to be installed in mid 2019.
THE TRAMMEL AND MARGARET CROW FAMILY HAS DONATED THEIR ENTIRE COLLECTION OF ASIAN ART
THE TRAMMEL AND MARGARET CROW FAMILY HAS DONATED THEIR ENTIRE COLLECTION OF ASIAN ART – INCLUDING THE MUSEUM, INCLUDING 23 MILLION IN SUPPORT FUNDS, INCLUDING A 12,000 BOOK LIBRARY TO THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS.
This move is comparable to the Asian art gift Avery Brundage gave to the City of San Francisco over 50 years ago eventually founding the ASIAN in SFO.
My first experience with the Crow’s Asian art happened in the late 1980s when my mother was visiting from Vienna and decided to stay at the Anatole in Dallas. The Anatole (one of the Crow hotels I later learned) was lovely but it was the large Indian marble temple and the Khmer sculptures in the lobby and in glass cases that immediately caught may attention. And then I learned more and more about the Crow collection, and over twenty years ago the Trammel and Margaret Crow Museum of Asian Art opened on Flora in Dallas with works from Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, Tibet and Vietnam, with the famous jade room at its center. I understand that the collection comprises some one thousand pieces of art.
The Museum will continue to operate in its current location with a full schedule of exhibits with items from ancient to contemporary times. And its long time director Amy Lewis Hofland will continue in her role for both museum sites. So beyond the original idea of Mr. Crow of increasing the public’s knowledge about and appreciation for Asian art, the University of Texas at Dallas is continuing to help students and to a larger extent the Texas community appreciate and learn about Asian art. I could not be happier about this for Texas!
Cheers,
Elisabeth
ON THE STEPPES OF GENGHIS KHAN – MONGOLIAN NOMADS
MOESGAARD MUSEUM, Denmark
Open until April 2019
ON THE STEPPES OF GENGHIS KHAN – MONGOLIAN NOMADS
Some of us always had a soft spot for Genghis Khan, the 13th century Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, and of the largest contiguous empire in history. The first thing I learned about Ghengis Kahan was that he listened to and respected his mother; that he was brutal and gentle at the same time; open to foreign religions; and instituted sophisticated government and taxing systems. The exhibit includes fantastic works from international loans and Danish museums showing the rich culture of these nomads of the steppes with their sheep, goats, horses and camels, often on the move, and in contact with merchants on ancient and present trade routes, bringing material wealth that can be seen in their ornaments, fabrics, costumes, tents and furniture. Reviews point out that the exhibit shows an intriguing alternative to our sedentary life.
Cheers,
Elisabeth
THE JEWELED ISLE: ART FROM SRI LANKA
LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART
http://www.lacma.org/art/exhibition/jeweled-isle-art-sri-lanka
December 9, 2018 – June 23, 2019
First comprehensive exhibit of Sri Lankan art organized by an American museum!
Some 250 art works from LACMA’s extensive collection and numerous domestic and international lenders, this exhibit covers two thousand years of decorative and fine art including objects fashioned from gold, silver and ivory. Hinduism and Buddhism both are important for Sri Lanka’s culture and many religious sculptures, paintings, and architectural fragments from both religions are represented. Photographs from the island’s historical capitals – Anuradhapura, Polonnaruva and Kandy convey the importance of these monumental religious sites.
We have six months to see this exhibit!
Cheers,
Elisabeth
CAN GAZING AT BOTTICELLI’S VENUS CAUSE A HEART ATTACK ???
An Italian man fainted while gazing at the Venus painting (ca. 1485) at the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, and suffered a heart attack two weekends ago and is said to now recover.
Variously known as Stendhal Syndrome, hyperkulturemia or Florence syndrome this disorder appears to be specific to Florence when admiring and focusing on such magnificent paintings like Venus ascending from the ocean.
Have you been to Florence and seen this painting?
Cheers and Happy New Year!!!
Elisabeth
GLIMPSE OF ANCIENT YEMEN
Exhibit at Freer Sackler until August 18, 2019<
https://www.freersackler.si.edu
We often associate frankincense and myrrh with Yemen – if you wish to learn more about what was there since ancient times and what is being destroyed now, go and see this exhibit and also read this blog about
ANCIENT WOMEN SPEAK OUT – TODAY!!!!
https://www.freersackler.si.edu/ancient-women-speak-out-today/
Fascinating and sad. Looting has gone on for centuries on this crossroad of international trade between the Mediterranean region, Asia and the Middle East, but the vicious multisided war has now been going on since 2015 with no end in sight.
No cheers,
Elisabeth
New Delhi, India
You want to stay cool when visiting New Delhi?
Visit Humayun’s Tomb and next to it the Sunder Nursery with Moghul Gardens recently brought back to life by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. I remember getting lost in the Tomb and Garden complex surrounding Humayun’s tomb built by his chief consort in 1569/70 and said to have been an inspiration for Shah Jahan’s Taj Mahal. Humayun, the son of Babur, who swept down from the valleys of Central Asia, to conquer India, was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire.
Cheers,
Elisabeth
Rembrandt and the Inspiration of India
Rembrandt, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and drawings of Mughal portraits ?
Where did Rembrandt see Indian Mughal portraits? We are not sure where he might have seen such portraits; one opinion is that they were in Schoenbrunn Palace in Vienna and were painted over in the 18th century. Rembrandt had enough access to things Indian, he collected several Indian antiques, imported by the VOC and brought to Amsterdam; and Rembrandt was curious in subject matters beyond European and biblical scenes. This exhibition shows side by side Mughal originals and some 25 of Rembrandt’s drawings of the same subject.
Cheers,
Elisabeth
GANESHA:THE PLAYFUL PROTECTOR
Six-armed dancing Ganesha from India, Denver Art Museum.
GANESHA:THE PLAYFUL PROTECTOR
An exhibit developed in collaboration with the National Museum of Cambodia, Phnom Penh.
https://denverartmuseum.org/exhibitions/ganesha
On view through January 13, 2019
Enough time to travel to Denver and visit Ganesha in person- the remover of obstacles, known for granting wealth and success, found throughout the Asian subcontinent and across geographical and religious lines.
Cheers,
Elisabeth
Cambodian Ganesha
Elisabeth Wien's Blog 