Utamaro, Series: Comparing the Charms 0f Five Beauties, The Hirono-ya at Yatsuyama, publ. Omi-ya Gonkuro, 1795-96

250 Years of Japanese Woodblock Prints
March 14 – 16, 2025
Exhibiting at: The Mark Hotel, 25 East 77th Street, Meeting Room 215
Asia Week Hours: 10am-6pm (otherwise by appointment)

For our 16th season of Asia Week New York, The Art of Japan is delighted to return to New York with 250 Years of Japanese Woodblock Prints—a captivating showcase of this timeless art form.

Discover their remarkable recent acquisitions, including a unique impression of Hiroaki’s Awabi Diver in very fine condition, a complete set of Hiroshi Yoshida’s Sailboat capturing six different phases of the day, and several important okubi-e portraits by Utamaro. Highlights also include Kuniyoshi’s masterpiece Yoshitsune’s Ship Attacked by Taira Ghosts at Daimatsu Bay, select works from Hokusai’s Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, and an array of figurative, genre, and landscape masterpieces spanning the 18th to 20th centuries.

They look forward to welcoming you to The Mark Hotel during Asia Week next month!

To learn more, click here.

Installation view, Hybrid Nature, Alisan Fine Arts, New York

Hybrid Nature
Closing Saturday, March 1, 2025
120 East 65th Street, NYC

This is the final week to experience Hybrid Nature at Alisan Fine Arts before the exhibition closes on March 1. Featuring works by Bouie Choi, Chu Chu, and Jia Sung, the show brings together three distinct artistic voices, each exploring hybridity through both theme and medium.

To learn more, click here.

Reconstructed Realities: Gu Gan, Lee Chun-yi, Wucius Wong
March 6 –  April 26, 2025
Opening Reception: Thursday, March 6 from 6-8pm
Special Asia Week Reception: Thursday, March 13 from 6-8pm

Then mark your calendars for their next exhibit, Reconstructed Realities, featuring the work of Gu Gan, Lee Chun-Yi, and Wucius Wong opening on March 6th with an evening reception. True pioneers of ink art, these three artists took radical approaches to traditional styles of calligraphy, composition and methodology in their work. Their practices have been instrumental in bringing the ink tradition into the global contemporary art conversation.

Additionally, a special reception will take place on Thursday, March 13, to celebrate the opening night of Asia Week New York.

They look forward to welcoming you soon!

To learn more, click here.

 

Incense burner in the form of a goose, China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644), early 15th century. Bronze. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, The Vincent Astor Foundation Gift, 2020

Recasting the Past: The Art of Chinese Bronzes, 1100–1900
February 28 – September 28, 2025
Curator Talk: Tuesday, March 11, 11am–12pm
The Met Fifth Avenue, Galleries 209–218

Chinese bronzes made from the 12th to the 19th century are an important but often overlooked category of Chinese art. In ancient China, bronze vessels were emblems of ritual and power. A millennium later, in the period from 1100 to 1900, such vessels were rediscovered as embodiments of a long-lost golden age that was worthy of study and emulation. This “return to the past” (fugu) was part of a widespread phenomenon across all the arts to reclaim the virtues of a classical tradition. An important aspect of this phenomenon was the revival of bronze casting as a major art form. While archaic bronzes were used as containers for food or wine, these so-called “later bronzes” adapted antique shapes and decorative motifs to serve new functions as incense burners, flower vases, and all types of scholar objects. Later Chinese bronzes, however, have long been stigmatized as poor imitations of ancient bronzes rather than being seen as fundamentally new creations with their own aesthetic and functional character.

From important bronzes to a complementary selection of works including painting, calligraphy, ceramics, lacquers, and jades, the exhibition draws on an international array of loans to redress the previous misunderstanding of later Chinese bronzes. Some 100 pieces from The Met collection will be augmented by nearly 100 loans from major institutions in China, Japan, Korea, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States to present the most comprehensive narrative of the ongoing importance of bronzes as an art medium throughout China’s long history.

