ASIA WEEK NEW YORK EXHIBITION

Xu Daoning, Chinese (970–1052). Fishermen’s Evening Song, ca. 1039–1052. Handscroll ink and slight color on silk, 19 1/4 × 88 1/2 inches (48.9 × 224.79 cm). The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Purchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust, 33-1559.

Legendary Landscapes: Sublime Visions from China’s Song Dynasty

March 21 – September 27, 2026
Gallery 222

Deep ties between the natural world and spiritual practice have nourished the significant role of shanshui (mountain and water, “landscape”) in Chinese art for thousands of years. This role reached a new height of artistic importance during the Song dynasty (960–1279 C.E.), when imperial collectors encouraged the creation of innovative landscape paintings. This exhibition brings legendary landscapes into focus, presenting an exceptional opportunity to view world treasures in the museum’s collection.

These paintings embody the profound connections between humans, the natural world, and the greater cosmos. Through the eyes of people who traverse the landscapes, we see each painting as a microcosm of the universe presented through multiple visual perspectives. In turn, the order and completeness of Song dynasty landscapes align with the ideals of an enlightened and benevolent empire.

The museum’s rich collection extends from the Northern Song period (960–1127) to the Southern Song (1127–1279), when political conflict forced the court to relocate from the chilly north to the warmer south. The paintings’ distinctive terrains and shifting moods reflect the change in the environment. Illustrating personal journeys in nature, they encourage self-reflection and contemplation.

To learn more, click here.

Kimura Yoshirō (Japanese, born 1946). Droplet (Vessel with Blue Glaze), 2017. Half-porcelain with glaze, 21 1/4 × 23 inches (54.0 x 58.4 cm). The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO. Purchase: the Asian Art Acquisition Fund in memory of Laurence Sickman, 2025.28.

Water Embodied: Flow and Meaning of Water in Japanese Art

September 13 – April 26, 2026
Gallery 205

Water—an essential element of life on Earth—has long played a vital role in shaping human civilization. In Japan, a country made up of islands, water is more than a natural resource. It is a constant presence that surrounds, connects, and sustains life, while shaping Japan’s culture, beliefs, and artistic creations.

This exhibition traces the diverse ways water has been represented, revered, and reimagined in Japanese art over the past 500 years. Through nearly 50 objects, it highlights water’s presence in daily life, its appearance in legends and deities, and its layered symbolic meanings. The exhibition also explores water’s dual nature—as both boundary and bridge—and how it facilitated the movement of people, goods, and ideas.

Please note that some objects in this exhibition will rotate due to their sensitivity to light.

Organized by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Generous support provided by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation.

To learn more, click here.

PERMANENT COLLECTIONS

Chinese

The Chinese art collection is one of the finest collections in the West with more than 7,000 works from every phase of China’s artistic activity.

Bronzes and Jades: Ancient Chinese bronzes and jades include celebrated pieces such as a hu wine vessel of the Shang Dynasty (16th century—1046 B.C.E) and a ritual jade disc of the 3rd century B.C.E.

Chinese Painting Collection: The collection of Chinese paintings is one of the most important outside Asia, particularly in the 10th through 13th centuries, and includes masterworks such as Xu Daoning’s Fisherman’s Evening Song, and Li Cheng’s A Solitary Temple Amid Clearing Peaks.

Buddhist Sculpture and Wall Paintings: Buddhist sculpture and wall paintings range from the 5th to 18th centuries. A jewel of the museum is the Chinese Temple Gallery (Gallery 230), which displays a 12th-century polychrome wooden figure of Guanyin of the Southern Sea, heralded as the finest sculpture of its kind outside China.

Chinese Furniture, Ceramics and Textiles: The museum was a pioneer in the collecting of Chinese furniture and is famed for its Ming (1368–1644) and early Qing (1644–1911) hardwood furniture. The ceramics collection includes tomb sculptures, stonewares and porcelains that chronicle the great epochs of Chinese ceramic innovations. The collection also includes more than 500 silk textiles dating from the 2nd century B.C.E. to the 20th century.

To learn more, click here.

Japanese

The Japanese collection contains more than 2,000 works of art from the 7th century C.E. to the early 20th century.

Screens and Scrolls: The strength of the collection lies in its folding paper screens from the 16th to early 20th century. Paramount among the screens is the sublime pair Pine and Plum by Moonlight by Kaihō Yūshō and the elegant River Landscape with Fireflies by Shiokawa Bunrin. Hanging scrolls and illustrations supplement the collection: Tawaraya Sōtatsu’s Illustration from Tale of Ise and Ikeno Taiga’s Impressive View of the Go River show the breadth and versatility of the Rimpa and Nanga school masters.

Woodblock Prints: A portfolio of more than 500 color woodblock prints of the Edo period contains examples of all the famous ukiyoe masters, including Katsushika Hokusai and Utagawa Hiroshige.

Ceramics and Sculpture: An impressive array of ceramics is dominated by the spectacular 16th-century Echizen Water Jar whose monumentality is complemented by the bold natural ash glaze. Completely different in terms of scale and embellishment are the subtle tea bowls favored for the tea ceremony and a selection of Kutani and Nabeshima porcelains.

Sculpture features primarily Buddhist images in wood from the Heian (794-1185) and Kamakura (1185-1333) periods, while textiles include 18th and 19th century Nō robes and priests’ kesa.

To learn more, click here.

South & Southeast Asian

The Nelson-Atkins has more than 1,100 objects of South and Southeast Asian art, Himalayan art and Islamic art from West Asia.
The collection represents a wide range of art forms, including sculpture, ceramics, textiles, metalwork, and works on paper that date from the 3rd century B.C.E. to the 21st century C.E.

The collection began with the acquisition of Southeast Asian sculptures and more than 300 Persian and Indian textiles from the van Nemes collection in 1931.

In the original 1933 installation, these works were presented in two period rooms, a “Persian Room” and the “Hindu Temple Room,” which is still in place where the Indian galleries are today.

South and Southeast Asian Art and Islamic Art: Sculpture is one of the great strengths of the collection, which features excellent examples of stone, bronze and metal sculpture from India, Nepal, Tibet, ancient Gandhara (modern Pakistan and Afghanistan) and peninsular Southeast Asia. The museum also is home to a small but significant collection of works on paper representing the Persian, Mughal and Rajput traditions.

Gifts and Recent Acquisitions: Significant highlights include the purchase of two folios from the Mughal Gulshan Album 1948 and the gift of nearly 150 Tibetan and Nepalese sculptures, thangkas and ritual objects through the bequest of Joseph H. Heil in 1974.

Recent acquisitions include a sculpture of Shiva and Parvati gifted by Dr. Roopa Bansal, a Jain manuscript, drawings and furniture from Colonial-era India and examples of contemporary Islamic-inspired art.

To learn more, click here.