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AWNY Preview: Thomsen Gallery Presents Japanese Modern Masterpieces 1910–1940

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Inoue Hakuyō (1893-1969, Late Summer, 1920s, Japan, pair of two-panel folding screens; mineral pigments, shell powder and ink on hemp, size of each screen: 67 x 74¼ in. (170 x 188.5 cm)

Japanese Modern Masterpieces 1910–1940
March 13 – 21, 2025
9 East 63rd Street

Thomsen Gallery is delighted to present Japanese Modern Masterpieces 1910–1940 during this month’s Asia Week New York. This exhibition captures the dynamism of a transformative era, showcasing the breathtaking beauty of exquisite screens, contemplative hanging scrolls, meticulously crafted lacquered boxes, and the subtle artistry of bamboo baskets. Discover firsthand the artistic brilliance that defined this pivotal period in Japanese art.

They look forward to your visit during Asia Week New York kicking off on Thursday, March 13!

 

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AWNY Preview: A Selection of Japanese and Korean Art at Hiroshi Yanagi Oriental Art

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Kongo Rikishi Statue (Agyo), Height: 85 cm

A Selection of Japanese and Korean Art
March 13 – 18, 2025
Exhibiting at: Nicholas Hall, 17 East 76th Street, 4th Floor
Asia Week Hours: 10am-6pm, daily

Hiroshi Yanagi Oriental Art is thrilled to announce their participation in Asia Week New York with new acquisitions of Japanese and Korean art this month.

Among the remarkable treasures is this striking Kongo Rikishi (Nio) statue of Agyo, one half of the traditional guardian pair alongside Ungyo. Together, they stand as formidable protectors among the 28 guardian deities (Naraen Kengo O) in Japanese tradition. Agyo is depicted in his signature dynamic stance, raising his left hand while firmly gripping a Kongo pestle (weapon), with his right hand lowered and fingers splayed—an iconic contrast to his counterpart. The masterful craftsmanship of this piece is evident in the powerful musculature, the bulging veins that pulse with lifelike energy, and the fierce, wide-eyed expression. These striking details exemplify the intense realism and dynamic artistry that define the Kamakura period.

Be sure to visit Hiroshi Yanagi Oriental Art at Nicholas Hall to experience this artwork in person, along with other outstanding masterpieces.

They look forward to seeing you in New York when Asia Week kicks off on Thursday, March 13!

To learn more, click here.

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AWNY Preview: Zetterquist Galleries Presents Green Glazed Ceramics from China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam

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Large Koryo Celadon Inlaid Tile, Goryeo Dynasty, 12th-13th c. AD, Korea, h:23.3 cm x w:30.5 cm, in a wood and glass viewing case

Green Glazed Ceramics from China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam
March 13 – 21, 2025
Asia Week Hours: 11am-6pm, daily (by appointment)
3 East 66th Street, Suite 2B

Zetterquist Galleries is delighted to present an extraordinary exhibition of green glazed ceramics from China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam during Asia Week New York this month. Green Glazed Wares from China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam illustrates the evolution of celadons and other green glazes from their nexus in China to their adaption in other parts of Asia over 1400 years, and offers viewers a rare and valuable mini-course in these fields.

Nearly half of the objects are exquisite examples of Goryeo Dynasty (11th – 13th c.) Korean celadons, offering a rare opportunity to learn about this under-appreciated field. The star of this group is a large tile from the 12th – 13th century with inlaid black and white scrolling floral and flying crane decoration, all under an ideally realized sweet blueish green celadon glaze. It comes from a Japanese collection, with only five other known examples of this type outside of Korea. Other examples from Korea include large pear-shaped vases, bowls and plates with varied decorative techniques and glaze tones.

Chinese pieces offer the greatest range of age, from the 5th century through the 18th century, most from old American and Japanese collections. The glaze types range from early Yue-ware examples to an 18th century “tea dust” glazed scholar’s object, with examples from several Northern and Southern Chinese kilns. A highlight of this group is a small “Yen-Yen”, otherwise known as “Phoenix Tail” shaped vase from the Yuan Dynasty, with applied decoration of scrolling flowers above a deeply carved band of elongated lotus petals, all beneath a ridged trumpet neck. Used as devotional flower vases, these pieces were often exported to Japan and Southeast Asia in the 14th century. This example is presented with double boxes and tea silks.

