What's Happening in Asian Art...
December 29, 2021
Honma Hideaki (b. 1959), Sign of Wind-Stream, 2012, madake and nemagari bamboo, rattan,
38.75 x 15.5 x 13 in.
Mountains & Sky, TAI Modern
Concludes Friday, December 31st
It is impossible to live in Santa Fe without falling a little bit in love with the mountains and sky. This winter, TAI Modern, which is based in this special place, pays homage to these pillars of the high desert landscape with an exhibition of works from Japan and America that evoke or are inspired by the natural world.
Mountains & Sky brings together a selection of vessel makers, painters, and sculptors. The references to nature can be straightforward, as in Black Mesa, Linda Whitaker’s powerful oil-pastel of a local landscape, or more difficult to pinpoint, as in Hatakeyama Seido’s Mountain Range, a jar-shaped bamboo basket with a decorative knotted motif reminiscent of the titular forms. Be sure to catch this engaging exhibition, in person or online.
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December 28, 2021
Gold Lacquer Box with Pine Cones, 1929, makie-e gold lacquer with shell and pewter inlays on wood,
5 x 11 x 9 in.
Golden Treasures: Japanese Gold Lacquer Boxes, Thomsen Gallery
Now on view-January 31, 2022
Thomsen Gallery at 9 E. 63rd St in New York has extended its current exhibition through the end of January, which gives visitors extra time to see these elegant works of art. The masterworks in the exhibition are all examples of maki-e, which literally means "sprinkled pictures" and refers to the technique of sprinkling powders of gold and silver onto wet lacquer, a distinctly Japanese tradition that developed in the Heian Period (794 – 1185).
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December 27, 2021
Gonpo Buddhist Mask with Skulls, Tibet or Bhutan, papier mache, pigment and gold gilt, 13 in.
Masks Then and Now: Inspiration and Interpretation, Thomas Murray,
Asiatica-Ethnographica
Now on view
Thomas Murray, Asiatica-Ethnographica is currently offering an exceptional exhibition of masks from numerous tribal groups throughout Asia, ranging from the Himalayas to Japan to Indonesia, as well as several in the West. These striking images are crafted of a variety of materials, including wood, metal, and papier mache. The exhibition may be viewed on the gallery's website or in person by appointment in Mill Valley, California. The display of masks is accompanied by several informative articles online, such as Transformation Masks and Artistic Metamorphosis (in English and French) and Demons and Deities: Masks of the Himalayas. Also available is Thomas Murray's 2009 book Masks of Fabled Lands.

Topeng Wayang Comic Mask, Java, 19th/very early 20th century, wood, pigment, 9 in.
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December 24, 2021
Suzuki Harunobu (ca. 1724-70), Young Beauty Carrying A Child Pulling a Flower Cart, ca. 1770,
chuban tate-e, 10 3/8 x 7 5/8 in.
Wishing the happiest of holidays to all from Asia Week New York!
This cheerful Japanese woodblock print from Scholten Japanese Art echoes the Christmas season with the tenderness of a mother-and-child and the merriment of colorful holiday gifts and décor. The small child focuses intently on the small flower cart containing a basketwork vase with an arrangement of autumnal leaves and grasses, including chrysanthemums and kikyo (bell flowers) that he pulls along with a long cord. Repeated images of clumps of snow-covered bamboo on the woman’s robes also evoke the season.
The poem at the top is by Fujiwara no Michitoshi (1047-1099) from the anthology Kin'yo wakashu (Collection of Golden Leaves).
Sakari naru
magaki no kiku
kesa mire ba
mata sora saenu
yuki zo tsumoreru
I get up early
this morning to find flowers
the chrysanthemums
flowering upon my hedge
as if the snow covered it.
-Poem reading courtesy of Ryoko Matsuba, translation by Matsuo Shukuya
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December 23, 2021
Ralph M. Chait Galleries, Inc. has made available their Winter 2021-2022 catalogue.
Winter 2021-2022 Booklet available, Ralph M. Chait Galleries, Inc.
Ralph M. Chait Galleries, Inc., which was founded in 1910, has recently published their Winter 2021-2022 booklet filled with fine Chinese Porcelains and Works of Art. Many of the works have a holiday theme and celebrate the festive season. The booklet can be downloaded free on the gallery's website, and visitors are welcome to stop by the gallery on East 52nd Street and see the art objects in person.
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December 22, 2021
Piyali Sadhukhan (born 1979), Centrifugal, mixed media on canvas, 83 x 117 cm.
Kingdom of Cards by Piyali Sadhukhan, Akar Prakar Gallery
Now on view-January 14, 2022
In their New Delhi gallery, Akar Prakar is currently exhibiting work by the mixed-media artist Piyali Sadhukhan, which can be seen in person and on the gallery's website. Drawing inspiration from literature, history and media, Sadhukhan's images are a visceral portrayal of historical events and our shared lived experiences. Here, the artist embodies the spirit of a storyteller and uses the devices of narrative storytelling, one of the oldest forms of mass media. As the viewer engages with each art work, they enter into a mythical land created by the artist. But as they grow intimate with each work, they are left asking whether what they see is really a myth or fiction. Because fantasy has never seemed more real than this.
