ASIA WEEK

Courtesy Thomsen Gallery

Chambre d’Amis
July 27 – 31, 2025
Opening Preview: Sunday July 27, 2-8pm
Exhibition Hours: July 28-31, 12-7pm
Olaf-Gulbransson Museum, Kurgarten 5, 83684 Tegernsee, Germany

Thomsen Gallery is delighted to participate in the art salon Chambres d’Amis, to be held at the Olaf-Gulbransson Museum in Tegernsee, Germany, July 27-31! The salon is a curated sales exhibition juxtaposing contemporary art, old master paintings and drawings, as well as high-end jewelry and Japanese art in a museum context. A selection of sculptures will be on view at the nearby castle Herzogliches Schloss Tegernsee.

Thomsen Gallery will present a refined selection of Japanese art with a focus on Japanese gold lacquer boxes, ceramics, and bamboo ikebana baskets as well as Japanese folding screens and scroll paintings.

They warmly invite you to visit them at the Olaf Gulbransson Museum and experience this exceptional salon from July 27–31.

To learn more, click here.

(Right): Kai Tsujimura, Shigaraki Wide-Mouthed Jar 信楽広口壺, 2019, ceramic, H23 5/8 x W20 7/8 x D20 7/8 in (H60 x W53 x D53 cm)

Aspen Art Fair
July 29 – August 2, 2025
Collectors’ Preview: Tuesday, July 29, 11am-3pm
Opening Reception: Tuesday, July 29, 3-5pm
Fair Hours: July 30-August 1, 12-6pm & August 2, 11am-4pm
Hotel Jerome, 330 E Main St, Aspen, CO

Ippodo Gallery is proud to make its debut at the second annual Aspen Art Fair, held at the historic Hotel Jerome in the heart of Colorado’s majestic Rockies from July 29 to August 2, 2025.

Coinciding with Aspen Art Week—an internationally celebrated gathering of artists, curators, collectors, and gallerists—the fair offers a vibrant platform for global art exchange in a uniquely intimate alpine setting. They invite you to experience their curated presentation of works that bridge tradition and contemporary expression.

For ticket information and to learn more, click here.

To learn more about the Aspen Art Fair, click here.

Very Rare Chinese Canton Enamel Brushpot, early 18th century, height: 4 ¾ inches (12 cm.), Ex: Private New York Collection

The Newport Show
July 26 – 27, 2025
Gala Preview: Friday, July 25 from 6-9pm
Fair Hours: Saturday, July 26 & Sunday, July 27 from 10am-5pm
St. George’s School Ice Rink – 375 Purgatory Road, Middletown, RI

The summer exhibition schedule is changing this year for Ralph M. Chait Galleries, Inc.! They will be exhibiting for the first time at the Newport Show, from July 26-27 with the Gala Preview on July 25!

The show is a high point of the summer social season and a not to be missed opportunity for fine art and antiques aficionados. It is the main fundraiser for its two beneficiaries, the Newport Historical Society and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Newport County.

As always, Ralph M. Chait Galleries look forward to welcoming you to their booth and are always delighted to hear from you.

To learn more about The Newport Show, click here.

Also be sure to check out the gallery’s recently released Summer Booklet filled with new acquisitions in many directions, including porcelains and later bronzes. You may find one or more to match an occasion or simply add enjoyment into your own collection!

To view the catalog online, click here.

Sasai Fumie, Gentian, 2025, urushi lacquer, hemp cloth, foam polystyrene, 28 x 7.25 x 6.50 in.

Sasai Fumie
July 25 – August 23, 2025
Artist’s Reception: Friday, July 25, 5-7pm
Artist Talk: Saturday, July 26, 2pm
1601 Paseo de Peralta, Sante Fe

TAI Modern proudly presents the first solo U.S. show of Japanese lacquer artist Sasai Fumie, opening on July 25. Currently a professor at Kyoto City University of Arts, where she received her undergraduate and graduate degrees, Sasai reimagines the millennia-old tradition of lacquerware with vibrant colors, inviting forms, and a soft-polished sheen that conveys warmth and approachability.

Sasai Fumie learned the art of kanshitsu, meaning dry lacquer, from Shinkai Gyokuho (1939-2021), her teacher at the Kyoto City University of Arts. He was of the first artists to use the technique to create abstract forms, incorporating lightweight Styrofoam as the base of the piece, and subsequently layering urushi lacquer and pieces of hemp cloth on top of it. This technique allows the pieces to become lighter, thus allowing for more freedom of composition. This is the foundation for every piece Sasai creates.

