What's Happening in Asian Art...
February 23, 2021
Mansheng Wang (Chinese, b. 1962),Collection of Rotted Wood, 2019
Chinese ink on paper; mounted as an album 11 × 7 7/8 inches (28 × 20 cm) Purchased with the East Asian Art Revolving Fund, 2019-153-3
Wang Mansheng continues the age-old tradition of collecting and appreciating humble materials from nature by depicting ‘portraits’ of driftwood found in the Hudson Valley. Captured from all angles, nooks and crannies become steep cliffs and deep ravines, showing that even insect-ridden rotted wood can provide inspiration for contemplation and self-reflection.
February 19, 2021
Chinese Export Watercolor of Junk, 19th Century, Courtesy of iGavel Auctions
New York: Who better to explain the harrowing twists and turns of transporting a precious work of art to its final destination than a team of art dealers, collectors and transport specialists? Providing useful tips on how to navigate this oftentimes convoluted process, Asia Week New York presents a panel of experts who discuss the road from seller to buyer from their individual perspectives on Wednesday, February 24th, 5:00 p.m. (EST) To reserve a spot, visit: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_z-CiaSxkQgee-EhUxsB3ZQ
Says Lark Mason, founder of iGavel Auctions and president of the Appraisers Association of America, who will moderate the discussion: “Our intent is to provide practical information about how to get from A to Z–avoiding as much stress as possible–after purchasing a work of art.”
The experts include:
Mark Aiston has worked in the art and antiques shipping and storage business since 1983. He founded his own company, Aiston Fine Art Services, in 2002 catering to the demanding needs of the discerning art collecting and auction worlds, both locally and internationally.
Susan L. Beningson is an independent curator based in New York City. Her current project is part of Triennial now on view at the Asia Society Museum entitled: "We The People: Xu Bing and Sun Xun Respond to the Declaration of Independence." From 2013 through 2019 she was a curator of Asian Art at the Brooklyn Museum where she organized the reinstallation of the Arts of China galleries and the exhibition "One: Xu Bing" as well as co-curating the reinstallation of the Arts of Korea gallery and the exhibition "Infinite Blue." A well-known collector of Asian art, Dr. Beningson's collection of 150 objects of Indian temple jewelry was the subject of an international traveling exhibition organized by the Asia Society Museum and toured with the American Federation of Arts to six venues and is now part of the permanent collection of the Newark Museum.
Steven Chait is the President of Ralph M. Chait Galleries in New York City. The Gallery was founded by their namesake and Steven's grandfather, Ralph M. Chait in 1910. The Gallery today is the oldest specialist gallery in the United States dealing in fine antique Chinese porcelains and works of art. Over its remarkable long history, the gallery has worked with and sold to museums and private collectors throughout the world.
Mee-Seen Loong is a director of INKstudio, a gallery based in Beijing focused on contemporary Chinese Ink art and provides art advisory services to collectors, corporations and museums. She is a consultant to Sotheby’s where her long career of 40-plus years has included the roles of Managing Director of Sotheby’s Hong Kong and Vice-Chairman, Chinese Art and Asian Paintings worldwide.
For the past twenty-five years, Ellen Hoener Ross has provided significant guidance and innovative solutions to meet the changing risk management and insurance needs of the art world. As the Managing Director of the Fine Arts and Cultural Institutions Practices at Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services, her team specializes in fine arts insurance for art collectors, cultural institutions, artists, galleries, and nonprofits. Before joining Gallagher, Ms. Ross was the Fine Arts Practice leader at Wells Fargo. She also worked as the property claims manager for Hanover Insurance Co. and as a fine arts/jewelry claims specialist and Underwriter for Hartford Insurance Co.
About Asia Week New York
The collaboration of top-tier international Asian art galleries, the five major auction houses, Bonhams, Christie’s, Doyle, Heritage Auctions, iGavel, and Sotheby’s, and numerous museums and Asian cultural institutions, Asia Week New York is a week-long celebration filled with a non-stop schedule of simultaneous gallery open houses, Asian art auctions as well as numerous museum exhibitions, lectures, and special events. Participants from Great Britain, India, Italy, Japan, and the United States unveil an extraordinary array of museum-quality treasures from China, India, the Himalayas, Southeast Asia, Tibet, Nepal, Japan, and Korea.
Asia Week New York Association, Inc. is a 501(c)(6) non-profit trade membership organization registered with the state of New York. For more information visit www.AsiaWeekNewYork.com @asiaweekny #asiaweekny
About Songtsam, Presenting Sponsor
Founded by Baima Duoji, in 2000, the Songtsam Hotels, Resorts, & Tour is the only collection of luxury Tibetan-style retreats found across the Tibetan Plateau that offers guests sophisticated elegance, refined design, modern amenities, and unobtrusive service in places of natural beauty and cultural interest. With his long-standing and strong interest in Chinese, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian art, Mr. Baima started collecting art long before he established his first hotel, Songtsam Lodge Shangri-La, which is located next to the famous Songzanlin Monastery in Shangri-La. Many of the properties across the Tibetan plateau are decorated with Mr. Baima’s personal collection, with each hotel acting as a private art museum. Songtsam aims to share the beauty of humanity’s imagination and creativity with people from all over the world and has been exploring and preserving the essence of Tibetan culture, all the while maintaining a commitment to supporting economic development, local communities, environmental conservation, and sustainability within Tibet and Yunnan. For more information, visit www.songtsam.com/en
February 16, 2021
Asia Week New York is pleased to host a panel discussion, Transported by Art, on Wednesday, February 24 at 5pm EST.