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December 21, 2021
Tai Xiangzhou, Celestial Chaos - Endless Celestial Motions, ca. 2021, mounted and framed, ink on silk, 39.37 x 79.52 in.
Tai Xiangzhou - Cosmic Matter: From Nothing to Being , Fu Qiumeng Fine Art
Concludes Thursday, December 23, 2021
Don't miss this exhibition of 12 new, dynamic works by Tai Xiangzhou in which he explores the themes of art history, philosophy, mythology, literature, cosmology, and modern science through the traditional Chinese ink-and-brush medium. These large and powerful primordial cosmic "landscapes" are steeped in China's rich artistic tradition, yet are completely new and innovative.
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December 19, 2021
Utagawa Toyohiro (1763–1828), Woman Cooling Herself, ca. 1800, hanging scroll, ink and color on silk, 15 3/4 × 26 1/8 in.
Japan: A History of Style, 4th rotation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
December 18, 2021-April 24, 2022
This exhibition celebrates how gifts and acquisitions of the last decade have transformed The Met’s ability to narrate the story of Japanese art by both expanding and deepening the range of remarkable artworks that can meaningfully elucidate the past. Each of the ten rooms that make up the Arts of Japan Galleries features a distinct genre, school, or style, representing an array of works in nearly every medium, from ancient times to the present.

Nagasawa Rosetsu (1754–1799), Tenjin Traveling to China, 1787-88, hanging scroll, ink and color on paper, 35 1/8 × 13 in.
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December 18, 2021
F.N. Souza (1924-2002), Untitled (Portrait), 1961, oil on canvas, 26. x 23 in.
Primitivism and Modern Indian Art, DAG, The Claridges, New Delhi
December 18, 2021-January 25, 2022
Although primitivism in modern Indian art arose partly in response to developments in the West, the meanings and experience of primitivism in the Indian context must differ markedly. While Western artists went in search of an elusive, idealized "noble savage," urban Indian artists, seeking to assert their authentic identity, drew inspiration from the least colonized segments of their own society. The sixteen artists, including Rabindranath Tagore, Amrita Sher-Gil, F.N. Souza, and M.F. Husain, featured in this exhibition together represent a broad spectrum of the ways in which primitivism has manifested itself in modern Indian painting and sculpture. These artists were chosen to explore a range of manifestations of primitivism in Indian art and to try and sketch its history. Visiting DAG New Delhi in person or online will provide rewarding insight into this distinctive movement in Indian modern art history.
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December 17, 2021
Bonhams three new Asian art specialists, (left to right) Hannah Thompson, I-hsuan Chen and Philip Hafferty
Bonhams recently appointed Hannah Thompson as the West Coast Head of Asian Art, based in Los Angeles. Working with a team of experienced Asian art specialists across the U.S. led by Dessa Goddard, Hannah will assume responsibility for managing Bonhams Asian Art department in Los Angeles, including client development, business getting, appraisal, selling strategies and operations.
Hannah brings to Bonhams extensive experience in both commercial and academic sectors of the art world, having held positions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Palace Museum Taipei, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the University of California Berkeley. She was most recently Chinese Works of Art specialist for Sotheby's.
In New York I-Hsuan Chen and Philip Hafferty have joined Bonhams’ Chinese Art and Japanese Art departments, respectively.
I-Hsuan Chen is now Senior Specialist for Chinese Art at Bonhams in NY. Starting her career at the Brooklyn Museum's Department of Asian Art, I-Hsuan contributed to surveys of Korean art, Japanese screens, Chinese paintings and Tibetan thangkas. Her expertise in ancient Chinese art developed while working alongside eminent art dealer James J. Lally, where she was responsible, among various tasks, for the research and operations of J.J. Lally & Co.'s annual exhibition and sale. I-Husan holds a Bachelor's degree from Tung-Hai University in Taiwan and a Master's degree from Pratt Institute in NY.
Philip Hafferty holds the post of Junior Specialist for Japanese Art at Bonhams in NY. Before joining Bonhams, Philip worked for Koichi Yanagi Oriental Fine Arts in NY, where he specialized in both Japanese antiques and contemporary ceramics, textiles and glass artworks. He holds a Master's degree in Art History from the University of Washington and a Bachelor's degree in East Asian Studies from Harvard University. He also completed a year-long study of the Japanese language at Waseda University in Tokyo, and received a fellowship to study for a year in the non-Japanese students' division of Urasenke Gakuen Professional College of Chado (tea ceremony) in Kyoto, Japan. He is a licensed instructor in the Urasenke Chado Tradition.