Guided by the concept of “Fueki Ryuko”—the balance between timeless principles and changing trends—Sasai blends enduring motifs like flowers and fruit with contemporary expression. For this exhibition, Sasai has brought together those changes to create works that speak to the bright and lively nature of contemporary art, both in Japan and in the west. Her forms, from boxes in the shape of realistic peaches and persimmons to abstract collaborations with bamboo artists that meditate on the compositions of eggs in nests, Sasai Fumie prepares to delight and enchant us with her beautiful work.

Join them for the opening reception on Friday, July 25 from 5-7pm, and return on Saturday, July 26, at 2pm for a lecture and gallery walkthrough with the artist.

To learn more and view the online catalog, click here.

Chakrasamvara with Consort Vajravarahi; Kham province, eastern Tibet; 19th century; Pigments on cloth; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; Gift of the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation; F1997.7.2 (HAR 99)

Gateway to Himalayan Art
Closing Sunday, July 27, 2025
Utah Museum of Fine Arts, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT

There’s still time to experience Gateway to Himalayan Art, the Rubin Museum’s traveling exhibition, currently on view at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts before it closes on July 27. This engaging showcase introduces the central forms, concepts, meanings, and vibrant living traditions of Himalayan art.

Gateway to Himalayan Art is a flexible exhibition designed to meet the needs of diverse educational institutions, art museums, and their audiences. It serves as an entry point to the integrated components of Project Himalayan Art (a three-part initiative comprising a traveling exhibition, publication, and digital platform), highlighting a thematic approach for teaching and engagement with objects.

The exhibition’s three areas of focus are Symbols and Meanings, Materials and Technologies, and Living Practices. Traditional scroll paintings (thangkas), sculptures in various media, and ritual items comprise the diverse range of objects on view. Among the featured installations are in-depth displays that explain the process of Nepalese lost-wax metal casting and the stages of Tibetan thangka painting. Multimedia features include videos of art making and religious and cultural practices, audio recordings of voices from Himalayan communities that highlight the living traditions, and much more on the integrated digital platform that offers rich contextual material to dive deeper.

To learn more and view the full exhibition’s traveling schedule, click here.

Courtesy Fu Qiumeng Fine Art

Light & Grain: 秋麦 | Artist-led Gallery Tour
Saturday, July 26, 2025 from 2-4pm
65 East 80th St, NYC

Fu Qiumeng Fine Art is pleased to invite you to a special afternoon with artist Michael Cherney on Saturday, July 26, from 2-4pm.

The program will begin with a preview screening of a short teaser from their upcoming documentary on Michael Cherney’s life and work. This preview offers a glimpse into the personal stories, objects, and inspirations that have shaped Cherney’s cross-cultural practice, providing context for the artistic journey behind Light & Grain 秋麦.

Following the screening, Michael Cherney will lead an in-depth, interactive gallery tour through the exhibition. This is a rare opportunity to engage directly with the artist as he shares first-hand insights into the creation of his photographs, the underlying concepts of his work, and the unique ways he adapts classical Chinese formats within a contemporary photographic language. Audiences will have the chance to ask questions, experience his handscrolls up close, and hear the personal narratives that inform his creative process, offering a deeper and more intimate perspective beyond what is visible on the wall.

Don’t miss out on this special event with the artist—RSVP here!

Utagawa Hiroshige III (Ando Tokubei) (1842-1894), Famous Places in Tokyo: Foreigners’ Houses in Tsukiji, (Tokyo meisho zue: Tsukiji ijinkan), oban tate-e 13 3/4 x 9 3/8 in. (35 x 23.7 cm)

Meiji Era Prints
From a Private New York Collection
July 2025
145 West 58th St, Ste 6D, NYC

Scholten Japanese Art is pleased to announce the addition of a selection of Meiji era prints recently added to their website from a private collection assembled by a prominent American defense attorney who was one of the first foreigners to pass the Japanese bar exam and co-founded a law firm in Tokyo, where he lived the rest of his life. The trove passed to his son who shared his father’s appreciation of Yokohama and Meiji Period prints and continued to curate the collection both here in New York and abroad.

The Meiji Period (1866-1912) was an era of tremendous transformation in Japan following the Meiji Restoration, which ended the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and ‘restored’ the rule of the Emperor Mutsuhito (1852-1912, posthumously named Emperor Meiji) and a centralized government. The name of the era, Meiji, meaning “enlightened rule” signified Japan deliberate emergence from an isolationist and feudal society to a modern and industrialized nation, eager to catch up with Western powers of the time.

