On the Wall
December 5–31, 2023
TAI Modern is pleased to present a group exhibition of Japanese bamboo hanging baskets and wall-mounted sculptures made by Japanese bamboo artists, both contemporary and historic during this winter season. Artists featured include Hayakawa Shokosai I, Honma Hideaki, Nagakura Kenichi, Nakatomi Hajime, Honda Seikai, Kosuge Kogetsu, Tanabe Chikuunsai I, Morigami Jin, Isohi Setsuko, Ueno Masao, and Watanabe Chiaki.
To view the exhibition, click here.
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Opium pipe, China, Qing dynasty to Republican period, inscribed with cyclical date corresponding to 1868 or 1928. Water buffalo horn, metal, and ceramic. Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop, 1943.55.6. Photo: © President and Fellows of Harvard College; Courtesy of the Harvard Art Museums
Zoom Webinar
Unintended Consequences: An overview of Objects of Addiction: Opium, Empire and the Chinese Art Trade at the Harvard Art Museums
Wednesday, December 13 at 5pm EST
In collaboration with the Harvard Art Museums, join us next Wednesday afternoon for a captivating talk with guest speaker Dr. Sarah Laursen as she delves into her exhibition, Objects of Addiction: Opium, Empire and the Chinese Art Trade, on view there from September 15, 2023 to January 14, 2024.
This intriguing exhibition explores the entwined histories of the opium trade and the Chinese art market between the late 18th and early 20th centuries. Dr. Laursen will provide a historical context to the complex opium and Chinese art trades, presenting a comprehensive timeline of events in China, Europe, and the United States. Opium and Chinese art, acquired through both legal and illicit means, had profound effects on the global economy, cultural landscape, and education—and in the case of opium, on public health and immigration—that still reverberate today.
SPEAKER:
Dr. Sarah Laursen, the Alan J. Dworsky Curator of Chinese Art at the Harvard Art Museums and oversees the Chinese art collection as well as parts of the Korean and Central, South, and Southeast Asian collections
MODERATOR:
Lark Mason, Jr., founder of iGavel Auctions, Emeritus President of the Appraisers Association of America and former Chairman, Asia Week New York
To join us for this free event, sign up here.
Participant’s Biographies:
Dr. Sarah Laursen serves as the Alan J. Dworsky Curator of Chinese Art at the Harvard Art Museums, overseeing the Chinese art collection and portions of the Korean and Central, South, and Southeast Asian collections. Specializing in early medieval China, her research interests include Chinese archaeology, digital humanities, technical art history, collecting history, and contemporary Asian and Asian American art. Dr. Laursen co-curated “Earthly Delights: 6,000 Years of Asian Ceramics” (summer 2022), curated “Objects of Addiction: Opium, Empire, and the Chinese Art Trade” (fall 2023), and collaborated with students to develop the virtual exhibition “Reframing Tianlongshan.”
Lark Mason, Jr. the owner, and CEO of iGavelAuctions, served as a General Appraiser from 1979 until 1985, and as a Senior Vice President and specialist in Chinese art with Sotheby’s Chinese Works of Art Department from 1985-2003. From 2000-2003 he concurrently was a Director of Online Auctions for Sothebys.com. He also served as a consulting curator at the Trammell and Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art in Dallas, Texas from 2003-2009. A generalist in American and European works of art and paintings, as well as an expert in the field of Chinese art, Mason has valued and advised many private collectors and institutions.
Lark Mason Associates has a history of record sales of Chinese and other works of art and holds the record for the highest price achieved for any work of art in an online sale–a Chinese handscroll–that realized close to $4.2m. He is noted for his regular appearances on “The Antiques Road Show.”
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Mishima Kimiyo (b. 1932), Sculpture of charcoal box filled with newspaper, 2005, glazed stoneware, 15 x 16 x 13 1/2 in. overall; Photo by Richard Goodbody; Courtesy of Joan B Mirviss LTD
Zoom Gallery Talk hosted by Joan B Mirviss LTD
Taking Space, Making Space: Japanese Women Ceramic Artists
Thursday, December 14, 2023 at 5pm ET
Coinciding with Radical Clay: Contemporary Japanese Women Artists, which opens at the Art Institute of Chicago just a few days later, Joan B Mirviss LTD‘s upcoming Zoom talk will explore the vital role of 20th and 21st century Japanese women clay artists within Japanese ceramics today. Drawn from the Carol and Jeffrey Horvitz Collection and featuring work by 20 of their gallery artists, the museum exhibition celebrates the achievements and profound influence of these creative visionaries in a traditionally male-dominated ceramics field.