Be sure to sign up for the Curator Talk, Beyond Emulation: Rethinking Chinese Archaistic Bronzes, 1100–1900, on March 11 with Pengliang Lu, Brooke Russell Astor Curator of Chinese Art, to explore the overlooked roles of so-called “later Chinese bronzes” from the 12th to 19th century. These essential works have long been stigmatized as imitations of ancient bronzes, the ultimate emblems of ritual legitimacy, rather than as fundamentally new creations with their own aesthetic and functional character. Learn more about the misunderstanding surrounding these bronzes and celebrate their artistic and cultural significance. To learn more and RVSP click here.

The exhibition is made possible by the Florence and Herbert Irving Fund for Asian Art Exhibitions and the Joseph Hotung Fund.

To learn more and view more related programs, click here.

Top Row (L-R): Tōshūsai Sharaku (active 1794–95), Segawa Kikunojō III as Ōshizu, the wife of Tanabe Bunzo, 1794, color woodblock print, courtesy Sebastian Izzard LLC Asian Art; Abraham Ortelius, Maris Pacifici, 1589, courtesy Lark Mason Associates; Bohnchang Koo (b. 1953), “VA 23,” 2017, archival pigment print, courtesy HK Art & Antiques LLC; Center Row: John Thomson, Rapids at Nanping, River Min, China, circa 1870, carbon print, courtesy Loewentheil Collection of Chinese Photography; Bottom Row (L-R): Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858), One Hundred Famous Views of Edo: Atagoshita and Yabu Lane, 1857, woodblock print, courtesy Scholten Japanese Art; Kawase Hasui (1883-1957), Komagata Embankment from the series Twelve Scenes of Tokyo, 1919, woodblock print, courtesy Egenolf Gallery Japanese Prints; Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806), Courtesan Applying Eyebrow Makeup, circa 1795-1796, courtesy The Art of Japan

The countdown to Asia Week New York continues! Our second preview showcases exceptional prints and photographs, highlighting the extraordinary collections offered by seven leading AWNY member dealers. Discover these rare and beautiful works arriving next month:

The Art of Japan
250 Years of Japanese Woodblock Prints
March 14–16, 2025
The Mark Hotel, 25 East 77th Street, Suite 215

250 Years of Japanese Woodblock Prints features a stunning array of works, including Kitagawa Utamaro’s (1753–1806) Courtesan Applying Eyebrow Makeup. Once revered as a sacred object of worship, the mirror evolved into a symbol of prestige, often given as a treasured gift.

Egenolf Gallery Japanese Prints
Love of Place: The Landscapes of Kawase Hasui (1883-1957)
March 15–16, 2025
The Luxury Collection Hotel, 151 West 54th Street and Online

Kawase Hasui’s Komagata Embankment from the series Twelve Scenes of Tokyo (1919) captures a tranquil summer scene on the Sumida River, with a sleeping drayman and his horse framed by stacks of bamboo. The vibrant colors and bold composition reflect Tokyo’s charm during its late Taisho modernization (1912–26). Praised as one of Hasui’s finest summer designs, this scarce pre-earthquake print will be available in Love of Place: The Landscapes of Kawase Hasui (1883-1957) during this season’s Asia Week exhibition.

HK Art & Antiques LLC
Elegance and Simplicity: Bohnchang Koo and Geejo Lee
March 14–15 & 17–21, 2025
49 East 78th Street, Suite 4B

Among the standout works in this exhibition is Bohnchang Koo’s VA 23, a striking photograph of blue-and-white porcelain bottles from the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Korean collection. To Koo, these vessels embody the essence of the Joseon aesthetic. Bearing stains, cracks, and signs of wear from everyday use, they serve as poignant reminders of human presence. Through this series, he captures the timeless beauty of Korea’s cultural heritage.

Sebastian Izzard LLC Asian Art
Japanese Prints and Paintings: 1720-1820
March 14–15 & 17–21, 2025
17 East 76th Street, Floor 3

Segawa Kikunojō III as Ōshizu, the wife of Tanabe Bunzo by Tōshūsai Sharaku (active 1794–95), a color woodblock print, is one of twenty-eight exceptional half-length portraits of actors by the enigmatic artist Sharaku on view at Sebastian Izzard LLC Asian Art.

Loewentheil Photography of China Collection
Sun and Silver: Early Photographs of China by Lai Afong and John Thomson
March 13–15 & 18–21, 2025
Opening Reception: Tuesday, March 18,  6-8pm
10 West 18th Street, 7th Floor

This exhibition brings together masterpieces by two giants of 19th-century photography of China—Lai Afong and John Thomson—who originated many significant developments in early Chinese photography. Among the photographs is Rapids at Nanping, River Min, which first captured the imagination of Lai Afong in 1869 and later by John Thomson in 1870.

