L-R: Landscapes of the Four Seasons: Spring and Summer, Hishikawa Sori, Japan, late 18th–early 19th c., color, ink, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1906.233; Ōsumi Yukie (b. 1945), Wave Crests (Namiho), Japan, Heisei era, 2008, hammered silver with nunomezõgan (textile imprint inlay) in lead and gold, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Bequest of Shirley Z. Johnson, S2022.8.32a–d; Seated Ganesha, India, Karnataka state, Halebid, 12th–13th c., chloritic schist, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Arthur M. Sackler Collection, Gift of Arthur M. Sackler, S1987.960

Take advantage of these long summer days with a trip to our nation’s capital and join the many educational events at the National Museum of Asian Art, including in person focus tours on Tibetan shrines, Japanese metalwork, objects of Hindu and Buddhist traditions and ghostly woodblock prints. Or if you can’t make it in person, then join them online for weekly meditation sessions!

IN-FOCUS TOURS:

Tibetan Shrine Room
Thursdays, Aug 15, 22, 29
2:00-2:20 pm & 2:45-3:05 pm (EDT)
Meet in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery 26

Immerse yourself in the contemplative ambiance of the Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room with a twenty-minute docent-led talk. The Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room contains more than two hundred objects, including bronzes, paintings, silk hangings, and carpets, that were created in Tibet, China, and Mongolia between the thirteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork
Fridays, Aug 16, 23, 30
2:00-2:20 pm & 2:45-3:05 pm (EDT)
Meet in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery 22

Closely examine a few Japanese masterpieces of hammered metalwork during a twenty-minute tour led by our docents. Learn how metalwork artists skillfully combine tradition with creativity and innovation, and get a taste of the largest collection of contemporary Japanese metalworks in the United States.

The Art of Knowing in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayas
Saturdays, Aug 17, 24, 31
2:00-2:20 pm & 2:45-3:05 pm (EDT)
Meet in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery 22

Take a closer look at objects, such as stone sculptures, gilt bronzes, and painted manuscripts, that highlight Hindu and Buddhist traditions. In this twenty-minute tour, our docents will help you consider the critical role visual culture played in these traditions from the ninth to the twentieth century. Hear stories about deities, from Ganesha, the god of beginnings, to goddesses who personify wisdom.

Staging Supernatural: Ghosts and the Theater in Japanese Prints
Sundays, Aug 18 & 25
2:00-2:20 pm & 2:45-3:05 pm (EDT)
Meet in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery 25

Slowly and thoughtfully view a few ghostly Japanese woodblock prints in this twenty-minute tour with our docents. Through the lens of Japanese traditional theater, this exhibition examines vibrant prints and illustrated books from Japan spanning the seventeenth through early twentieth centuries.

To learn more about these tours and more, click here.

ONLINE EVENT:

Meditation and Mindfulness
Tuesdays & Fridays, Aug 16, 20, 23, 27, 30
12:00-12:45 pm (EDT)

Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free online meditation sessions each week led by DC-based meditation teachers on Tuesdays and Fridays. Friday sessions include inspiration from art in the museum collections as well as appearances by special guest teachers and artists. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender.

To register via Zoom, click here.

Installation view, Observing My Distant Self: Kang Chunhui, Third Floor, Exhibition Hall No.3, INKstudio

We are thrilled to shine this week’s Gallery Spotlight on Beijing-based INKstudio. Since its inception in 2012, the gallery’s mission has been to present Chinese experimental ink as a distinctive contribution to contemporary transnational art-making through curated exhibitions supported by in-depth critical analysis, scholarly exchange, bilingual publishing, and multimedia production.

INKstudio’s program encompasses Postwar and contemporary artists from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea and Japan who exhibit works of diverse media, including painting, calligraphy, sculpture, installation, performance, photography, and video.

