Ito Jakuchu, Giant Daruma, late 18th century, hanging scroll; ink on paper, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Gitter-Yelen Collection, gift of Dr. Kurt Gitter and Alice Yelen Gitter.

None Whatsoever at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

This exhibition features masterworks of Zen Buddhist Japanese paintings from the renowned Gitter-Yelen Collection spanning more than four centuries. Many of the works from the Gitter-Yelen Collection were recently acquired by the MFAH.

“Maharana Ari Singh II enjoying Jagmandir” Attributed to Jiva and others, ca. 1767 Opaque watercolor and gold on paper Image, 58.3 × 114 cm The City Palace Museum, Udaipur, 2011.18.0037

A Splendid Land: Paintings from Royal Udaipur at The National Museum of Asian Art

Around 1700, artists in Udaipur (a court in northwest India) began creating immersive paintings that express the moods (bhava) of the city’s palaces, lakes, and mountains. These large works and their emphasis on lived experience constituted a new direction in Indian painting.

With dazzling paintings on paper and cloth—many on public view for the first time—the exhibition reveals the environmental, political, and emotional contexts in which the new genre emerged. A Splendid Land explores the unique visual strategies that artists developed to communicate emotions, depict places, and celebrate water resources.

Yoshita Minori (b. 1932), Living National Treasure, Plate with peony and Dry-grass Patterns, 2012, Porcelain with gold underglaze, h. 4 3/8 x dia. 19 1/2 in. (11 x 49.5 cm), courtesy of Onishi Gallery

There is more time to see The Four Elements in Japanese Arts: Earth, Air, Fire and Water, now on view at Onishi Gallery until May 31.

The exhibition showcases the technical mastery of contemporary Japanese ceramic artists. Important works by Living National Treasures Tokuda Yasokichi III (1933-2009), Yoshita Minori (b. 1932), Imaizumi Imaemon XIV (b. 1962), Maeta Akihiro (b. 1974) and Inoue Manji (b. 1929) are featured along with those of many of their contemporaries.

Kawafune Misao, Lumberjack's Path, 1928, Color on silk, hanging scroll with a box signed by the artist, 257 x 145 cm (image), 334 x 169 cm (overall)

Shibunkaku is participating in Taipei Dangdai, May 12-14, 2023
Nangang Exhibition Center

For Taipei Dangdai 2023, under the theme of Seeing/Gazing at the Nature, Shibunkaku would like to put the ‘distance’ created by the artist’s subjective awareness as the main axis, unravelling the world through their perspectives which transcend time, borders, and genres.

‘Seeing’ is the root of all art. It is through seeing that we establish our place in the surrounding world; through seeing, we explore and deepen our understanding of this world to situate ourselves in relation to it. As one dives deeper, turning ‘seeing’ into ‘gazing,’ it then becomes an act of choice. Through this act, artists establish a relationship between themselves and objects – be it the earth in the vast universe, the waves shimmering in the setting sun, the mountains and rivers filled with urban ruins and structures, the hibiscus blossoming in the backyard, the hair moss in the temple that lives in reincarnation – it could be anything in the world. Distances between the two will then be felt when the artists project their ‘gazing’ onto brushworks, either getting closer to or drifting away from the objects. It is the ‘distance’ created in each artwork that shows the uniqueness of each artist, also a record of themselves of how they see the world transformed into an image through their brush.

Read more here

Detail of “Universal Gateway,” Chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra, Japan, Kamakura Period (1185–1333), dated 1257. Handscroll; ink, color, and gold on paper. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Louisa Eldridge McBurney Gift, 1953.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Anxiety and Hope in Japanese Art
April 8, 2023- July 14, 2024

Drawn largely from The Met’s renowned collection of Japanese art, this exhibition explores the twin themes of anxiety and hope, with a focus on the human stories in and around art and art making.

The exhibition begins with sacred images from early Japan that speak to concerns about death, dying, and the afterlife or that were created in response to other uncertainties, such as war and natural disaster. The presentation then proceeds chronologically, highlighting medieval Buddhist images of paradises and hells, Zen responses to life and death, depictions of war and pilgrimage, and the role of protective and hopeful images in everyday life. In the final galleries, the exhibition’s underlying themes are explored through a selection of modern woodblock prints, garments, and photographs.

Rotation 1: April 8–August 13, 2023
Rotation 2: August 26–November 26, 2023
Rotation 3: December 16, 2023–April 14, 2024
Rotation 4: April 27–July 14, 2024

The National Museum of Asian Art
The Art of Knowing in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayas
March 25, 2023-ongoing

One of a pair of book covers for a Dharani Samgraha (detail), Nepal, 1650–1700, opaque watercolor and gold on wood, Gift of Joyce and Kenneth Robbins, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S2000.88.1–2

The Art of Knowing brings together highlights from our collections, some of which have never been on view, to explore religious and practical knowledge across time, space, and cultures. Featuring stone sculptures, gilt bronzes, and painted manuscripts from India, Nepal, Tibet, Bangladesh, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia, this exhibition illuminates the critical role of visual culture in conveying Buddhist and Hindu teachings from the ninth to the twentieth centuries.