There are three examples of Vietnamese celadons, all from the 14th and 15th centuries, both from important American collections.

Another star of the show is a large Japanese “Ao-Oribe” indented bowl from the late 16th – early 17th century. The corners are dipped in an dark grassy green glaze, framing a central diagonal field of brown playful scrolling tendril decoration. The other Japanese entry is a 13th – 14th century Ko-Seto ewer with streaming translucent ash glaze.

They look forward to welcoming you to their gallery soon!

Until then, preview the online catalog here.

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AWNY Preview: TAI Modern Presents From Timber to Tiger: The Many Bamboos of Japanese Bamboo Art

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Yamamoto Chikuryusai II, Flower Container, 1938, Bakelite, rattan, 14 x 5.5 x 5.5 in.

From Timber to Tiger: The Many Bamboos of Japanese Bamboo Art
March 13 – 21, 2025
Opening Reception: Thursday, March 13, 5-8pm
Exhibiting at: Colnaghi, 23 East 67th Street, 4th Floor
Asia Week Hours: 11am-6pm, daily (otherwise by appointment)

TAI Modern is excited to return to this year’s Asia Week New York to exhibit From Timber to Tiger: The Many Bamboos of Japanese Bamboo Art. This exhibition, held at Colnaghi New York, showcases important historic and contemporary works with a particular emphasis on unusual materials, ranging from rare bamboo species to lotus root to Bakelite.

Highlighted in this show are pieces from master Yamamoto Chikuryusai II, a member of one of the most important bamboo lineages in Osaka. Flower Container (1938) blends the traditional shapes of sencha tea ceremony ikebana baskets and rattan knotting technique with what was new plastics technology at the time: Bakelite, a thermosetting resin that could be molded into any shape.

They are also proud to highlight pieces from modern master Tanabe Chikuunsai IV. Enso (2020) uses tiger bamboo, a particularly hardy bamboo spotted with green and brown marks that grows only on a single mountain in Kochi. Conversely, Stand (2024) employs a new technique pioneered by Tanabe, wherein he collects bamboo felled from previous seasons. While pliable, it is also incredibly fragile, and it’s that unpredictability that grounds the tangle of hobi and black bamboo.

As the world’s premier gallery for Japanese bamboo art, TAI Modern welcome this opportunity to provide education and guidance to established collectors and first-time viewers alike.

They look forward to celebrating Asia Week New York with you soon!

To learn more, click here.

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AWNY Preview: Takashi Seto: Moments of Arrival at Seizan Gallery

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Takashi Seto (b. 1974), Personality Poison, 2023, lacquer, silver leaf, gold leaf, artificial dye on silk mounted on wood panel, 39.4 x 110.2 x 1.2 in (100 x 280 x 3 cm)

Takashi Seto: Moments of Arrival
March 6 – May 3, 2025
Opening reception with Artist: Thursday, March 13, 6-8 pm
Asia Week Hours: March 13-15 & 18-21, 11am-6pm (otherwise by appointment)
525 West 26th Street

During Asia Week New York, Seizan Gallery is pleased to present Takashi Seto: Moments of Arrival, the artist’s first solo exhibition in New York, on view from March 6 through May 3, 2025. Showcasing fifteen recent works on canvas, the exhibition highlights Seto’s mastery of Yuzen fabric dyeing and Shippaku metal leaf techniques — the traditional craft methods he revives and reinterprets. Through this intricate process, Seto explores cultural heritage, symbolism, and the passage of time, transforming ephemeral materials into meditative, multi-layered works.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is the four-panel work Personality Poison (2023), Seto’s homage to Yuzen’s history and the artisans who have preserved its traditions. The work features Murasakitsuyukusa (Tradescantia), a flower historically used to extract blue ink for fabric outlines. Though synthetic alternatives exist, Seto insists on using the natural plant-based ink, sourced from a 90-year-old craftsman and the very last person still producing it. Ironically, the ink is ultimately washed away during the dyeing process. Alongside the ephemeral flower, Seto paints a vividly colored Poison Dart Frog. The creature is renown for its toxicity, which is not inherent but is a cumulative result of its diet over time. Seto playfully depicts the frog with five toes instead of four, subtly anthropomorphizing it and inviting deeper reflection on adaptation and identity.