Their current exhibition, Observing My Distant Self: Kang Chunhui, marks Kang Chunhui’s premiere solo show at the gallery and offers an immersive journey into a crucial juncture in her artistic development. With works ranging from an expansive, eight-part video to ink and mineral pigments on paper, the show unfolds in two distinct sections, “Observing My Distant Self” and “Undeniably Me,” throughout the multi-level gallery. Kang Chunhui is a female visual artist born in Urumqi and educated in Seoul who has entered the hallowed grounds of the literati landscape—populated since its inception exclusively by men—to assert herself as a contemporary artist with an uncompromising, distinctly feminine vision. Be sure to visit this fantastic exhibit before it closes at the end of this month on August 30th!

To learn more, click here.

Yosa Buson (Japanese, 1716–1783), Hanshan and Shide (detail), Edo period, early 1770s, pair of hanging scrolls, ink and color on paper, 55 × 23 3/16 in (139.7 × 58.9 cm), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, 2022 (2022.432.16a, b)

The Three Perfections: Japanese Poetry, Calligraphy, and Painting from the Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection
August 10, 2024 – August 3, 2025
The Met Fifth Avenue, Galleries 223–232

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is pleased to open a new exhibition drawn from the Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection of more than 250 Japanese paintings and calligraphy works donated or promised to the Museum. This collection is considered one of the finest and most comprehensive assemblages of Japanese art outside Japan.

In East Asian cultures, the arts of poetry, calligraphy, and painting are traditionally referred to as the “Three Perfections.” The exhibit presents over 160 rare and precious works—all created in Japan over the course of nearly a millennium—that showcase the power and complexity of the three forms of art.

Examples include folding screens with poems brushed on sumptuous decorated papers, dynamic calligraphy by Zen monks of medieval Kyoto, hanging scrolls with paintings and inscriptions alluding to Chinese and Japanese literary classics, ceramics used for tea gatherings, and much more.

To learn more, click here.

Paul Binnie (Scottish, b. 1967), L-R: Japanese Zodiac: Dragon (Junishi no Tatsu), hosoban 13 by 5 1/2 in.; Ukiyo-e Sky (Ukiyoe Sora), hosoban 13 1/4 by 5 1/8 in.; A Day At the Beach: Paddling (Hamabe no Tsuika: Hamabe no Tsuika: Soso), hosoban 13 1/8 by 5 1/2 in.

Scholten Japanese Art is pleased to announce the release of two new print designs (as well as an unexpected bonus print) which are the first works launching two separate print series by Paul Binnie: Japanese Zodiac and A Day at the Beach.

Japanese Zodiac depicts men and women with tattoos that represent each of the twelve Japanese zodiac signs. The first print, Dragon, showcases the zodiac for 2024 and is inspired by an ink painting by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) to which Binnie added his own colors, and each of the subsequent prints will have a different background color which will give a rainbow effect when finally completed and assembled in order.

A Day at the Beach features nude figures before a beach and skyscape background. The figure was created from the same block set that was used to create Dragon from the Japanese Zodiac series, however, in Paddling an additional block was used to add a sheen of pale blue mica on the figure’s leg to suggest she is still wet from paddling in the ocean.

In Ukiyo-e Sky, the print references its name from the 19th century ukiyo-e prints, where only a slightly shaded strip of color along the top of the sheet was used to depict the blue of the sky.

To learn more about these three enchanting prints, click here.

Installation view, Transcultural Dialogues: The Journey of East Asian Art to the West, Fu Qiumeng Fine Art

Transcultural Dialogues: The Journey of East Asian Art to the West
Second Rotation: August 13 – September 14, 2024

The second rotation of Fu Qiumeng Fine Art’s current exhibition, Transcultural Dialogues: The Journey of East Asian Art to the West, is coming up on August 13th!

Be sure to visit their extraordinary summer exhibition exploring the artistic evolution of East Asian traditions as they spread to the Western art milieu, focusing on the exchange and interaction of visual language and conceptual frameworks between traditional ink art and modern American art.

Transcultural Dialogues showcases works by more than 15 artists, including classical and modern masters Bada Shanren (1626-1705), Qi Baishi (1864-1957) and C.C. Wang (1907-2003), alongside contemporary artists such as Michael Cherney.

Concurrently, a complementary exhibition, Asian-American Abstraction: Historic to Contemporary, is showing at Hollis Taggart Gallery in Chelsea.

