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.

THE RUBIN MUSEUM OF ART HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON INDIA IN FULL FRAME

On view through September 4th, 2017

The exhibit comprises 69 black and white photographs from Cartier- Bresson’s travels in India during the mid 20th century as well as his letters, camera and personal items.

Quote from Rubin’s website:

Disputed borders, refugees, charismatic leaders, assassinations—the India of the mid-century does not sound so distant from the world today. It was a time and place captured expertly and in great depth by the pioneering photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908–2004).

In 1947 Cartier-Bresson co-founded the internationally renowned cooperative photographic agency Magnum Photos. Later that same year he undertook his first trip to India as part of a three-year stay in Asia. At the time, India was undergoing a massive political transition, having gained independence from British colonial rule and been partitioned from Pakistan. In January 1948 Cartier-Bresson traveled to Delhi to meet with one of the key players in that transition, India’s great leader Mahatma Gandhi. It would be one of Gandhi’s final meetings before the leader’s assassination at the hands of a Hindu nationalist on January 30.

The resulting photos of Gandhi’s last day of life and the events surrounding his funeral, which helped catapult Cartier-Bresson to international fame, are part of a selection of 69 photographs from the photographer’s travels to India shared in the exhibition. They reflect his abiding interest in the people and sites of India, including some examples of his “street photography” style that has influenced generations of photographers. Together they illustrate a master photographer’s perspective on transformative moments in Indian history.

End Quote

UNEARTHING ARABIA: THE ARCHEOLOGICAL ADVENTURES OF WENDELL PHILLIPS

UNEARTHING ARABIA: THE ARCHEOLOGICAL ADVENTURES OF WENDELL PHILLIPS

SACKLER GALLERY/SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

October 11, 2014 – June 7, 2015

http://newsdesk.si.edu/releases/unearthing-arabia-smithsonian-s-sackler-gallery-uncovers-drama-behind-great-discoveries

Exhibit documents with objects as well as film and photographs the adventures of 28 year old Phillips and his team of scientists, scholars and technicians as they explored South Arabia, present-day Yemen, from 1949-1952, to find the legendary home of the Queen of Sheba.

Explore legends, mysteries and misadventures!

Cheers,

Elisabeth

MORE OF MY FAVORITE TEXTILES

this time 
PHOTOGRAPHS OF WOMEN MAKING TEXTILES and STITCHING STORIES

BETWEEN HISTORY AND NEW HORIZONS: PHOTOGRAPHS OF WOMEN, WORK AND COMMUNITY IN LAOS

at the ASIA SOCIETY TEXAS CENTER, Houston
until February 9, 2014
http://asiasociety.org/texas/exhibitions/upcoming

This exhibit is co-organized with the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre, Luang Prabang shows portraits of women and their work.

And on November 7th, 6:00-9:00PM  a special  “night market”  inspired by  vibrant street markets throughout Asia will offer food and crafts

Cheers,

Elisabeth

PAPA’S PAGODA IN PARIS

PAPA’S PAGODA IN PARIS: THE GIFT OF THE C.T.LOO FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHS TO THE FREER AND SACKLER GALLERIES.

An article in the March 13, 2013 ORIENTATIONS MAGAZINE by Yiyou Wang.

On rare occasions I come across a piece to be appraised that still has the C. T. Loo label attached. And then I get both excited and a little nervous.

C.T. Loo was the first international Chinese art dealer, very successful, established his gallery known as “la Pagode” in Paris in 1928, later offices in New York, Beijing and Shanghai. He supplied major museums (Freer, Nelson-Atkins, Met) and collectors with sculptures, bronzes, murals, ceramics.

In 2010 his daughter bequeathed photographs to the Sackler and Freer. C. T. Loo had lavish gallery space in Paris and the donated photos show some of the objects in his galleries before being sold or donated.

Cheers,

Elisabeth and Natasha

 

 

JOURNEY TO HIDDEN MONGOLIA

 

“A Special Exhibition in Beijing: Journey to Hidden Mongolia” explores an often tucked away world that is filled with cultural landscapes captured by film-maker and photographer Hamid Sardar-Afkhami. The Hidden Mongolia exhibition opened on the 28th of May 2012, and runs until the 9th of June 2012. The Hidden Mongolia Exhibition presented by the Serindia Gallery, with headquarters in Bangkok,  is currently being held at the Luxembourg Embassy Residence in Beijing.