Panelists for this event include key figures who contributed to this important exhibition, including: collector and museum patron Carol Horvitz, curator and Radical Clay catalogue contributor Hollis Goodall, and two prominent gallery artists featured in the exhibition, Tashima Etsuko and Tomita Mikiko, who represent different generational perspectives.
PANELISTS:
HOLLIS GOODALL, Former Curator of Japanese Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), CA
CAROL HORVITZ, Japanese art collector and museum patron, MA
TASHIMA ETSUKO, Gallery artist and Professor of Ceramics at Osaka University of the Arts, Japan
TOMITA MIKIKO, Gallery artist
Moderated by JOAN MIRVISS
To register for this free event, click here.
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Female Gaze: Peng Wei’s Feminine Space
China Institute’s Contemporary Art Lecture Series
Thursday, Dec 7 from 6:00-7:15 pm
40 Rector St, 2nd Floor
Tickets, $10; Members & Students, Free
Join the China Institute tomorrow for an immersive exploration into the captivating world of Peng Wei, an artist renowned for her unique approach to representing the diversity of female perspectives. This lecture is a key part of the lecture series for the China Institute’s contemporary art exhibition, showcasing the multifaceted nature of Chinese contemporary art and its dialogues with history and identity.
Moderated by Jane DeBevoise, the Chair Emeritus of Asia Art Archive in Hong Kong and Chair of Asia Art Archive in America in New York, their talk will delve into the multiple dimensions of Peng Wei’s art. Whether expansive or intimate, three-dimensional or flat, her work consistently centers around women. Rather than simply portraying real or fictional female figures, Peng Wei engages in a dynamic process of responding to and reshaping these representations.
This nuanced interplay between response and remodeling in Peng Wei’s art blurs the lines, demanding a closer look and deeper understanding. Join Jane and Peng Wei in this artistic exploration, where each piece is a dialogue, a story, and a celebration of women’s diverse experiences throughout history.
To register, click here.
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Paul Binnie (Scottish, b. 1967), Flowers of a Hundred Years: Bubble Era [of 1990] (Hyakunen no hana: Baburu Jidai), dai oban tate-e 18 1/2 x 13 in. (47 x 33 cm)
Paul Binnie: 30 Prints for 30 Years of Printmaking
Online Exhibition
Scholten Japanese Art is pleased to celebrate Paul Binnie’s new print releases, as well as his highly prolific and accomplished 30 year career, with their special online exhibition, Paul Binnie: 30 Prints for 30 Years of Printmaking.
This online show not only features the recent print releases of Bubble Era of 1990, Tears (red-bronze variant), and The Moon Moth Suite, but also some of the artist’s most rare and sought-after designs, including such rarities as his 1994 Nocturne and the 2005 Butterfly Bow, both of which have long proven (nearly) impossible to acquire by his most ardent collectors.
To view these works and others in the exhibition, click here.
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A Pair of Magnificent Famille Verse Double Gourd Vases with Ormolu Bases and Gilt Brown Lacquer Stands, the porcelain Kangxi, the French gilt bronze mounts probably 19th century, the lacquer stands probably early 19th century; Estimate: US$50,000-US$70,000, The Alan and Simone Hartman Collection: The Inaugural Sale
Bonhams New York
The Alan and Simone Hartman Collection: The Inaugural Sale
Viewings:
December 8 (10am-5pm)
December 9-10 (12-5pm)
December 11-13 (10am-5pm)
December 14 (10am-12pm)
Auction: December 14 at 5pm EST
Bonhams is proud to announce the landmark auction, The Alan and Simone Hartman Collection: The Inaugural Sale, this winter in New York. The esteemed art and antique gallerist Alan Hartman (1930-2023) and his wife Simone amassed an extraordinary personal collection of Impressionist works of art by the greatest names in art history, as well as a stunning and extensive array of Asian Art. Following a world tour to Bonhams salerooms in Paris, London, and Hong Kong, 23 works of Fine Art and 70 works of Asian Art will be presented as a single-owner sale on December 14 in New York, with Part II of the Asian Art collection to be presented during March Asia Week 2024 and in future Chinese and Japanese auctions at Bonhams.