From Ganesha, the god of beginnings, to goddesses who personify wisdom, the artworks on view tell individual stories and reveal ways of knowing the world. “The Art of Knowing” asks how artists and objects shape wisdom traditions. How do shared images and designs reveal the movement of people and ideas across geographical regions? What do goddesses teach? And how does attaining knowledge end suffering?

Paul Binnie, b. 1967, Study of a Noh Kimono Sleeve in 'Kakitsubata', oil on wood panel 19 by 13 3/8 in., Courtesy of Scholten Japanese Art

Zoom Webinar sponsored by JASA
The Material Culture of Noh
Tuesday, May 9 at 5pm (EDT)

For this live Zoom webinar, Princeton University Professor Thomas Hare will speak about the origins of noh theater in Japan and, in particular, about its material culture. Noh drama has a 700-year history of continuous performances, and it has, in that time, developed a detailed body of conventions of performance that specify not only text, music and dance, but also the material culture of noh, its costumes, masks, props and even its unique stage. This talk will relate these material aspects of noh history to its thematic concerns in modern performance and their ties to historical performance.

Note: Advance registration is required to attend this event. Register here: May 9 Zoom Webinar.

Sneak Peek—When Stones Move: Journeys of the Tamil Yoginis
at The National Museum of Asian Art
Online event, May 9, 2023 12 pm (EST)

What happens to stone sculptures in India when they are separated from their original context? Follow the multiple journeys of a group of goddesses called yoginis from their temple, which no longer exists, to a bustling South Indian city and onward to museum collections on three continents. In this richly illustrated talk, Emma Natalya Stein, assistant curator of South Asian and Southeast Asian art, will reveal a recently discovered yogini—not in a museum but in a local Tamil shrine—and give a sneak peek into plans for an exhibition that seeks to reunite this important group of goddesses.

Read more and register here

Enma-o, King and Judge of Hell, Japan, Muromachi period (1392–1573), 16th century, Wood with gesso and traces of polychrome, inlaid glass eyes, Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. H. George Mann, 79.277

There are only a few days left to see Comparative Hell: Arts of Asian Underworlds, on view at the Asia Society Museum until May 7.

Top lot:  A Chinese Pale Celadon Jade Ewer
Estimate:  $40,000-60,000 Sold for: $263,404

Asian Works of Art from the Collection of the Dayton Art Museum
March 3- March 21, 2023     Sale total:  $204,803

Property of An American Collector, Part II
March 14- March 30, 2023     Sale total:  $1,242,818

Chinese and Other Asian Works of Art, Part 1 & 2
March 28- April 19, 2023   Sale total: $1,349,458

The last of three sales of Asian art at iGavel, Chinese and Other Asian Works of Art, Part 1 & 2, ended last week, and was the most successful with a total of $1,349,458.

The two other sales included Asian Works of Art from the Collection of the Dayton Art Institute, which achieved $204,803 and Property of An American Collector, Part II, which featured a collection of over 65 rare silk Chinese robes, rang up $1,242,818.

According to Lark Mason, in the most recent sale, a number of pieces caught the eye of Mainland Chinese collectors, and those generally brought the highest prices. Jades were sought after. The top lot overall was a pale celadon Chinese jade ewer which sold for $263,404, (estimate $40,000-60,000) five times its estimate, and a pale celadon Chinese jade boulder from the Qianlong Period (1736-1795) brought $143,750, also greatly exceeding its $40,000-60,000 estimate.  As expected, the star of the Dayton Art Institute sale was the Qing dynasty Chinese amber figure of Shoulao (Estimate: $1,200-1,500), which fetched $26,250.

A Qing Dynasty, Manchu Empress’s Twelve Symbol Embroidered Yellow Gauze Robe, Jifu
Estimate: $10,000-20,000 Sold for $100,001

The attention of Chinese and international buyers was focused on the large collection of textiles in Property of An American Collector, Part I, especially the Chinese traditional court robes.  Competition was strongest for a rare Qing Dynasty, Manchu Empress’s Twelve Symbol Embroidered Yellow Gauze Robe, Jifu which sold for $100,001 (estimate $10,000-20,000).  However, the $90,625 that a rare Imperial Manchu silk gauze semiformal insignia surcoat, Longgua, Qianlong Period, fetched was more of a surprise (estimate $2,000-4,000).

The completion of these auctions marks the conclusion of Asia Week New York 2023 as highlights were on view in March and brings this year’s total sales to $134,064,583.