To learn more, click here.

Group of E-Seto Ceramics

Specializing in modern Japanese ceramics, Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd. is beaming in our Gallery Spotlight this week. Since 1989, they have featured significant ceramic works to New York’s contemporary art scene and have placed pieces in important private and public museum collections around the world.

Beatrice Chang is the founder and director of the gallery and a leading expert in Japanese and Chinese ceramics, providing guidance to a diverse clientele ranging from casual enthusiasts to dedicated collectors and museum curators. With her deep connections with artists, Chang has championed and introduced contemporary Japanese ceramics to her clients through inspiring exhibitions and online catalogs.

Dai Ichi Arts’ current exhibit, Tales of Seto: An Exhibition of E-Seto Ceramics, is one such example, as it embarks on a journey through time, into the old origins of ceramics from the Seto region encompassing a range of historical periods from Edo, to Meiji and Showa, celebrating the ceramics of what is now known as “E-Seto.” This is the last week to appreciate the origins of Seto pottery, so be sure to visit before the show closes on August 9th!

To learn more, click here.

Tōshūsai Sharaku, The Actor Ichikawa Omezō as the Manservant Ippei in The Loved Wife’s Parti-Colored Reins (detail), 1794; Courtesy Art Institute Chicago

Continuing with our list of not-to-miss exhibitions from our AWNY member museums, below are some more fantastic exhibitions currently on view across the country. Be sure to visit them if you’re in town or traveling to these cities!

Art Institute Chicago
Kabuki-Actor Portraits by Tōshūsai Sharaku
Through October 14, 2024

In this newly opened exhibit, the Art Institute explores the short but generative career of Tōshūsai Sharaku, who produced around 150 prints representing Kabuki actors between the summer of 1794 and early spring of 1795.  In a mere ten months, these prints of unusual characters with exaggerated, almost comic expressions and awkward poses were popular mementos for fans of the stage.

To learn more, click here.

Hunting on Horses (騎馬狩獵) (detail), c. 1600s–1700s, China, Ming dynasty to Qing dynasty; Courtesy The Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art
Six Dynasties of Chinese Painting
Closing Sept 1, 2024

Six Dynasties of Chinese Painting presents a selection of the museum’s most important paintings that cover six different dynasties, including the modern era. These paintings represent various subject matter, from figures, landscapes, animals, birds, and flowers to religious and historic themes; their dates of acquisition range from the museum’s founding years to the most recent additions, demonstrating a continuous commitment to Chinese painting, a field that has always been the strongest asset of The Cleveland Museum’s Chinese collection.

To learn more, click here.

Tokio Ueyama, The Evacuee, 1942, oil on canvas, 24 x 30 in; Courtesy Japanese American National Museum; Gift of Kayoko Tsukada; ©Estate of Tokio Ueyama; Courtesy Denver Art Museum

Denver Art Museum
The Life and Art of Tokio Ueyama
July 28, 2024 – June 1, 2025

Newly opened last week, The Life and Art of Tokio Ueyama tells the story of Ueyama’s life, including his early days as an art student in San Francisco, Southern California, and Philadelphia; his travels abroad in Europe and Mexico; his role as artist and community member in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles; and his incarceration during World War II at the Granada Relocation Center, now the Amache National Historic Site, in southeast Colorado.

To learn more, click here.

Liu Dan 劉丹, Scholar’s Rock, 1993, ink on paper; Purchase through the generosity of Alan J. and Suzanne W. Dworsky and through the Ernest B. and Helen Pratt Dane Fund for Asian Art, 2003.83. © 1993 Liu Dan; Courtesy Harvard Art Museums

Harvard Art Museums
East Asian Art Gallery Reinstallation
Through December 1, 2024

One of the highlights in their recently reinstalled East Asian Art Gallery is this ink on paper work by Liu Dan. For at least 2,000 years, Chinese artists and scholars have collected unusually shaped stones, commonly known as “scholars’ rocks,” to display in their studios and gardens, regarding them as microcosmic landscapes to be explored in the mind’s eye. Rendered on an almost planetary scale, Liu Dan’s Scholar’s Rock is part of a larger display at the Harvard Art Musuems examining the many ways in which artists in East Asia have manipulated scale to change the viewer’s perception of a subject.