Follow the journey taken by a work of art on its way from the seller to the buyer. It could be more convoluted than you might expect. Our expert panelists: Mark Aiston, Aiston Fine Art Services, Susan L. Beningson PhD, curator and collector, Steven Chait, President, Ralph M. Chait Galleries, Mee-Seen Long, Director INKStudio, consultant to Sotheby's, and Ellen Ross, Head of the Fine Arts Practice, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. offer tips on what to look out for and how to negotiate some of the twists and turns. The conversation will be moderated by Lark Mason, Jr. founder of iGavel Auctions and president of the Appraiser's Association of America.
To Register: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_z-CiaSxkQgee-EhUxsB3ZQ
February 15, 2021
New acquisitions include 19th C. triptychs, Pre-Earthquake Hasui Prints, a Yoshida Grand Canyon impression, a rare and desirable print by Elizabeth Keith and an interesting Nagasaki print.
They can be found at www.theartofjapan.com
February 12, 2021
Four bronze long-horned bulls and a horse, Dian kingdom, Yunnan, Western Han dynasty, 3rd-1st century B.C. Lengths: 17.8 to 24.8 cm. (7 to 9 3/4 in.), courtesy of Kaikodo
Looking forward to a less eventful year and wishing you a happy, healthy, safe and prosperous New Year of the Ox!
The Chinese zodiac is a 12-year cycle where each year is represented by an animal, and 2021 is the year of the dependable Ox. According to a myth about how the order of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac calendar was established, the ox came in second in a race to reach the emperor’s party. He had been the frontrunner, but just before the finish line, the rat asked him for a ride across the river and then got off his back and claimed first place. A very trustworthy beast of burden and indispensable in an agricultural society, the ox has always been much valued in Asia. Known for being hardworking and reliable, oxen have frequently been portrayed in Chinese and Japanese works of art.
In addition, each year of the Chinese calendar is associated with one of the ten elements, such as fire, water, air. 2021 is the Metal Ox year so this group of four bronze long-horned bulls and a horse is most fitting. From the Dian kingdom in Yunnan and dating to the Western Han dynasty (3rd-1st century BC), these pieces attest to the ox’s long historical importance in Chinese life.
The approach is more fanciful in a Japanese print by Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III), Fifty-three Stations Along the Tokaido: View of Kanbara, from a bijin landscape series, in which a beautiful young woman is shown riding an ox in a snowbound landscape.
Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) 1786-1865, Fifty-three Stations Along the Tokaido: View of Kanbara, signed Kochoro Kunisada ga, ca. 1838, chuban tate-e 9 7/8 by 7 3/8 in., 25 by 18.7 cm, courtesy of Scholten Japanese Art
Oxen have been depicted in paintings, stone sculpture, wood, jade and other materials as well as in pottery and porcelain. A perennial favorite throughout these media is the image of a boy riding an ox or a water buffalo, and here is a classic porcelain example of that, a Chinese blanc de chine water dropper in the shape of a boy riding an ox, from the Kangxi period/ early 18th century.
Chinese blanc de chine water dropper in the shape of a boy riding an ox, Kangxi period/early 18th century, Height: 3 inches (7.5 cm) Length: 3 1/2 inches (9 cm), courtesy of Ralph M. Chait Galleries
February 11, 2021
Ivory ox, inlaid eyes of amber Kaigyokusai Masatsugu (1813-1882) Formerly in the Buquet Collection, Carmel, CA
LIVE ZOOM WEBINAR: NETSUKE AND SAGEMONO IN THE YEAR OF THE OX
Wednesday, February 17, 6 PM EST
Featuring David Butsumyo, a collector and retired endodontist from Long Beach, California.
This event is co-sponsored by the International Netsuke Society.
Click here to register for the Zoom event: February 17 Zoom Webinar.
February 10, 2021
Looking Up To My Man, 2019, Digital C-Print.
Chambers Fine Art is pleased to announce an artist & curator conversation between Pixy Liao and Christopher Phillips on Thursday, February 11th, 2021. The discussion will focus on Pixy Liao's recent works that are part of her current exhibition "New Wife, Old House" with Chambers Fine Art, and an upcoming solo exhibition at Fotografiska in New York.
