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

CHINA’S 8 BROKENS: PUZZLES OF THE TREASURED PAST MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BOSTON

http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/chinas-8-brokens

Although this exhibit is closed now- I wanted to bring this to your attention because it highlighted a new painting style that emerged in China in the late 19th and then 20th century. I was not aware of this type of painting.

BAPO CHINA’S EIGHT BROKENS was an exhibit at the Museum of Fine Art Boston.

I quote freely from an article by Eliza Sullivan 6/15/2017.

The paintings were created by painting depictions of fragments of different items, often images and calligraphy, mimicking collages. Dr. Nancy Berliner, the Wu Tung Curator of Chinese Art (she brought the Yin Yu Tang house, moved from China and rebuilt at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts) first discovered bapo at a flea market in China as a student. It had been a relatively unknown style, neglected by museums because it was not a painting with landscape and figures. Bapo translates as “eight broken”, focusing on treasures of the past. Eight is a lucky number conveying wishes for good fortune.

Follow the link to read about this style.

Cheers,

Elisabeth

Indian exhibit at the Blanton

EPIC TALES FROM ANCIENT INDIA: PAINTINGS  FROM THE SAN DIEGO MUSEUM 
AT THE BLANTON MUSEUM OF ART IN AUSTIN, TEXAS
July 9 – October 1, 2017

Exhibitions
Rotations
Events
Past Exhibitions & Rotations

http://blantonmuseum.org/exhibitions-calendar

These are not just any Indian paintings but from the collection of Edwin Binney 3r showing us paintings from the Ramayana, Bhagavata Burana, Ragamala, and the Shahnama – the Persian Book of Kings. Edward Binney 3rd bequeathed some 1453 paintings and manuscripts from Southeast Asia to the San Diego Museum of Art. The exhibition is accompanied by musical performances, dances and storytelling. Edwin Binney was a trustee of the San Diego Museum of Art and his goal was too create an encyclopedic collection of Indian paintings. Only two museums – the Metropolitan and the LA County Museum have a comparable Indian painting collection, as well as the private Stuart Cay Welch.

Cheers,

Elisabeth

CINCINNATI ART MUSEUM

 

http://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/about/press-room/bimel-pr/

The Cincinnati Museum of Art has just received the single largest monetary gift  (11.75 million gift) in its history, adding to its collection of South Asian art, and the arts of Greater  Iran and Afghanistan – through the benevolence of Carl and Alice Bimei. The Bimeis collected  paintings including miniature paintings and other South Asian works of art.

Off to Cincinnati!

RESTORING MEDIEVAL BUDDHIST SHRINES IN NEPAL’S HIMALAYAS

In this photograph taken on June 15, 2016 Nepalese artist Tsewang Jigme….restores  sacred murals…..in the remote Upper Mustang region.

In Nepal’s  Upper Mustang region, once part of the Buddhist kingdom of Mustang high on the Tibetan plateau, the artist  Tsewang  Jigme works on the restoration of antique murals. It is said that murals in some temples in this area predate the oldest temples in Tibet.  But neglect, wind, rain and smoke have turned the bright frescoes into black. Many of these shrines survived the Cultural Revolution of the 1960’s and the earthquake of  April 2015.

Read this article to see how the restoration of these sacred murals is making progress in the 21st century: http://www.mysinchew.com/node/114954?tid=

Cheers,

Elisabeth and Natasha

PEARLS ON A STRING

PEARLS ON A STRING: ARTISTS, PATRONS & POETS AT THE GREAT ISLAMIC COURTS

February 26 – May 8, 2016

 

ASIAN ART MUSEUM 

 

San Francisco  www.asianart.org

http://www.asianart.org/exhibitions/pearls-on-a-string

I have  always been interested in who and what fueled the high artistic achievements  of the Islamic world from the 16th through the 18th century  –  a time when the global movement of people and their ideas not only tolerated but furthered a cosmopolitan society that was very much inclusive.  Some sixty-four art works, including textiles, paintings, manuscripts, sculpture, metalwork and jeweled objects show us the way through 16th century Mughal India, 17th century Safavid Iran and 18th century Ottoman Turkey.

We follow the lead of a writer,  an artist and a patron.

The writer and historian  Abu’l Fazl ibn Mubarak (1551-1602) was employed at the court of Akbar the Great (ruled 1556-1602) as a writer, an advisor, scholar and chief secretary. His interest in religious sciences and philosophy resonated with the liberal sentiments of Akbar who surrounded himself with Jews, Hindus, Muslims and Christians.

