Upcoming Asian Art Public Art Event
Ikebana Demonstration
Tuesday, December 17, 2024 from 11:30am-12:30pm and 1:30-2:30pm
Gallery 209, The Astor Forecourt
Free with Museum admission
Learn how to prepare a Japanese Ikebana flower arrangement in the style of the Ohara School from instructor Asae Takahashi. Ikebana, or the art of flower arrangement, is a tradition that has been practiced in Japan for centuries. Blending the concept of natural balance and minimalism, the evolving art form pays respect to both traditional and contemporary aesthetics. In this program, a demonstrator prepares flower arrangements in one of the many schools of style that exist within this artistic tradition. They share their vision for each piece, the creative process, and how these decisions relate to the philosophy of Ikebana tradition, which is rooted in balance, harmony, and the beauty of impermanence.
Free with Museum admission, though advance registration is recommended. Note: Space is limited; first come, first served.
To learn more and register, click here.
NEWLY OPENED EXHIBITION
Portrait of Tong Yang-Tze, 2021 © At Ease Studio Limited. Photo by Te-Fan Wang
The Great Hall Commission: Tong Yang-Tze, Dialogue
November 21, 2024 – April 8, 2025
The Great Hall
For the 2024 Great Hall Commission, we are thrilled to invite Taiwanese artist Tong Yang-Tze (born 1942, Shanghai; based in Taipei) to create two monumental Chinese calligraphy works for the Museum’s historic space. Opening on November 21 with an evening talk, this project will be the third in the series of commissions for The Met’s Great Hal and marks the artist’s first major project in the United States.
Taipei-based Tong is one of the most celebrated artists working exclusively in Chinese calligraphy today. Best known for making calligraphy in monumental scale, Tong brings Chinese characters into dialogue with three-dimensional space and pushes the conceptual and compositional boundaries of the art form, while remaining dedicated to calligraphy’s raison d’être as the art of writing. Her commitment to the written characters is rooted in her belief in its centrality in Chinese cultural identity and calligraphy’s capacity for visual, emotional, and social impact beyond linguistic barriers. Working on the floor, she manipulates the movement and tension in the brushstrokes, the foremost quality in calligraphy. The oversized characters pose physical, formal, and conceptual challenges while offering new compositional possibilities and a unique viewing experience.
The Great Hall Commission is part of The Met’s series of contemporary commissions in which the Museum invites artists to create new works of art, establishing a dialogue between the artist’s practice, The Met collection, the physical Museum, and The Met’s audiences.
The exhibition is made possible by the Director’s Fund, Mr. T.H. Tung, Oscar L. Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang, and Jenny Yeh, Winsing Arts Foundation.
To learn more, click here.
PAST RELATED EVENT
Artist Talk with Tong Yang-Tze
Thursday, November 21 from 6:30-7:30pm
Free with advance registration
The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
Join artist Tong Yang-Tze for a conversation about The Great Hall Commission: Tong Yang-Tze, Dialogue, two monumental works of Chinese calligraphy created for The Met’s historic space that bring Chinese characters into dialogue with the Museum architecture and push the conceptual and compositional boundaries of the art of writing.
The conversation explores Tong’s decades-long career and her commitment to expand calligraphy’s capacity for visual, emotional, and social impact beyond linguistic barriers.
Please note that this program includes interpretation from Mandarin Chinese into English.
ASIA WEEK NEW YORK AUTUMN 2024 EXHIBITION
Chemchok Heruka Mandala (detail), Tibet, second half 12th century, mineral pigments on cotton, 38 × 32 in. (96.5 × 81.3 cm), Michael J. and Beata McCormick Collection
Mandalas: Mapping the Buddhist Art of Tibet
September 19, 2024 – January 12, 2025
Related Programs: Mandalas—An In-Depth Look on Sunday, Sept 22, 2–3:30pm
and Met Expert Talks—Mandalas: Mapping the Buddhist Art of Tibet on Thursday, Sept 26, 3–3:45pm
We are pleased to open Mandalas: Mapping the Buddhist Art of Tibet during this Fall Asian art season. A mandala is a diagram of the universe—a map of true reality that in Tibet is used to conceptualize a rapid path to enlightenment. This exhibition explores the imagery of the Himalayan Buddhist devotional art through over 100 paintings, sculptures, textiles, instruments, and an array of ritual objects, mostly dating between the 12th and 15th centuries. This dazzling visual experience provides a roadmap for understanding Himalayan Buddhist worship through early masterworks, juxtaposed with a newly commissioned contemporary installation by Tibetan artist Tenzing Rigdol.
Accompanying this exhibit will be lectures and tours throughout the run of the show.
To learn about them all, click here.
The exhibition is made possible by the Placido Arango Fund and Lilly Endowment Inc. Additional support is provided by the Florence and Herbert Irving Fund for Asian Art Exhibitions and the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation.
The catalogue is made possible by the Florence and Herbert Irving Fund for Asian Art Publications.
ONGOING EXHIBITIONS
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
In East Asian cultures, the arts of poetry, calligraphy, and painting are traditionally referred to as the “Three Perfections.” This exhibition 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.
The majority of the works are among the more than 250 examples of Japanese painting and calligraphy donated or promised to The Met by Mary and Cheney Cowles, whose collection is one of the finest and most comprehensive assemblages of Japanese art outside Japan.
The exhibition is made possible by The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Foundation Fund.