Christopher Phillips is an independent curator and critic based in New York City. He teaches courses on the history and interpretation of photography and media art at Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. From 2000 to 2016 he was a curator at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York. During the past 20 years he has organized many exhibitions that examine contemporary Asian photography and media art. These exhibitions include "Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China" (2004, co-curated with Wu Hung); "Shanghai Kaleidoscope" (2008); "Heavy Light: Recent Photography and Video from Japan" (with Noriko Fuku, 2008); and “Life and Dreams: Contemporary Chinese Photography and Media Art” (2018). He serves as a board member of Asia Art Archive in America, and is a contributing editor of the magazine Art in America.
Pixy Liao was born in Shanghai, China, in 1979. Liao received her MFA in photography from the University of Memphis in 2008. Liao is a recipient of NYFA Fellowship in photography, Santo Foundation Individual Artist Awards Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival Madame Figaro Women Photographers Award, En Foco’s New Works Fellowship and Lens Culture Exposure Awards. She has been a resident at University of Arts London, Pioneer Works, Light Work, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Center for Photography at Woodstock, and Camera Club of New York. Liao’s photography have been exhibited worldwide, including He Xiangning Art Museum (Beijing), M Woods Museum (Beijing), UCCA Center For Contemporary Art (Beijing), Museum of Sex (New York), Asia Society (Houston), and National Gallery of Australia (Sydney). She currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
Zoom Link: https://nyu.zoom.us/j/96768211655 No RSVP is necessary for this event.
February 8, 2021
To accompany the online exhibition opening on February 8, Cascades and Glacial Landscapes, New clay sculptures by Jeff Shapiro, Joan Mirviss will moderate a discussion with prominent clay artist Jeff Shapiro and ceramic collectors Halsey and Alice North on Jeff's unique journey: from ceramic training in Japan as a young man, through his decades-long evolution into an independent artist creating highly original works that draw from his varied experiences.
The audience is invited to submit questions they may have for Jeff and the Norths, which may be selected for the Q & A portion of the event.
To RSVP to this event and send in your questions: director@mirviss.com
February 5, 2021
Maharaja Sarabhoji Accompanied by His Minister, Tanjore, Company Style, circa 1790, Opaque water-based pigments with raised gold on board, 23 1/2 x 17 1/4 in. (60 x 44 cm.), Kapoor Galleries
Provenance:
Given as a gift to Lady Henrietta Clive (1758-1830) in 1800 by the Maharaja Sarabhoji (r. 1798-1832).
Sophus Andreas Bergsøe (1838-1896), Aalborg circa 1880.
Thence by descent.
It seems incongruous to include an elaborate European ormolu clock in an Indian Tanjore Company Style painting of Maharaja Sarabhoji Accompanied by His Minister, circa 1790. The maharaja, depicted as a heavily bejeweled figure with an elaborate turban and side-whiskers, stands formally facing outward with the index finger of his left hand pointing downward towards his ceremonial sword, and a minister with pressed palms faces the maharaja awaiting instructions. They are framed on one side by a curtain with gold fringe and tassels and are flanked by two European-style gilt-legged tables. The clock is placed upon one of the tables. The European accoutrements of the room are inspired by European portraiture, and this portrait is painted in a style that developed in the mid-eighteenth century, which catered to the tastes of the British colonials. The raised gold is typical of Tanjore painting.
Maharaja Serfoji II of Tanjore (also known as ‘Sarabhoji,’ r. 1798-1832), the last ruler of the Maratha Bhonsle Dynasty of Tanjore, was installed by the British as the titular head of Thanjavur. He was the adopted son of Maharaja Thulajah. As a young man, he was entrusted to the care of a Danish missionary, Reverend Christian Freidrich Schwartz, who sent him to Madras for his formal education. He enjoyed an excellent relationship with the British after he acknowledged their administration of Tanjore and was then granted sovereignty over the lands surrounding the Fort of Thanjavur as well as a pension (see Archer, Rowell, and Skelton, Treasures from India: The Clive Collection at Powis Castle, London, 1987, p.124; and John Chu, Game of Thrones in an ‘Asiatic World’: Henrietta Clive and Anna Tonelli in British India, National Trust Historic Houses & Collections Annual, 2018, p. 40.).
February 3, 2021
Wrapping cloth (Uchikui) Hemp, stencil and resist dyed, Okinawa, early Showa period, 20th century, David M. Kahn Collection
LIVE ZOOM WEBINAR: COLLECTING MINGEI: THREE PERSPECTIVES
Sunday, February 7, 5 P.M. EST
Japanese folk art and crafts both fall into the collecting category Mingei. This overarching term covers everything from preindustrial crafts to handmade everyday tools and vessels. Discussing their approach on collecting will be Kyoko Utsumi Mimura, Waseda University arts faculty member and former Director of the Mingeikan in Tokyo; Ty Heineken, Joint Director, Studio Japan, in Kingston, New Jersey, and author with his wife, Kiyoko, of Tansu: Traditional Japanese Cabinetry, published by John Weatherhill in 1981, the first cultural overview on the subject in a foreign language; and David M. Kahn, Executive Director of the Adirondack Experience in upstate New York and a JASA board member.
Click here to register: February 7 Zoom Webinar.
https://asiaweekny.com/sites/asiaweekny/files/smartphone_2014.jpg
Contact Us