Through his fusion of historical craft and contemporary themes, Seto challenges conventions and honors tradition, while navigating a delicate balance between preservation and transformation.

Seizan Gallery looks forward to celebrating the start of Asia Week with a reception with the artist on Thursday, March 13!

To learn more, click here.

 

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Our Special Panel Discussion with The Winter Show Now Online

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Panel Discussion with The Winter Show, Art and the Great Expositions: The Worldwide Web of Taste, 1876-1904, Courtesy The Winter Show

If you missed our special live panel discussion, Art and the Great Expositions: The World Wide Web of Taste, 1876–1904 at The Winter Show in January, you can watch it now on our site!

Our esteemed panel of experts assessed the long-term aesthetic impact that World Fairs had on American decorative art and painting during the Gilded Age and on early twentieth century decorative arts and paintings, including the part played by Japanese art and crafts.

With a focus on works displayed in Philadelphia, Paris, Chicago, and St. Louis, the distinguished experts on the panel–moderated by Dessa Goddard, U.S. Head of the Asian Art Group, Senior Vice President of Bonhams–discussed the influence of Paris on American painting, the impact of Japanese arts and crafts on American decorative arts, especially Tiffany, and how the expositions served as a background for the transformation in 19th century painting.

Panelists:

Annette Blaugrund, Curator and former director (and first woman director) of the National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts (1997-2007)

Joe Earle, Global Senior Consultant for Japanese Art at Bonhams

Medill Harvey, Ruth Bigelow Wriston Curator of American Decorative Arts and Manager of the Henry R. Luce Center for the Study of American Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Mark D. Mitchell, Holcombe T. Green Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture at the Yale University Art Gallery

Moderate by Dessa Goddard, U.S. Head of the Asian Art Group, Senior Vice President and Head, Business Strategy for Chinese Paintings, and Senior Specialist for Chinese Art at Bonhams

Watch this insightful discussion here!

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New Exhibition Opening at San Antonio Museum of Art

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Maa Laxmi, From the Darshan Series, 2011, Manjari Sharma (b. Mumbai, India, lives and works in California), archival inkjet print in brass-embossed frame, Collection of the Birmingham Museum of Art; Museum purchase, 2020.48.2a-b, Photography credit: Manjari Sharma, © Manjari Sharma

Envisioning the Hindu Divine: Expanding Darshan and Manjari Sharma
March 7 – July 6, 2025
Lecture: Friday, March 7 from 6-7pm (in-person and live-streamed)
Exhibition Tours: Beginning Sunday, March 9 (times vary)
Free Spring Break Family Day: Tuesday, March 11, 10am-7pm

The San Antonio Museum of Art is pleased to open Envisioning the Hindu Divine: Expanding Darshan and Manjari Sharma, an exhibition features forty historical objects from India and Southeast Asia and nine photographs by global contemporary artist Manjari Sharma. Bringing together the striking work of the rising contemporary art star with the historic collections of the Birmingham Museum of Art, this exhibition showcases nine of the most significant deities of the Hindu pantheon and their contemporary relevance in art and faith. These works serve as a gateway to the concept of darshan—seeing and being seen by the divine, a profound spiritual exchange of glances experienced through consecrated images of gods. The vibrant, varied, and sometimes contradictory stories of these gods—as well as their familial relationships with each other—are shared through the works in this exhibition.

Contemporary artist Manjari Sharma makes work that is rooted in portraiture and addresses issues of identity, multiculturalism, and personal mythology. Beginning as a multiyear, crowdfunded project on Kickstarter, Sharma’s Darshan series of photographs aimed to recreate the experience of encountering the nine Hindu deities. An extraordinary aspect of Sharma’s work is her commitment to creating each scene without digital manipulation. All items visible in the images were present when photographed, not digitally added later.

Be sure to catch an evening lecture on opening day, Meeting Some Gods: Contemporary and Classic Visions of Hinduism, with curator Katherine Anne Paul. Explore the rich diversity of Hindu art through Manjari Sharma’s striking portraits of nine major deities, alongside historic depictions from the Birmingham Museum of Art and SAMA. This illustrated lecture examines Sharma’s work in dialogue with traditional representations of Ganesha, Lakshmi, Saraswati, and others, highlighting India’s artistic influence across Cambodia, Indonesia, Nepal, and Thailand.

