Karamono and Birds (detail), 18th century, pair of two-panel screens, ink, colors, gofun, and gold leaf on paper, each: 170 x 165 cm, Courtesy of Giuseppe Piva Japanese Art

The exuberant flowers and exotic birds in this vibrant and colorful pair of screens set a lively tone for the beginning of summer. Giuseppe Piva Japanese Art in Milan provides an informative commentary about this 18th century painting.

The term karamono is used to define ceramic, carved lacquerware, furniture, bronzes and other decorative items imported from China. They became highly prized as imported curios, used in Japan as kazari (display items) and even the shōgun would install karamono in his chamber (zashiki) and invite members of the court and clergy to view them. Often karamono have been copied by Japanese craftsmen, so shapes from Chinese bronzes and porcelain have been used in Japan for centuries. Flower baskets for ikebana were also imported from China. These karamono baskets had formal, symmetrical structures with tightly plaited weaves. Unlike those used during the tea ceremony, that maintain a natural and austere wabi-sabi construction, karamono bamboo baskets, like those represented on this pair of screens, were modelled on Chinese bronzes and show classical forms. Chinese bronzes themselves, as seen here, would also be used to display flower compositions.

Even exotic birds would serve as kazari. While bird-keeping was already popular since the early Edo period for the enjoyment of their songs, the habit of breeding birds for aesthetic purposes was quite unusual. Some entertainment stalls kept parrots and other rare specimens in exquisite cages for their customers’ enjoyment. The composition of this pair of screens seems inspired by the same amusement: kept on an elaborate perch or in an elegant cage fitted with a scholar’s stone, these birds are intended to intrigue and fascinate the viewer. Also, natural history studies became fashionable in Japan during the 18th century, due to the import of European books and prints. These imported images inspired paintings of rare birds which, regardless of whether they had any significance or meaning, were highly appreciated by collectors. Painting with this style were introduced by the nanga samurai painter and Confucian scholar Yanagisawa Kien (1703-1758), who began his training with artists of the Kanō school, but became a disciple of Watanabe Shūseki and then of the nanga painter Gion Nankai.

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Chanoyu: A Taste of Tea, Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd.
Last day May 30, 2022

Dai Ichi Gallery is delighted to present a group of teawares this Spring, functional wares representing the art of Chanoyu, the ritual Japanese tea ceremony that involves serving, taking, and drinking of tea. The modern history of Chanoyu carries through the style and grace of tea tradition. Vases, teabowls, water jars, and other functional objects act as aesthetic anchors for the ceremony.

The exhibition focuses on functional pieces, featuring tea bowls, vases, water jars, and functional works by artists: Kato Mami 加藤真美 (born 1963), Goto Hideki 後藤秀樹 (born 1973), Shingu Sayaka 新宮さやか (born 1979), Murata Gen 村田元 (1904-1988), Shimaoka Tatsuzo 島岡達三 (LNT, 1919-2007), Kinjo Jiro 金城次郎 (LNT, 1912-2004), Sugimoto Sadamitsu 杉本貞光 (born 1935), Nakamura Takuo 中村卓夫 (born 1945), and many more.

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Asia Week New York's LAUNCH Video, March 15, 2022
Available to watch online

For those who missed AWNY's LAUNCH presentation on March 15th, which gave an overview of Asia Week March 2022 highlights, the recording is now available on our website. Kicking off this spring's Asia Week, AWNY Planning Committee Chair Dessa Goddard emceed the presentations of gallery-exhibition highlights and auction previews by members of AWNY's Planning Committee. Mike Hearn, Douglas Dillon Chairman of the Department of Asian Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, surveyed the variety of Asian art exhibitions currently on view in this institution.

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A Large Inscribed Jade Luohan Grotto, Qianlong period (1736-1795), lot 24, the Dr Wou Kiuan Collection

A Journey Through China's History: The Dr Wou Kiuan Collection Part 1
Sotheby's
On sale Tuesday, March 22 at 9am

This March, Sotheby’s will present Part 1 of one of the most comprehensive collections of Chinese Art ever assembled, The Dr Wou Kiuan Collection. Celebrating over 4,000 years of Chinese culture and art history, this distinguished encyclopedic collection ranges from Neolithic utilitarian vessels to paintings, calligraphy, imperial jades and porcelain, and more. The New York auction will be the first of a series of four single-owner sales to be held globally and represent the finest examples of virtually every category of Chinese art.