To learn more, click here.
Chinese Painting and Calligraphy: Selections from the Collection
Through January 5, 2025
We acquired our first Chinese painting in 1902. Since then, the Museum has added over two thousand works of painting and calligraphy, building one of the most comprehensive collections in the world. Spanning a millennium and a half of cultural production and a variety of genres, techniques, and styles, The Met collection has become a key resource for the study of Chinese painting and calligraphy. This exhibition presents a rich selection of works from the collection arranged in a largely chronological display.
Celebrating the Year of the Dragon
February 3, 2023 – 2025
February 10, 2024, marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Dragon, the most celebrated animal in Chinese culture. This exhibition assembles a remarkable selection of more than twenty works from the Museum’s permanent collection that depict this imaginary animal in various media, including ceramic, jade, lacquer, metalwork, and textile. Together they illustrate the significant role that the dragon plays as a symbol of imperial authority, a dynamic force to dispel evil influences, and a benevolent deity that brings auspicious rain to all life on earth. Most notable are a third-century BCE jade pendant of a spirited dragon with a sinuous body, a recent acquisition of a seventh-century bronze mirror with symbols of the four cardinal directions, and a massive sixteenth-century jar of blue and white porcelain with vigorous dragons writhing through clouds and waves.
Ink and Ivory: Indian Drawings and Photographs Selected with James Ivory
Through May 4, 2025
This focused exhibition presents a selection of superlative drawings from the courts and centers of India and Pakistan (with a few related Persian works) dating from the late sixteenth to the twentieth century. These works are mainly selected from The Met collection in partnership with film director James Ivory, whose recent gift to the Museum of nineteenth-century photograph albums will also be featured in the exhibition (2021.381.1-16). The drawings will include fresh and informal preparatory exercises for paintings as well as beautifully finished works in their own right. The photographs will present the subject matter and styles that came about in the contexts of royal patronage and ceremony; views of architecture, cities, landscapes, and people, among others. As an artist and filmmaker, James Ivory will help us appreciate this material through his unique gaze. A short film — An Arrested Moment — directed by Dev Benegal, will accompany the show.
The Genesis Facade Commission: Lee Bul, Long Tail Halo
Through May 27, 2025
For the 2024 Genesis Facade Commission, South Korean artist Lee Bul (born 1964, Yeongju, based in Seoul) has created four new sculptures that combine figurative and abstract elements. The Genesis Facade Commission: Lee Bul, Long Tail Halo is the artist’s first major project in the United States in more than twenty years and the fifth in the series of contemporary commissions for The Met Fifth Avenue’s facade niches. With a career that spans four decades, Lee is widely recognized as the preeminent artist from South Korea. She is known for her sophisticated use of both highly industrial and labor-intensive materials, incorporating artisanal practices as well as technological advancements into her work. Her sculptures, often evoking bodily forms that are at once classical and futuristic, address the aspirations and disillusions that come with progress.
Ganesha: Lord of New Beginings
Through June 15, 2025
Ganesha, the son of Shiva and Parvati, is a Brahmanical (Hindu) diety known to clear a path to the gods and remove obstacles in everyday life. He is loved by his devotees (bhakti) for his many traits, including his insatiable appetite for sweet cakes and his role as a dispenser of magic, surprise, and laughter. However, Ganesha is also the lord of ganas (nature deities) and can take on a fearsome aspect in this guise.
The seventh- to twenty-first-century works in this exhibition trace his depiction across the Indian subcontinent, the Himalayas, and Southeast Asia. Featuring 24 works across sculptures, paintings, musical instruments, ritual implements, and photography, the exhibition emphasizes the vitality and exuberance of Ganesha as the bringer of new beginnings.
A Passion for Jade: The Bishop Collection
Through January 4, 2026
More than a hundred remarkable objects from the Heber Bishop collection, including carvings of jade, the most esteemed stone in China, and many other hardstones, are on view in this focused presentation. The refined works represent the sophisticated art of Chinese gemstone carvers during the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) as well as the highly accomplished skills of Mogul Indian (1526–1857) craftsmen, which provided an exotic inspiration to their Chinese counterparts. Also on view are a set of Chinese stone-working tools and illustrations of jade workshops, which will introduce the traditional method of working jade.
Embracing Color: Enamel in Chinese Decorative Arts, 1300-1900
Through January 4, 2026
Enamel decoration is a significant element of Chinese decorative arts that has long been overlooked. This exhibition reveals the aesthetic, technical, and cultural achievement of Chinese enamel wares by demonstrating the transformative role of enamel during the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties. The first transformational moment occurred in the late 14th to 15th century, when the introduction of cloisonné enamel from the West, along with the development of porcelain with overglaze enamels, led to a shift away from a monochromatic palette to colorful works. The second transformation occurred in the late 17th to 18th century, when European enameling materials and techniques were brought to the Qing court and more subtle and varied color tones were developed on enamels applied over porcelain, metal, glass, and other mediums. In both moments, Chinese artists did not simply adopt or copy foreign techniques; they actively created new colors and styles that reflected their own taste. The more than 100 objects on view are drawn mainly from The Met collection.
Rotation 1: July 2, 2022–April 30, 2023
Rotation 2: May 20, 2023–March 24, 2024
Rotation 3: April 13, 2024–Feb 16, 2025
Rotation 4: March 1, 2025–Jan 4, 2026
To view all exhibitions, click here.
