Archive
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
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
COROMANDEL SCREENS ANYONE??
Courtesy Metropolitan Museum
COROMANDEL SCREENS ANYONE??
Many of us have seen, appraised, bought, sold so-called Coromandel screens. Chinese lacquer screens often with red, brown or black ground with large landscape and pavilions scenes and often scenes of dancers illustrating Ming dynasty and earlier theatrical dramas. We call the screens Coromandels screens but the term came into use only at the beginning of the 20th century. Coromandel because the screens were shipped from China via India’s Coromandel Coast of southeast India. In China the term for these screen was and is kuancai – meaning that the artisans hollowed out, carved and incised many layers of dried lacquer and filled in the gaps with colored lacquer or silver or gold. A time consuming technique.
Not much is written about Coromandel screens and this article in The Oriental Ceramic Society’s May 2018 Newsletter by HE Feng, a Ph.D. candidate at the Institute of East Asian Art History at Heidelberg University explains the history of these screens exported from China since the late 1700s.
Lands of Asia
http://landsofasia.kimbellart.org
Until August 19th, 2018
Another very substantial Asian art exhibit in Texas- at the Kimbell Art Museum in Ft. Worth.
Between the Crow Collection Dallas, the Fine Arts Museum in Houston, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Asia Society Texas, Houston, the San Antonio Museum of Art, and most of all the Kimbell, Asian art lovers feel very fortunate in Texas.
Collected by Sam and Myrna Myers after they were posted in Paris in the mid 1960s, and eventually assembling some five thousand works of art including Asian, Roman and Greek antiquities. Driven by a passion for Asia, the Myers soon started to concentrate on East Asian pieces, particularly in jade, silk, porcelain and other refined materials.
Cheers,
Elisabeth
Korean screen reaches $ 562,500
Korean screen reaches a record $ 562,500; sold by Lark Mason Associates of New York and New Braunfels!
This is what every dealer and auctioneer hopes for …. a “Chinese” large twelve panel screen attributed to the 18th century with scenes from the Buddhist paradise turned out to be a rare Korean screen – employing Chinese subject matters. The screen sold to a Korean dealer and returned to Korea after a long sojourn in the United States. I love this story!
Cheers,
Elisabeth
BINDING THE CLOUDS: THE ART OF CENTRAL ASIAN IKAT
In case you have not noticed that The Textile Museum is now part of the George Washington University Museum
701 21st Street, NW, Washington,D.C.
https://museum.gwu.edu/textile-museum
From March 10th – July 9th, 2018
BINDING THE CLOUDS: THE ART OF CENTRAL ASIAN IKAT
will be shown from what is now Uzbekistan and Central Asian oasis towns.
Uzbekistan still makes very colorful and interesting ikat fabrics often seen at international folk art shows; saw it last in Santa Fe.
THREE EXHIBITS AT THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS IN HOUSTON
MODERNISM ON THE GANGES: RAGHUBIR SINGH PHOTOGRAPHS
https://www.mfah.org/exhibitions/modernism-on-the-ganges-raghubir-singh-photographs
March 3 – June 3, 2018
Raghubir Singh, born in Jaipur (1942-1999) lived in Asia and Europe and often returned to his native India. In 90 images and over a thirty year period, Singh who was influenced by Cartier-Bresson, photographed often with a hand-held camera in color everyday life and festivals. One of my favorite is the one showing the Professional Lunch Distributor or Dhabadwallah with his tiffin boxes.
BESTOWING BEAUTY:MASTERPIECES FROM PERSIAN LANDS
https://www.mfah.org/exhibitions/bestowing-beauty-masterpieces-persian-lands
Through February 11, 2018
Comprising some 100 works of art from the 6th to the 19th century on view to the public for the first time, from the Hossein Afshar Collection, one of the most important collections of Persian art in private hands……..does anybody have information about Hossein Afshar?
PEACOCK IN THE DESERT: THE ROYAL ARTS OF JODHPUR, INDIA
https://www.mfah.org/exhibitions/peacock-in-desert-royal-arts-jodhpur-india
March 4 – August 19, 2018
Masterpieces never before seen outside the palace walls of the kingdom of Marwar-Jodhpur in Rajasthan, covering four centuries of sumptuous jewels, arms and armor, intricately carved furnishings, a monumental 17th century court tent, paintings and textiles – all together some 250 objects from Indian courtly life together with large scale photo murals will be shown.
Exhibit runs concurrent with Raghubir Singh’s photo exhibit it.
Elisabeth Wien's Blog 