The collection of Dr. Wou Kiuan was long tucked away in a discreet corner of the southern British Isles. Across seven interconnecting rooms displayed a comprehensive visual history of China. Covering some 4,000 years of Chinese art, the collection formed by Dr. Wou Kiuan (1910-1997) ranges from utilitarian storage vessels made by the first Neolithic cultures that emerged along the Yellow River to the most dazzling porcelains ever commissioned to adorn the palaces of the Qing Emperors of China’s final dynasty. The extraordinary scope of the collection sets it apart from all other private collections of Chinese art formed in the mid-20th century, and it remains one of the last great collections of Chinese art in Europe today.

The uniquely comprehensive collection was formed by Wou Kiuan (Wu Quan, Heng Zhi), son of the Republican politician Wou Lien-Pai (Wu Jinglian, Wu Lianbo) (1873-1944). Wou Kiuan was born in Xingcheng, Liaoning Province in Northeast China on June 25, 1910, entering the world mere months before the overthrow of the Qing dynasty. Educated at Zhendan University in Shanghai, Wou Kiuan studied French language before he moved to France at the age of twenty to study law at the University of Grenoble and was awarded his doctorate degree from the Sorbonne in Paris. Appointed Secretary-General for the Overseas Chinese Committee at the League of Nations in Geneva in 1937, Wou embarked on an illustrious career in diplomacy. In 1939, he joined the newly-formed Chinese government Foreign Affairs Service at the French embassy in Paris; before moving to London in 1941 where he worked for the Chinese embassy in London until 1947 when he was recalled to China to serve in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs until his retirement in 1952.

At the heart of Dr Wou’s drive to collect was a burning desire to preserve the relics of China’s rich historical past scattered across Europe and to promote Chinese art and culture. It was no doubt fortuitous that Wou’s years of collecting coincided with an abundant availability of exceptional Chinese art on the London market. From the mid-1950s to late 60s he was able to form a collection of well over 1,000 works that together represented virtually every category of Chinese art. In 1968 he opened the doors to the Wou Lien-Pai Museum, named in honor of his father. The collection was arranged chronologically, with the objects displayed in wood-framed vitrines, each accompanied by typed and handwritten didactic texts. Over the years the Museum became a destination for collectors, academics, and visiting dignitaries. To this day the Wou family has remained a conscientious custodian of the collection, loaning works to exhibitions and publishing a two-volume catalogue in 2011, thereby continuing to educate future generations.

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The feature on Asia Week New York in the online version of The New York Times.

In this weekend's The New York Times, Will Heinrich highlighted several Asian Art exhibitions at local museums and galleries that are available during this season's Asia Week New York. In particular, Heinrich noted exhibitions at the Met, Korea Society, and Japan Society, as well as the selling shows at Scholten Japanese Art, Francesca Galloway, and Onishi Gallery. Just as wealthy patrons of Japanese woodblock prints did in the Edo period, Heinrich selected one of Sebastian Izzard's surimono as the lead photo. Visitors were directed to Asia Week New York's website for information. To read the full article, click here

Unkoku Tohan (1635-1724), River Landscape, Edo period, late 17th-early 18th century, handscroll,
ink and color on paper, Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Mind Over Matter: Zen in Medieval Japan, National Museum of Asian Art
March 5–July 24, 2022

This exhibition showcases the breadth of the museum’s medieval Zen collections, highlighting rare and striking works from Japan and China to illustrate the visual, spiritual, and philosophical power of Zen. Rooted in the culture of medieval Japan, the lessons of Zen have become an important part of contemporary American life, as applicable today as they were in premodern times.

Monastic Zen painting in medieval Japan (ca. 1200–1600) is one of the great artistic traditions of East Asia and of the world. The abbreviated, seemingly impromptu paintings in monochrome ink have influenced artists and enthusiasts for centuries. Many of the most accomplished artists of this era—Mokuan, Ryōzen, Shūbun, Sesshū, Sesson, and many others—were Zen monks credited by later generations as the creators of a unique and remarkable legacy of ink painting. Indeed, Zen monk-painters inspired a number of the most important professional painting lineages of Japan’s early modern period (ca. 1600–1868) and formed a thematic backbone of Japanese art and cultural identity in modern times.

To learn more about some of the key aspects of Zen, an online interactive experience Voices of Zen: Contemporary Voices accompanies the exhibition. The interactive features three artworks from the exhibition—a splashed-ink landscape by the sixteenth-century artist Sōen, dynamic calligraphy by the rebellious monk Ikkyū, and an early sixteenth-century tea bowl fixed using kintsugi repair.

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