To learn more, click here.

Rubbing of Ritual Disc with Dragon Motifs (Bi) (detail), China, 19th-early 20th c., hanging scroll, ink on paper, 14 5/16 in (36.35 cm); Bequest of Laurence Sickman, F88-45/110; Courtesy Nelson Atkins Museum of Art

Nelson Atkins Museum of Art
The Art of Ink Rubbings: Impressions of Chinese Culture
July 20, 2024 – February 02, 2025

This newly opened exhibition features more than 25 rubbings, as well as some of the original objects, offering a window into the remarkable practice, variety, and allure of Chinese ink rubbing. As early as 600 C.E., scholars and collectors commissioned ink rubbings to preserve ancient inscriptions carved on stone or bronze. Due to its simplicity, beauty, and affinity to important historical objects, ink rubbings’ popularity endured despite advances in other reproductive media. In the 1930s, future Nelson-Atkins director Laurence Sickman (1907–1988) amassed an extensive collection of ink rubbings and, with other collectors, introduced Chinese ink rubbings to a global audience.

To learn more, click here.

Shibata Zeshin, Japanese, 1807-1891, Still Life with Vegetables, 19th c., colored lacquer and gold leaf on paper, 7 1/8 × 10 5/8 in (18.1 × 27 cm); On loan from The Catherine and Thomas Edson Collection, L.2009.10.3; Courtesy San Antonio Museum of Art

San Antonio Museum of Art
The Exquisite Art of Shibata Zeshin: Lacquerwares and Paintings
Through October 27, 2024

Japanese lacquerwares reached a pinnacle in the work of artist Shibata Zeshin during the Meiji period (1868–1912). Zeshin was a multi-talented artist who learned traditional painting techniques but was also extraordinarily skilled in using lacquer. Notably, he adapted this difficult medium to painting by inventing a way to maintain the flexibility of the lacquer so that a scroll could be rolled without cracking. Works on view include sake ewers, stacked boxes for food, storage boxes for paper and clothing, writing boxes with inkstones and brushes, and paintings.

To learn more, click here.

Installation view, COAL + ICE, Asia Society

As we head into August, why not spend these late summer days exploring some fascinating art exhibitions in and around New York City at our Asia Week New York member museums listed below? There’s a great mix of newly opened shows and those that are about to close, so be sure to catch them all in the coming weeks!

Asia Society
COAL + ICE
Closing August 11, 2024

Closing this coming Sunday, this immersive photography and video exhibition brings together the works of more than 37 photographers and artists from China and around the world that visualize the causes and consequences of the climate crisis. While the exhibit brings to life the environmental and human costs of climate change, it also highlights the innovative solutions that provide hope for a more sustainable future.

To learn more, click here.

Kondō Takahiro, Reflection: TK Self Portrait, 2010., glazed porcelain, 19 1/16 × 6 3/16 in. (48.5 × 15.7 cm), Carol and Jeffrey Horvitz Collection, © Kondō Takahiro, photo by Richard P. Goodbody and John Morgan; Courtesy Brooklyn Museum

Brooklyn Museum
Museum Spotlight: Porcelains in the Mist: The Kondō Family of Ceramicists
Through December 8, 2024

Porcelains in the Mist brings together 61 pieces that celebrate the Kondō family’s innovations and talents. Their early creations range from freehand-painted vases to pure-white jars. Most of the works on view are by the younger ceramicist, Kondō Takahiro (b. 1958), who invented the technique of “silver mist,” or gintekisai, as seen in his self-portrait sculpture above. Describing this effect as “water born from fire,” he often pairs his mists with dramatic shapes and textures.

To learn more, click here.