While the Hartmans delighted in collecting impeccable Impressionist and Modern artworks, the core of their collection was built around Chinese and Japanese works of art. Highlights from this category include two rare and massive Imperial Jiajing mark and period (1521-1567) blue and white porcelains, a stunning pair of imposing ‘Famille Verte’ double-gourd vases, Kangxi (1662-1723) set in ormolu mounts, an important group of Chinese archaic bronzes, and a spectacular selection of Japanese lacquer suzuribako.
Dessa Goddard, VP and US Head of Asian Art, Bonhams, said, “Alan Hartman was one of the most influential dealers of Asian Art, and together with Simone created a preeminent collection of Chinese jade, bronzes and Asian works of art. We are thrilled to offer highlights from their personal collection in this Inaugural December auction in New York and in forthcoming sales worldwide.”
To learn more and view the sale, click here.
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Forms and Formations
December 5 – 12, 2023
Design Miami, Booth G36
Ippodo Gallery is delighted to announce its return to Design Miami this year. Presenting Forms and Formations, this exhibit introduces a new caliber of Japanese art in a variety of techniques by several masters whose work represents the current state of Japanese fine art: ceramic, glass, lacquer, large sculpture, painting, and architecture.
Form and Formations enlightens audiences about the ways Japanese artists are transforming traditions—materials, techniques, and concepts—to express new ideas in a world of upheaval.
Discover the many contemporary Japanese artists whose work triangulates our lives on this shared planet in the language of forms and formations.
To learn more and view their pieces, click here.
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Ancient & Modern: Pottery from circa 2000 BC to 2000 AD
December 4 – 8, 2023
Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch are pleased to announce their upcoming exhibition Ancient & Modern: Pottery from circa 2000 BC to 2000 AD in collaboration with the renowned sculptural ceramicist Nicholas Rena.
They will be showcasing ancient pottery from pre-historic Iran through to ancient Rome beside Rena’s bold, monochrome ceramics at Pall Mall.
To learn more and preview the online exhibition catalogue, click here.
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From a Land of Pestilential Vapors to Paradise on Earth, an Introduction to Treasures from the Yangzi Delta at the Cleveland Museum of Art
Zoom Webinar held on November 14, 2023
In collaboration with The Cleveland Museum of Art, this fascinating webinar explored the recently opened exhibition, China’s Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta, on view at the museum through January 7, 2024.
Moderated by Dessa Goddard, Vice-President, US Head of the Asian Art Group at Bonhams and former Chairman of Asia Week New York, this Zoom webinar was presented by guest speaker Dr. Clarissa Von Spee, the James and Donna Reid Curator of Chinese Art and Interim Curator of Islamic Art, Chair of Asian Art at the Cleveland Museum.
Curated by Dr. von Spee, this is the first exhibition in the West to focus on the artistic production and cultural impact of a region called Jiangnan, located in the coastal area south of the Yangzi River. Dr. von Spee illustrated how this region gained a leading role in China’s artistic production and how it succeeded in setting cultural standards through her research and insights on the exhibited works. Art from Jiangnan—home to such great cities as Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Nanjing, as well as to hilly picturesque landscapes interspersed with rivers and lakes—has defined the image of traditional China for the world.
Click here to watch the webinar.
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Songtsam’s Rumei Lodge is set next to the mountain-home of the upper Mekong River
For a unique and idyllic holiday, escape to the natural beauty of Tibet and stay at the Songtsam Rumei Lodge. At an altitude of 2,600 meters, this remote oasis is situated at the first stop on the road from Yunnan to TAR on Songtsam’s Tea Horse Road Expedition. Nestled away in a valley, the lodge is located next to Zhuka Village in the north and vast farmland in the south.
From the window of Songtsam’s Rumei Lodge overlooking snow-capped mountains
Guest rooms all face the Lancang (Upper Mekong) River, ensuring beautiful views of the natural stream outside and the green, verdant terraces nearby. The lodge embraces bright colors such as green, yellow, white, and peacock blue, mirroring the colors of the sky and surrounding snow-capped mountains, rivers, and fields.
Partake in one of the many activities offered for Songtsam guests, such as visiting a nomadic village ranch at Maiba pasture to learn about life of traditional Tibetan herdsmen and enjoy a picnic of local dishes and fresh yak butter tea or venture on a relaxing hiking trip escorted by local people either on horseback or on foot. With the diverse altitude changes you are able to experience different views of the surrounding landscapes and villages. When you finally reach the top, admire and take in the breathtaking views over a cup of handmade coffee and a slice of cake.
To learn more, click here.
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