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

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AWNY Preview: Scholten Japanese Art Presents Landscape Escapes: Famous Views of the Floating World

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Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858), One Hundred Famous Views of Edo: Atagoshita and Yabu Lane (Meisho Edo hyakkei: Atagoshita Yabukoji), 1857, oban tate-e 14 x 9 5/8 in. (35.5 x 24.4 cm)

Landscape Escapes: Famous Views of the Floating World
March 13 – 21, 2025
Asia Week Hours: 11am-5pm (appointments appreciated)
145 West 58th Street, Suite 6D

Scholten Japanese Art is excited to announce their new exhibition, Landscape Escapes: Famous Views of the Floating World, opening on March 13, as part of Asia Week New York!

Landscape Escapes includes numerous works by the 19th century masters of the landscape genre, including Katsushika Hokusai, and Utagawa Hiroshige, as well as rare contributions by artists who are not as closely associated with the subject such as Keisai Eisen, and Yashima Gakutei. The show will also explore some of the earliest forms of landscape prints by artists of the Katsukawa School, including Katsukawa Shunsho, and his followers, Katsukawa Shunsen (Shunko II) and Katsukawa Shuntei.

They look forward to welcoming you to the gallery soon!  Until then, preview Part I of the exhibit by clicking here and preview Part II by clicking here.

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Landscapes by Arnold Chang: A Retrospective and Recent Acquisitions Opening at the Cleveland Museum of Art

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Arnold Chang (American, b. 1954), Secluded Valley in the Cold Mountains 寒山幽谷, 2008, handscroll; ink on paper, painting section: 23 5/8 x 136 5/8 in.(60 x 347 cm), John L. Severance Fund 2024.69 © Arnold Chang

Landscapes by Arnold Chang: A Retrospective and Recent Acquisitions 張洪山水畫回顧展
March 8 – November 9, 2025
240A Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy
Clara T. Rankin Suite of Chinese Art Galleries

Celebrate the remarkable career of Arnold Chang with the Cleveland Museum of Art’s latest exhibition, Landscapes by Arnold Chang: A Retrospective and Recent Acquisitions 張洪山水畫回顧展. The exhibit features the museum’s newly acquired Secluded Valley in the Cold Mountains, a pivotal work that marked his breakthrough as an international contemporary ink artist. Showcasing 18 works by the artist, plus the CMA’s Number 5, 1950 (1950) by Jackson Pollock, the exhibition explores Chang’s formative years, which eventually culminate in free and exploratory ways that include the use of photography and color.

To learn more, click here.

Also opening soon are two new gallery rotations, Indian Painting of the 1500s: Continuities and Transformations and Juxtaposition and Juncture in Korean Modern and Contemporary Art, offering fresh perspectives on significant works from the museum’s renowned collections.

To learn more, click here.

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AWNY Preview: Masterpieces of Japanese Art: A Timeless Dialogue at Shibunkaku

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Inoue Yuichi (Japanese, 1916-1985), Hin (poverty, the naked state of birth, in Zen philosophy), 1974, ink on Japanese paper, 107 × 126 cm (image); 109 × 128 cm (overall)

Masterpieces of Japanese Art: A Timeless Dialogue
March 14 – 21, 2025
Exhibiting at: Joan B Mirviss LTD, 39 East 78th Street, Suite 401
Asia Week Hours: March 14 & 17-21, 11am-6pm; March 15, 11am-5pm; March 16, 12-5pm (otherwise by appointment)

Shibunkaku is delighted to present Masterpieces of Japanese Art: A Timeless Dialogue, an exhibition showcasing the richness of Japanese artistry, from classical ink paintings to avant-garde expressions during this season’s Asia Week New York. Featuring masterpieces such as Hakuin Ekaku’s Edo-period Zen scrolls, Munakata Shikō’s dynamic woodcut prints, and Inoue Yuichi’s powerful single-character calligraphy, this collection highlights the enduring interplay between tradition and innovation, celebrating the timeless beauty of Japanese artistic expression.

They look forward to welcoming you to their exhibition in New York soon!

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