Courtesy Korean Cultural Center NY

Korean Cultural Center NY
Jinhee Lee: Boundaries of Existence
Closing August 17, 2024

Boundaries of Existence by Jinhee Lee, professor in the Department of Stage Design at the Korea National University of Arts and award-winning costume designer of films and Korean dramas, features stage design pieces from Lee’s career since 1999, traditional Korean costume designs for film, and her sculptures, paintings, and media art. In this exhibition, Lee combines sculptural characteristics with three-dimensional media to emphasize a dynamic and immersive experience. Her works embody a free and bold aesthetic sense, reflecting Korea’s unique nature-friendly philosophy.

To learn more, click here.

Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Collecting Inspiration: Edward C. Moore at Tiffany & Co.
Through October 20, 2024

This newly opened exhibition features the personal collection of Edward C. Moore, the creative force who led Tiffany & Co. to unparalleled originality and success during the second half of the 19th century. His collection of decorative arts were of exceptional quality and in various media, from Japanese baskets to metalwork from the Islamic world, and were a great source of inspiration for Moore and the designers he supervised.  The show features more than 180 pieces from his collection that were donated to the Museum, alongside 70 magnificent silver objects designed and created at Tiffany & Co. under his direction.

To learn more, click here.

Landscape (detail), Hosokawa Rinkoku (1782–1842), Japan, Edo period, 1835, handscroll, ink and color on paper, Freer Gallery of Art Collection, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, The Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, F2021.4.11a–c; Courtesy National Museum of Asian Art

National Museum of Asian Art
Imagined Neighbors: Japanese Visions of China, 1680–1980
Closing September 15, 2024

Imagined Neighbors presents Japanese artworks from the Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, which was gifted to the Museum between 2018 and 2022 and is arguably the largest and most comprehensive group of Japanese literati works outside of Japan. The paintings and calligraphy in this exhibition fuse reality with imagination and remain important to understanding the continuing, complex engagement of Japanese artists with China, to them both a real and an imagined place.

For learn more, click here.

Artist/maker unknown, Astrological Sign of Capricorn, c. 1810-1820, Indian; Courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art

Philadelphia Museum of Art
Mythical Creatures: China and the World
Through June 1, 2025

This exhibition explores the theme of diversity by bringing together mythical creatures from China as well as across Asia and Europe. Representations of paintings, prints, sculptures, ceramics, textiles, and contemporary toy bricks, dating from the 1000s to today illustrate how these fantastical beasts, although sometimes perceived as the same, are quite different.

To learn more, click here.

The Great Elephant Migration: A Coexistence Story, The Breakers; Courtesy The Preservation Society of Newport County

The Preservation Society of Newport County
The Great Elephant Migration: A Coexistence Story
Through September 6, 2024

Come face-to-face with 26 life-size Indian elephant sculptures as they parade across the back lawn of The Breakers this summer. The Great Elephant Migration is an outdoor art exhibition presented by Elephant Family USA in collaboration with Dodie Kazanjian of Art & Newport and various contemporary artists. It promotes human-wildlife coexistence as a solution to biodiversity loss. Each elephant is also available for purchase with proceeds going towards non-governmental organizations performing conservation work around the world.

To learn more, click here.

Installation View, Reimagine: Himalayan Art Now, Rubin Museum of Art

Rubin Museum of Art
Reimagine: Himalayan Art Now
Through October 6, 2024

These are the last few months to experience this Museum-wide exhibition before The Rubin closes their physical location and transition into a global museum model on October 6, 2024. With over 30 contemporary artists, many from the Himalayan region and diaspora and others inspired by Himalayan art and cultures, this show contemplates and celebrates what Himalayan art means now inviting new ways of encountering traditional Himalayan art.

To learn more, click here.

Installation View, Year of the Dragon, Yale University Art Gallery

Yale University Art Gallery
Year of the Dragon
Through November 10, 2024

This exhibition celebrates this Year of the Dragon with a presentation of nearly 30 artworks spanning from the 17th century to the present day.  The objects on view, which are largely drawn from their collection, feature dragons on folding screens, paintings, textiles, ceramics, ivory, and woodblock prints. Taking inspiration from East Asian history, folklore, and myth, these works demonstrate a long, complex, and continuing artistic tradition around this fantastical creature.

To learn more, click here.