Bruneaf Tribal, Thomas Murray
Brussels, June 15-19, 2022
Online exhibition

This week in Brussels, Bruneaf fair takes place, one of the world's largest gatherings of Non-European Tribal Art for dealers, specialists, and collectors. Established in 1988, Bruneaf holds two fairs each year, with the June fair as the primary one.

California-based Thomas Murray, independent researcher, collector, lecturer, author and private dealer of Asian, tribal and textile art, again participates in this fair with an online exhibition that features Variations in Human Figure Sculpture from the Indonesian islands and a very early Dayak Shield from Borneo.

L-R: Early Shield with Double Demon Face, Dayak People, Borneo, 19th century, wood and pigment,
40 x 14 in. (102 x 38 cm) and Tun Tun Babi Pig Trap Charm, Iban Dayak, Sarawak, Borneo, 19th-very early 20th century, wood, 20 in. (53.3 cm )

Descriptions and multiple photos of these rare and fine works of art can be found in the Bruneaf online catalogue, click here and on Thomas Murray's website, click here.

Photo by Roman Alokhin, Courtesy of the New Orleans Museum of Art

Japanese Art and its Importance in Interior Design, Joan B Mirviss LTD
Online ZOOM program

If you missed this informational and inspiring program, originally held on June 7, you can now watch the recording. To access the program, as well as recordings of other programs hosted by Joan B Mirviss LTD, click here.

From the moment Japanese art and aesthetics were introduced to the West, design and architecture have never been quite the same. This ZOOM panel explores how these encounters with Japanese art have sparked fresh perspectives and resulted in enchanting private and public spaces for the art’s enjoyment and display. Leading voices in the fields of architecture and interior design share their experiences with Japanese art, its influence on their studio’s practice, and working with collectors to incorporate its visual language into their environments. Drawing from wisdom accumulated over their long careers, top interior designers Robert Couturier and Paul Vincent Wiseman and New York-based architect Jane Sachs discuss how Japanese art can be situated in Western contexts. With a focus on display, they are joined by collector Pilar Conde, who lives alongside her important Japanese ceramics collection.

PANELISTS:
PILAR CONDE, Collector of Japanese ceramics
ROBERT COUTURIER, Renowned French-born interior designer
JANE SACHS, Principal of HS2 Architecture, New York
PAUL WISEMAN, President of San Francisco-based interior design firm, The Wiseman Group
Moderated by JOAN MIRVISS

Wrestler’s Weight, Deccan, Golconda or Hyderabad, 17th century, carved basalt, Dia. 19 cm and
Dia. 27 cm

On their website, Francesca Galloway is now featuring a rare Wrestler's Weight. Carved from a single piece of black basalt, this 17th century stone dumbbell or nal from the Deccan makes a sculptural statement. With its open center and horizontal grip, this rare object speaks of the wrestler’s hands that would have lifted it.

For the warrior class and nobility of the Indian courts, gymnastics and martial arts were an important part of their position. These ‘dumbbells’ or nal would have been part of their physical training, and came in progressive weights for the development of biceps, triceps, and leg muscles. We can see similar weights and training objects depicted in dynamic use by bare-chested acrobats and wrestlers in Ragamala paintings representing Desakh Ragini.

Image from The Encyclopaedia of Indian Physical Culture

Read more, click here.

L-R: Tokuda Yasokichi IV (born 1961), Bowl Suicho (Crystalline Green), 2017, porcelain with vivid colored glaze (yôsai), Onishi Gallery; Meisen kimono with water droplets, Shōwa period (1926–89), ca. 1930–40, plain-weave reeled-silk warps with machine-spun silk wefts in double ikat (heiyō-gasuri), Promised Gift of John C. Weber. Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, photo by Paul Lachenauer; Isezaki Mitsuru (1934-2011), Bizen Large Plate, with signed wood box, stoneware, Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd.

ONISHI GALLERY:
New Japanese Tea Bowls and Flower Vases From Ōhi Chōzaemon Toyasai X
Currently on view
Ōhi Chōzaemon Toyasai X's (Tenth Generation) new collection at Onishi Gallery speaks to the years of history and technique; showcasing select pieces with his son, Ōhi Toshio Chōzaemon XI (Eleventh Generation).
Female Feature Month
June 1-24
This exhibition includes work by the metalsmiths Osumi Yukie (Living National Treasure, born 1945), Oshiyama Motoko (born 1958), Otsuki Matsuko (born 1943), and Hagino Noriko (born 1949), as well as ceramicist Tokuda Yasokichi IV (born 1961).

Read more, click here

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART:
Kimono Style: The John C. Weber Collection
June 7-February 20, 2023
This exhibition traces the transformation of the kimono from the late Edo period (1615–1868) through the early 20th century, as the T-shaped garment was adapted to suit the lifestyle of modern Japanese women. It features a remarkable selection of works from the renowned John C. Weber Collection of Japanese art that explore the mutual artistic exchanges between the kimono and Western fashion, as well as highlights from The Costume Institute’s collection.