 I have always been partial to Akbar the Great ever since visiting Fatehpur Sikri in India and visiting his grandfather’s (Emperor Babur the Tiger) tomb and garden in Kabul. And below my favorite portrait of Akbar.

The artist and painter Muhammad Zaman ibn Haji Yusuf (active 1670-1700) at the Safavid court of Shah Sulayman (reigned 1666-1694) worked  in the cosmopolitan city of Isfahan. He is credited with dramatically changing the style of Persian painting by incorporating European  linear perspective and  contrasting light and shadow.

The great sponsor of the arts Sultan Mahmud I (ruled 1730-1754), the ruler of the Ottoman Empire brought merchants, artisans and the forerunners of engineers to cosmopolitan Istanbul to become personally involved with artistic commissions in the field of architecture, art and engineered and jeweled objects.

Enjoy this journey through once cosmopolitan countries – no longer so accessible to us.

Cheers,

Elisabeth and Natasha

WHERE IS THE ORIGINAL – IN NEW YORK OR IN CHINA?

An interesting situation developed for a Chinese National Treasure— a painting hanging in the Forbidden Palace in Beijing and by some scholars long thought not to be the original by the Five Dynasties court painter Zhou Wenju (active  942-961) but a rendering by the Sung  Emperor Zhou who delighted in rendering or making studies of earlier masterworks— an activity often encountered in Chinese art.

The book “Original Intentions” edited by Nicholas Pearce and Jason Steuber deals extensively with productions, reproductions and interpretations in the arts of China (University Press of Florida 2012). Such later renderings of original works of art make it often enormously difficult to authenticate Chinese paintings. And who is to say whether  the original or the  exact rendering of the original should be worth more?

Now a painting has surfaced in New York  that is thought to be the original  done by the artist himself. The painting will be offered by Gianguan Auctions, formerly Hong Kong Auctions on March 19th. The painting is titled “Chess Game abut of Screen”.

I am curious who is behind Gianguan Auctions?  A quick internet search:

“Gianguan Auctions

Gianguan Auctions (also known as Hong Kong Auctions) specializes in Chinese and Asian arts and has a wide clientele from China and Asia. Established in Hong Kong in 2002, a New York office opened in 2004. Four times a year, auctions are held at the Lefcourt Building on New York’s Madison Ave. Under the management of Mr. Kwong Lum, Gianguan has successfully sourced high-quality consignments that has resulted in record prices. Recently, Mr. Lum was appointed by Beijing’s National Museum’s Appraisal Centre as its chief consultant, an exceptional honour, which solidifies their reputation as experts in Chinese, antiques.

Gianguan Auctions Fine Chinese Art Auctions include an important selection of American Chinese private collections of traditional painting and calligraphy, bronzes, porcelain, jade and scholars items, dating from the Soong Dynasty to contemporary time with representations from each period”.

Go to gianguanauctions.com to see the catalogue of their upcoming auction.

Cheers

Elisabeth and Natasha

AGA KHAN MUSEUM OPENS IN TORONTO

http://www.akdn.org/museum/collections.asp

The first museum in North America entirely dedicated to the arts of Islam and Islamic cultures opened in Toronto in September. Founded by His Highness the Aga Khan, pieces in the museum have been collected by His Highness and members of his family for several generations. About two hundred pieces from the permanent collection will be on display at any one time.

The two inaugural exhibits are:

IN SEARCH OF THE ARTIST: SIGNED DRAWINGS AND PAINTINGS FROM THE AGA KHAN MUSEUM COLLECTION, open through November 16th.

THE GARDEN OF IDEAS: CONTEMPORARY ART FROM PAKISTAN, open through January 18th.

The museum has some 1000 pieces of art and artifacts, covering one thousand years of Islamic history and including works of Muslim civilizations from the Iberian Peninsula to China.

Where else can you find:

Arts of the Book

Carpets and Textiles

Ceramics, Mosaic

Ivory and Mother-of-pearl

Marble and Stucco

Glass, Rock Crystal and Jade

Metalwork

Paintings

Wood and Lacquer

 

Cheers,

Elisabeth

The Art of Continuity: Revering our Elders

ANCESTOR WORSHIP EXHIBIT AT THE PACIFIC ASIA MUSEUM IN PASADENA, CA.

December 14, 2013 – January 5, 2014.

http://www.pacificasiamuseum.org/_on_view/exhibitions/2012/continuity.aspx

So much Chinese art – painting, sculpture and other objects are connected with ancestor worship, reverence for elders, Confucian family values, rituals for guiding them through transition to afterlife. This exhibit features paintings and sculpture from East Asia and Papua New Guinea.

Check it out!

Cheers,

Elisabeth