ASIA WEEK NEW YORK AUTUMN 2024 EXHIBITIONS
Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, 1760–1849), Nihonbashi Bridge in Edo (Edo Nihonbashi), from the series Thirty-Five Views of Fuji (Fugaku Sanjūrokkei), c. 1833, color woodcut, 9 13/16 x 14 9/16 inches (24.9 x 37 cm)
Visions of the Land in Edo Japan
Through January 13, 2025
Korman Galleries, 221-223
Pictorial representations of the land blossomed in Japan during the Edo period (1615–1868), an era of peace and prosperity. Landscape painters and printmakers created a large number of works with new ideas and techniques that had recently become available. Featuring recent acquisitions and choice examples from museum’s collection, this exhibition invites you to explore the three modes of landscape presented—poetic, iconic, and panoramic. Together, these visions of the land manifest the dynamism of Edo Japan.
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Plate with Blue Flower and Cabbage Leaves (detail), c. 1879, Félix-Joseph-Auguste Bracquemond (French, 1833–1914), 2018-6-2
Firing the Imagination: Japanese Influence on French Ceramics, 1860-1910
August 31, 2024 – May 26, 2025
This exhibition brings together notable examples of French ceramics that demonstrate tremendous innovation in the field of artistic pottery from the 1860s to 1910s. European artists during this period were deeply influenced by Japanese art, including woodblock prints, ceramics, textiles, and lacquerwares, which poured into Europe following the forced reopening of Japan’s ports to foreign trade in the 1850s. Part of a broader cultural phenomenon that came to be known as “Japonisme,” artists such as Félix Bracquemond, Ernest Chaplet, Théodore Deck, François Laurin, and Albert-Louis Dammouse incorporated subjects, decorations, and forms inspired by Japanese art into their ceramics while also experimenting with new techniques like barbotine (a method of decorating ceramics with colored clay slips) and glazes imitating highly prized examples of East Asian ceramics.
The works on view come from the collection of Larry A. Simms, a retired New Jersey public schoolteacher who amassed one of the most important private collections of “Japonisme” ceramics in the United States, many of which he has now donated to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
Mythical Creatures: China and the World
December 21, 2023 – June 1, 2025
Mythical creatures fascinate and capture the imagination of people across the globe. Whether benevolent or fearsome, they serve an important purpose – to help humans make sense of the world. 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. Among the contemporary works are those by artists Xu Bing and Ai Weiwei inspired by ancient myths and legends that continue to shape the way we think about our lives today.
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The Demon Samvara Kidnaps Krishna’s Infant Son, Pradyumna, c. 1760-1765, Artist/maker unknown (Indian), 2004-149-72
Mythical, Divine, Demonic: Animal Imagery in South Asian Art
Animals appear everywhere in the art of South Asia. One encounters them as gods with animal heads, powerful creatures that act as the mounts and companions of the gods, and fearsome beasts that spread destruction and chaos. While many animals are revered because they are seen as protective and as signs of good fortune, others inspire fear or require appeasement.
Our exhibition, Mythical, Divine, Demonic: Animal Imagery in South Asian Art, explores how single animals are interpreted in myriad ways across various regions and cultures. Different representations show how animals serve an array of artistic and symbolic functions. For example, depictions of serpents in connection to the great god Vishnu might be seen as helpful or demonic depending on the context.
Works in the exhibition are clustered into four groups that broadly focus on the lion, the serpent, the man-eagle, and composite beings who are a mixture of animals or part human and part animal. Through examining these objects, audiences will gain a deeper understanding of how animals play a complex role in world cultures.
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Collecting Japanese Art in Philadelphia
The 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia was the first world’s fair held in the United States and also the beginning of Japanese art collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Over nearly 150 years that followed, the museum’s Japanese art collection expanded and diversified. Drawn from the works highlighted in the new publication Art of Japan: Highlights from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the selections in this installation—ranging from ceramics, metalwork, painting, lacquerware, to contemporary bamboo art—showcase the breadth of Japanese art, and also spotlight the people—collectors, donors, curators—who were instrumental in shaping the collection.
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Collection Highlight: Ceremonial Teahouse
The name of this teahouse, Sunkaraku (Evanescent Joys), reflects the spirit of the traditional Japanese tea ceremony as a temporary refuge from the complexities of daily life. The architecture reveals a special delight in natural materials, such as bamboo and cedar. Using elements from an eighteenth-century teahouse, Ōgi Rodō designed this retreat around 1917 for the grounds of his Tokyo home. Acquired by the museum from the architect in 1928, this is the only example of his work outside Japan.
Collection Highlight: Temple Hall
The more than sixty carved granite elements that comprise this monumental space were collected by Philadelphian Adeline Pepper Gibson during a visit in 1912 to Madurai, a city in the south of India known for its spectacular Hindu temples. Debuting to the public in the museum’s original home at Memorial Hall in 1920, the mandapam opened at its current location in 1940. Although a reconstruction, it incorporates many original architectural elements and provides visitors with a unique opportunity to experience the extraordinary synthesis of sculpture, architecture, and symbol that characterizes South India’s elaborate temple form.
Arts of the Islamic World
Islam began over 1,400 years ago in the Arabian Peninsula and soon spread across Asia, Africa, and Europe. Today Muslims live on every continent and make up a quarter of the world’s population. The term “Islamic Art” refers to a variety of artwork made by and for Muslims over the centuries. Here are some exquisite examples drawn from the museum’s collection.
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