Read more, click here

DAI ICHI ARTS, LTD
Rokkoyō: The Six Ancient Kilns of Japan
June 2-30
Dai Ichi Arts presents a summer exhibition showcasing Modern & Contemporary Japanese ceramics from the Nihon Rokkoyō (Japan's Six Ancient Kilns). The Rokkoyō category describes six representative ceramic production sites that has continued from Medieval Japan to the contemporary day: Echizen, Seto, Tokoname, Shigaraki, Tanba and Bizen. Journey through these kiln sites with us through our summer exhibition, which will showcase Modern interpretations from these kiln sites by exceptional contemporary potters & artists.

Read more, click here

Ippodo's Tea Room designed by artist Shigeru Uchida

Tea Ceremonies, Ippodo Gallery
June 11, 18, and 25, at 11:30am and 2pm

In conjunction with the current exhibition Magic of the Tea Bowl, Volume 2, Ippodo Gallery will host tea ceremonies. Several tea practitioners from Urasenke Chanoyu Tea Center will perform the ceremony in Ippodo's tea room 受庵, designed by artist Shigeru Uchida.

For more information, please contact the gallery. Details available, click here

Hara Nanreisai, Design for embroidery on Nagasaki Kunchi festival float (detail), 1826, ink and color on paper, museum purchase in honor of Keiko Thayer, made possible by an anonymous donor, 2005

Exploring a Collection Treasure: PEM’s 19th-Century Japanese Fish Scroll, Peabody Essex Museum
In-person lecture June 12, 3-4pm
Midori Oka

Japanese art historian Midori Oka presents a fascinating lecture on one of PEM's treasures — a 20-foot-long Japanese handscroll decorated with fish and sea creatures. This scroll was the original sketch for the embroidered designs on a 19th-century parade float cover still used during the annual Nagasaki Kunchi Festival — a celebration of the city's history and its special connection to international trade.

Midori Oka is the Associate Director of the Mary Griggs Burke Center for Japanese Art, Columbia University. She previously served as Research Associate for Japanese Art at the Metropolitan Museum, Associate Curator of Japanese Art at PEM, and curated exhibitions at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Rhode Island School of Design.

This program is dedicated to the memory of Robert Jay Hamburger (1941–2021) and his deep and lifelong commitment to Japanese art and culture.

Read more, click here

Madhvi Parekh (born 1942), Durga II, 2006, acrylic on acrylic sheet (reverse painting), 48 x 35.5 in.
(121.9 x 90.2 cm.)

A Place in the Sun: Women Artists from 20th Century India, DAG New York
Concludes Friday, June 10

DAG presents A Place in The Sun: Women Artists from 20th Century India, an exhibition exploring the remarkable contribution of women artists in the context of Indian modernism, representing a selection of trailblazers, each of whom crafted a unique identity and practice. This exhibition surveys their artistic journeys while fighting prejudice and patriarchy at a time when women were discouraged from pursuing art, and uncovers the wide breadth of their interests, including early abstract painting, the arduous regimen of making sculptures, and printmaking. The exhibition was curated by Kishore Singh, Senior VP-Exhibitions and Publications at DAG.

Read the special Member Monday feature about gallery projects related to this show, click here

Hokusai (1760-1849), “Little Crow”, Sword of Minamoto (Minamoto: Kokarasumaru no Hitokishi),
circa 1822, woodblock print, 8.25 x 7.25 in. (20.96 x 18.42 cm), Ex. Collection Louis Gonce

The Art of Japan announced that they have just added over 50 newly acquired prints including Hiroshige, Kuniyoshi, Hokusai, Shin Hanga prints, Meiji prints, and some fine and rare surimono.

Hokusai (1760-1849), Winnowing Rice at an Ancient or Old Style Market on the Bank of a River,
recto and verso, circa 1800, 7.75 x 21.25 in. (19.68 x 53.98 cm), Ex. Collection O. Mascha

This rare woodblock print by Hokusai depicts an invitation to a musical dance drama organized by the Tokizawa Moji Kiyo, an actor and dance troupe. Performers are Tokizawa Mojidayu, Tokizawa Izurudayu, Tokizawa Hotayu and Kichizawa Ichigoro III. Mounted 19th century French style, where the text is glued to the back of the surimono.

To view more wonderful items, click here

Heeseop Yoon, Still Life with Eiffel Tower, 2022, pen drawing collage on paper, 18 x 24 in.,
image courtesy of the artist

Heeseop Yoon | Agglomeration, Korea Society
June 9-August 25
Opening Reception: Thursday, June 9, 5-7pm EDT
Artist Talk : Tuesday, July 12, 5pm EDT

Although her intricate installations are often so large that they spread over walls onto ceilings and floors, Heeseop Yoon thinks of her work as freehand drawings. All of Yoon’s works are based on real spaces with vast messes, such as basements, workshops, storage spaces, or “places where everything is jumbled and time becomes ambiguous without the presence of people.” Based on photographs, Yoon draws freehand without erasing; based on her own drawings, she creates her enlarged wall drawings using black tapes. In the final installation, her miscalculations and corrections are visible, as Yoon is interested in how memory and perception constantly adjust both for herself and for her viewer, and the paradox that the more she corrects her work, the less legible the drawing becomes. In her solo exhibition at The Korea Society, Yoon will show both her large-scaled line drawing installation and intricate black and white drawings.

Visits to Korea Society are by appointment only, made at least 24 hours in advance. Read more, click here