Lark Mason Associates
Maps of Asia and Works of Art
March 13–15 & 17–21, 2025
229 East 120th Street

Explore the cartographic history of Asia with Maps of Asia and Works of Art, featuring early western maps, including Abraham Ortelius’ groundbreaking Maris Pacifici (1589)—the first printed map of the Pacific and the first to depict the Americas. Also on view are masterpieces of Ming and Qing Dynasty Chinese art, including a painted and inlaid lacquer cabinet and a mother-of-pearl and gold foil inlaid blossom-shaped box from the Kangxi period.

Scholten Japanese Art
Landscape Escapes: Famous Views of the Floating World
March 13–21, 2025
145 West 58th Street, Suite 6D

Scholten Japanese Art will present Landscape Escapes: Famous Views of the Floating World, an exhibition focusing on landscape woodblock prints, primarily of the 19th century, including works by the two most beloved masters of the genre, Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) and his younger contemporary, Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858).

Courtesy Joan B Mirviss LTD

Zoom Webinar
Beyond the Surface: The Unity of Form and Pattern in the Work of Wada Morihiro
Thursday, February 27,  5:00-6:30 pm EST

Joan B Mirviss LTD is pleased to host a webinar focusing on Wada Morihiro (1944-2008), one of Japan’s most respected ceramists. Regarded as the successor to the legendary Kamoda Shōji, Wada’s exceptional oeuvre remains a stand-out among his contemporaries. His sold-out exhibitions were held not only at department store venues but also at fine art galleries with astonishing price tags during Japan’s “Bubble” era in the 1990s, a remarkable feat for a ceramic artist. Now major works have entered the collections of prestigious museums internationally.

This panel is organized ahead of the publication, Beyond the Surface: The Unity of Surface and Pattern in the Work of Wada Morihiro, due out in early March. Panelists will place his work within the broader context of Japanese twentieth-century ceramic history and explore Wada’s career and process.

Panelists include:
Meghen Jones, Associate Professor of Art History in the School of Art and Design at Alfred University
Aaron Rio, Tateuchi Foundation Curator of Japanese and Korean Art at the Seattle Art Museum
Sugiyama Michio, Former Deputy Secretary-General of Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park
Nicolle Bertozzi, PhD candidate at Columbia University in medieval and early modern Japanese history
Moderated by Joan Mirviss

To learn more and register, click here.

Installation view, Role of Animals and Literary Themes in Asian Art, Yale University Art Gallery

Role of Animals and Literary Themes in Asian Art
Through May 1, 2025

The Yale University Art Gallery is pleased to open the current rotation of Asian paintings and textiles in their permanent collection, Role of Animals and Literary Themes in Asian Art. Exploring the role of animals in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese art, the exhibition focuses on the 12 animals of the zodiac. As symbols of steadfastness, power, and beauty, horses feature prominently in the display. They appear in an 18th- or 19th-century Japanese screen brushed by a member of the Kano school—the official artists of the Tokugawa shogunate—while a lone horse is the subject of a hanging scroll by the famed 20th-century Chinese painter Xu Beihong. These works are juxtaposed with a rare Korean vessel in the shape of a horse and rider, dating from the 7th or 8th century. Another example of ceramic sculpture, this one from 8th-century China, takes the form of a woman playing polo.

Elegant paintings from India and Iran illustrate some of the most influential literary themes in West and South Asian culture. Among these are scenes from the life of the Hindu god Krishna as recounted in the epic Bhagavata Purana (Tale of the Lord), as well as the romantic tales of King Bahram Gur from the Haft Peykar (Seven Portraits) by the great 13th-century Iranian poet Rumi. Also included in this section of the galleries are metalwork, ceramic, and glass pieces, alongside a 17th-century Iranian tapestry depicting a hunting scene.

To browse the works on view, click here.

Chinese Painting, Hanging Scroll with a Horse, color ink on paper, image: 41 x 21 inches; overall: 72 x 25 1/2 inches, estimate: $1500-2500, Asian Paintings and Works of Art

Asian Paintings and Works of Art
February 11 – 27, 2025
Online

Discover the beauty of exquisite scrolls and other treasures in Lark Mason Associates’ Asian Paintings and Works of Art sale, open for bidding now through February 27.