Sardar-Afkhami’s exhibition travels into northern Mongolia, a place in the world even farther north than the Great Wind. Ancient Greek poets termed territories in the world beyond this Great Wind (identified as the North Wind to Greek civilizations) as Hyperborea. Sardar-Afkhami is noted for being a scholar of the Tibetan and Mongol languages. After graduating from Harvard with his Ph. D., he lived in Nepal and explored Tibet and the Himalayas for over one decade. Upon venturing to outer Mongolia, Sardar-Afkhami decided to focus a collection on the last country in the world to have the majority of its population still comprised of nomads: Mongolia. 

Sardar-Afkhami  has  such an intriguing spirit for traveling through this northern region of Mongolia and exploring one of the most seldom-found life styles on the planet. According to Sardar-Afkhami’s exhibition, an incredible bond exists here between humans and animals. The possibility of seeing this bond and being able to understand even a tiny fraction of it, is deeply interesting to me.

A link to the Mongolia Exhibition website and Serindia Gallery: http://www.issuu.com/serindia-gallery/docs/mongolia-exhibition

Pictures taken from this site.

Natasha

The China Coast

GOOGLE ART PROJECT IS GROWING

(Excerpted from APPRAISER WORKSHOP/Todd Szigeti – todd @appraiserworkshops.com)

 

The Mountain View, California-based Internet company has sent robot-like devices equipped with cameras to roll around museums from Sao Paulo to Istanbul over the past year, snapping pictures of as many as 30,000 works.

 

Google is in the process to digitize images of art and artifacts from the world’s best museums, now working with over 150 museums.

Click here http://www.googleartproject.com/

to access their site.

 

ASIA WEEK NEW YORK

 Not to be missed – an ever important event for collectors,  museum buyers, “regular” buyers and passionate  lookers.

 ASIA WEEK NEW YORK

March 16-24th

Five auction houses (Bonhams, Christie’s, Doyle, iGavel and Sotheby), seventeen museums and Asian cultural institutions and over thirty prominent  art dealers from the U.S. and abroad!

 

http://asiaweekny.com/

 

Bonhams will feature a great auction of Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art, March 19th with about 250 lots.

 

TURQUOISE MOUNTAIN ARTS OF KABUL

 

If you are in love with  Afghanistan’s  culture, history and people like I am or if you are merely interested in Afghanistan, then I would like to share with you news about a project in Kabul that is going on  despite politics, poverty and uncertainties.  I have always believed that by supporting education and training for  artists, architects, teachers, students,  by  providing an environment where they can create and produce their work, and then connecting them with a global community,  — the culture, the arts, crafts, pride and future of a country can be ensured and  the fight against poverty and disruptions can go forward.

Such is the case with Turquoise Mountain Arts  – http://www.turquoisemountainarts.org/  –  founded under the charities of HRH The  Prince of Wales  establishing an Institute of Traditional Afghan Arts and Architecture together with four craft schools. Please go to their website at
http://www.turquoisemountainarts.org/.

 

 It includes Jewelry, Calligraphy and Miniature Painting, Woodworking  and  Ceramic schools. Their   website introduces teachers and artists  and their work.  Commissions range from the very small to large projects (like the Embassy library in Tokyo) and Turquoise Mountain encourages you to submit your order for custom work under the BESPOKE menu button.

Be sure and check out the Partners connected with  Turquoise Mountain Arts, – each of them continuing the work with artists, artisans, and crafts people in Afghanistan.

RE-OPENING OF THE FORMERLY KNOWN AS ISLAMIC GALLERIES

GALLERIES FOR THE ART OF THE ARAB LANDS, TURKEY, IRAN, CENTRAL ASIA AND LATER SOUTH ASIA at the METROPOLITAN MUSEUM

RE-OPENING OF THE FORMERLY KNOWN AS ISLAMIC GALLERIES

 

I have written about this before but this is such a major undertaking by the museum and especially by Navina Haidar, Curator of Islamic Art at the museum, with many far reaching considerations to be taken into account – it was not just an overhaul of the museum’s permanent “Islamic” collection.  According to an article in Sunday’s NYT Magazine, controversies popped up during the eight years of planning.  The museum was accused of caving in to Muslim extremists by refusing to display any images of the Prophet – but there is an image of Muhammad riding his winged steed, Buraq, on a page from an illustrated 16th century manuscript. And we should remember that it was during the reign of Akbar the Great, during the late 16th century that  Hindu-themed paintings were commissioned by this Muslim ruler. There was tolerance then. 

 I have only seen photos and a lay-out of the  different galleries and cannot wait to see them in person. In the meantime, we can dream about them – with names like The Damascus Room, Nishapur and the Sabz-Pushan site,  Moroccan Court,  and Carpets and Textiles of the Greater Ottoman  World.