In 1853 Japan was opened up to the West by Commodore Matthew Perry (1794-1858), ending the country’s 220 year isolation policy. Western technologies in all aspects of life were quickly implemented, and these advancements can be seen in the prints that were produced in this era; both in subject matter depicted and the printmaking process itself. Artists inspired by readily available brilliant synthetic dyes and the dynamic growth of Tokyo and Yokohama produced urban scenes populated with foreigners and locals bustling together among new types of architecture and methods of transportation. Likewise, the techniques utilized evolved as some artists began to mimic etching methods found in Western printmaking – this can be particularly be seen in works by Kobayashi Kiyochika (1847-1915).

The declaration of war with China in 1894 stimulated a burst of productivity in the woodblock print market, with Kiyochika in particular leading the charge. Depictions of battles from the front, often in triptych format, became highly popular with the print-buying public, and served as a way to promote national pride and support for the war effort. Although many of the war prints illustrated new explosive weapons and modern technologies, the artists themselves did not see these events first-hand, but rather based their compositions on a combination of traditional ukiyo-e portrayals of warrior subjects and their own imaginations.

To explore this extraordinary collection, click here.

Installation view, Paper Space, Photos: Tadayuki Minamoto

Paper Space
Closing Tuesday, July 22, 2025
Shibunkaku Kyoto

There’s still time to experience Paper Space, the captivating solo exhibition by acclaimed graphic designer Atsuki Kikuchi at Shibunkaku Kyoto, on view through July 22!

This exhibition offers a rare opportunity to immerse yourself in Kikuchi’s creative world, where paper becomes a dynamic medium for exploring form, space, and texture. Alongside showcasing his latest works, Kikuchi has also taken on the role of curator, thoughtfully selecting a range of early modern to modern artworks from Shibunkaku’s collection. These curated pieces create a dialogue with his own designs, revealing the historical and aesthetic influences that have shaped his practice.

Don’t miss the chance to see how tradition and contemporary design intersect in this unique presentation before it closes!

To learn more, click here.

Installation view, Chang Ucchin: The Eternal Home

Chang Ucchin: The Eternal Home
Closing Saturday, July 19, 2025
122 E 32nd St, NYC

Don’t miss the final days of Chang Ucchin: The Eternal Home, the first dedicated New York exhibition of one of Korea’s most beloved modern artists at the Korean Cultural Center New York!  A pioneering figure in Korean modernism, Chang Ucchin (1917–1990) developed a singular visual language defined by simplicity, playfulness, and a deep reverence for nature and home.

Through elemental motifs—trees, birds, the sun, the moon—Chang created poetic worlds of warmth and serenity. For him, the home was more than a structure: it was a spiritual sanctuary, where humanity and nature exist in perfect harmony.

In today’s rapidly shifting world, Chang Ucchin’s work offers a quiet refuge. His paintings invite us to rediscover the warmth of home, the comfort of nature, and the possibility of joy in life’s simplest moments. By dissolving the boundaries between reality and the ideal, The Eternal Home allows us to enter the world he imagined—one of purity, balance, and enduring artistic resonance.

Be sure to catch it before it closes July 19!

To learn more, click here.

Courtesy Japanese Art Society of America

JASA is pleased to present two exciting events this July! On Thursday, July 24, join a live Zoom webinar on Hiroshige: Artist of the Open Road, featuring curator U.S. collector Alan Medaugh, a key lender to the British Museum exhibition. Then, on Tuesday, July 29, JASA members are welcome to an in-person tour of The Three Perfections at The Met, led by curator John T. Carpenter. The show features masterpieces from the renowned Cowles collection—one of the finest holdings of Japanese art outside Japan.

Zoom Webinar: Hiroshige: Artist of the Open Road
Thursday, July 24, 2025 at 5pm (EST)
Online

On Thursday, July 24, join a live Zoom Webinar on Hiroshige: Artist of the Open Road, the British Museum’s exhibition on view through September 7. This talk will include not the lead curator, Alfred Haft, but also one of its featured lenders, U.S. Hiroshige-print collector Alan Medaugh.

To learn more and register, click here.

In-Person Tour of The Three Perfections: Japanese Poetry, Painting and Calligraphy
Tuesday, July 29, 2025 at 3pm (EST)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Ave.
Tickets: $20, advance registration required

JASA members will have another opportunity for an in-person tour of the current Met exhibition The Three Perfections: Japanese Poetry, Painting, and Calligraphy, led by curator John T. Carpenter. 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.

Please note that after The Three Perfections closes on August 3, the Arts of Japan Galleries will be undergoing renovation and won’t reopen until December.

The deadline to sign up is July 22.  Group size is limited to 20 members.  Please contact Cheryl Gall, membership coordinator, at [email protected] or (978) 600-8128 with any questions.

To learn more and register, click here.