To learn more, click here.

Courtesy the Japanese Art Society of America

Meiji Kabuki: Japanese Theatre Through Foreign Eyes
Monday, February 24, 2025 at 5pm (EST)
Live Zoom Webinar

Discover the captivating world of Meiji-era kabuki with the Japanese Art Society of America. Join them for a live Zoom webinar on Monday, February 24, featuring Samuel Leiter, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Theater at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of CUNY. Professor Leiter  will speak on his latest book, Meiji Kabuki: Japanese Theatre Through Foreign Eyes, an annotated collection of English-language documents by foreigners writing about Japan’s kabuki theater in the half-century after the country was opened to the West in 1853. Using memoirs, travelogues, diaries, letters and reference books, Meiji Kabuki contains all significant writing about kabuki by foreigners—resident or transient—during the Meiji period (1868–1912), well before the first substantial non-Japanese book on the subject was published.

Meiji Kabuki provides insights into how Western visitors—missionaries, scholars, diplomats, military officers, adventurers, globetrotters and even a precocious teenage girl—responded to a theater that had been almost entirely hidden from the world at large for over two centuries. The book reveals prejudices and misunderstandings, but also demonstrates the power of great theater to bring together people of differing cultural backgrounds despite the barriers of language, artistic convention and the very practice of theater-going.

Professor Leiter has published 31 books on Japanese theater, New York theater, Shakespeare and the great stage directors. Meiji Kabuki: Japanese Theatre through Foreign Eyes (2022) was selected as a Choice Reviews Academic Book of the Year. His most recent book is Brooklyn Takes the Stage: Nineteenth-Century Theater in the City of Churches (2024). He served as editor-in-chief of Asian Theatre Journal from 1992 to 2004. Among his many books on Japanese theater are Historical Dictionary of Japanese Traditional Theatre (2014); Kabuki at the Crossroads: Years of Crisis, 1952-1965 (2013); Rising from the Flames: The Rebirth of Theatre in Occupied Japan, 1945-1952 (2009); and the four-volume Kabuki Plays on Stag.

To register for this talk, click here.

Gulammohammed Sheikh, Speechless City, 1975; Installation view, The Imaginary Institution of India: Art 1975-1998, Barbican, 2024-25. Photo: Max Colson

Zoom Webinar
Shifting Landscapes: New Approaches to Modern + Contemporary South Asian Art
Thursday, February 27 at 4:30pm EST

Join us for an engaging discussion on Shifting Landscapes: New Approaches to Modern + Contemporary South Asian Art with leading experts on Thursday, February 27.

Over the last decade, the global interest in modern and contemporary art from South Asia and its wide diaspora has grown exponentially. Recognition and appreciation from art enthusiasts, collectors and institutions around the world continues to expand, as does media coverage and the global marketplace for the category. In the subcontinent, new galleries, museums, art fairs and biennales have added to an increasingly vibrant arts ecosystem, providing much needed opportunities for a young, expanding population to engage with modern and contemporary art. Internationally, several prominent galleries now represent artists from the region and notable museums around the world are presenting significant solo and survey shows of their work.

Perhaps the most important supporter of the growth and evolution of modern and contemporary South Asian art has been the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), a private museum established in New Delhi by the avid collector Kiran Nadar in 2010. Deepanjana Klein, Director of Acquisitions and Development at KNMA, will highlight the museum’s evolution, its unparalleled collection, significant international collaborations and exciting plans. while Shanay Jhaveri, Head of Visual Arts at the Barbican in London, will discuss her critically acclaimed exhibition, The Imaginary Institution of India: Art 1975-1998. The second in a series of collaborations between the Barbican and KNMA, this important show presented works by more than 30 Indian artists from a vital period of change and creativity in the country, and sparked new international engagement and conversations around South Asian art and artists.

This distinguished panel, moderated by Nishad Avari, Specialist and Head of Department for Indian Art at Christie’s New York, will unpack new and innovative approaches to modern and contemporary South Asian art that have characterized this period of growth. The discussion will explore significant changes in the local, regional, and global art landscapes, particularly at the institutional level.

To register for this free event, click here.