The Met — “Learning to Paint in Premodern China”
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Galleries 210-216, New York, USA
This exhibition considers the underexplored question of how painters learned their craft in premodern China. Some painters learned at home from family members, others learned from friends. Still others turned to painting manuals, treatises that expanded knowledge of painting to anyone who could buy a woodblock-printed book. The exhibition aims to illuminate these and other pathways to becoming a painter in premodern China.
“Radiance: Ancient Gold from The Hong Kong Palace Museum Collection and the Mengdiexuan Collection”
Hong Kong Palace Museum, 8 Museum Drive, Hong Kong
This exhibition debuts the museum’s new permanent collection of ancient gold artefacts, donated by Betty Lo and Kenneth Chu. On view will be more than 200 sets of ancient golds from the Eurasian Steppe, Tubo Kingdom, and Central Plains, the oldest dating to the 18th century BC.
Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art — “Anyang: China’s Ancient City of Kings”
1050 Independence Ave, Washington, DC, USA
This exhibition spotlights Anyang, China’s ancient capital, the source of China’s earliest surviving written records and the birthplace of Chinese archaeology. It utilises more than 200 artifacts from nearly 100 years of formal Anyang archaeology to examine the evolution of Chinese archaeological practice and the Shang (1250 BC–1050 BC) capital’s material, social and economic culture.
MFA Boston — “Weng Family Collection of Chinese Painting: Art Rocks”
465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
In China, rocks in their natural form are objects of great aesthetic appreciation. Serious art collectors and critics acquired and competed for rocks with the same passion they afforded great works of painting and calligraphy. This exhibition explores how rock aesthetics have permeated architecture, landscape design, and painting styles in China for a millennium. Visitors can envision themselves in paintings of gardens where colossal rocks loom over a scholar’s studio, or scenes of fantastical caves where artists gaze in awe at mysterious rock formations.
The Met — “Anxiety and Hope in Japanese Art”
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Galleries 223-232, New York, USA
This exhibition explores the themes of anxiety and hope, with a focus on the human stories in and around art and art making. It begins with sacred images from early Japan about death, dying, and the afterlife or that were created in response to other uncertainties, such as war and natural disaster. It then proceeds chronologically, highlighting medieval Buddhist images of paradises and hells, Zen responses to life and death, depictions of war and pilgrimage, and the role of protective and hopeful images in everyday life. Finally, underlying themes are explored via modern woodblock prints, garments, and photographs.
British Museum — “The Citi exhibition: China’s hidden century”
The Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery, Great Russell St, London, UK
Between 1796 and 1912 Qing China endured numerous civil uprisings and foreign wars, with revolution ultimately bringing an end to some 2,000 years of dynastic rule and giving way to a modern Chinese republic. This period of violence and turmoil was also one of extraordinary creativity, driven by political, cultural and technological change. The exhibition is underpinned by a four-year research project supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and led by the British Museum and London University, in collaboration with over 100 scholars from 14 countries.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston — “Woven Wonders: Indian Textiles from the Parpia Collection”
Audrey Jones Beck Building, 5601 Main Street, Houston, USA
A selection from the collection of Indian textiles from Banoo and Jeevak Parpia will showcase more than 70 textiles from folk textiles to sophisticated court textiles. Produced between the 14th to early 20th centuries, these works convey the pre-eminence of textile arts produced in India. The exhibition also explores the patterns and dynamics of 500 years of the prosperous maritime trade that supplied Indian textiles to Southeast Asia, Europe and Japan.
MAO — “Sovereign Metals. Festivities, the Hunt and the Firmament in Medieval Islam.”
Museo d’Arte Orientale, Via San Domenico, 11, 10122, Turin, Italy
This exhibition features a carefully chosen selection covering the main types of Islamic metal art objects (incense burners, pen holders, candlesticks, trays, basins, bowls, perfume bottles) that, along with miniature painting, represent some of the highest expressions of Muslim artistic creativity. A collaboration of the Museo d’Arte Orientale and The Aron Collection.
MAK — “The 1873 Vienna World’s Fair Revisited: Egypt and Japan as Europe’s ‘Orient'”
Museum of Applied Arts, Stubenring 5, 1010, Vienna, Austria
On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the 1873 Vienna World’s Fair, the MAK sets out to explore a critical aspect of this prestigious international show: the “Orient” as a construct of 19th-century Orientalism. Drawing on Egypt and Japan as examples, which in the contemporary worldview were often thought to be part of the region referred to as the “Orient,” this exhibition explores Orientalism from various angles.
“Kaleidoscope in Clay (II): Life in Ceramics during the Song and Yuan Dynasties”
The Gallery@ L3 Fort Canning Centre, Fort Canning Park, 5 Cox Terrace, Singapore
The Society for Chinese Ceramics Studies presents the significant roles of utilitarian art in the Song (960-1279) and Yuan (1279-1368) dynasties. The Song Dynasty witnessed a vibrant economy and a flowering of the arts, and major kilns were active in many regions, which continued almost seamlessly into the Yuan Dynasty. Visitors can explore the rich history and artistry of wares from the kilns of Ding, Jun, Yaozhou, Longquan, Qingbai, Cizhou, Jian, Jizhou, among others.
Honolulu Museum of Art — “Transformation: Modern Japanese Art”
900 South Beretania Street Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Inspired by a recent gift of over 126 artworks by noted collector Terry Welch, this exhibition explores the dynamic modern period (1860s–1930s) in Japanese art, when dramatic changes in society were reflected in the arts, resulting in works of stunning vision and technical accomplishment. Painting, which was traditionally recognized as the highest form of expression, became the vehicle for the new national style of Nihonga, literally “Japanese painting.”
HKMoA — “Love Letters: Everlasting Sentiments from the Xubaizhai Collection”
10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Over the centuries, Chinese artists have often suffused their painting, calligraphy and poetry with sentiments. Like love letters, their works of art are intimate whispers of affection murmuring eternal emotions. With love letter as the theme, the exhibition features 29 sets of selected collections from the Xubaizhai Collection, inviting the audience to discover the reserved and implicit emotions encapsulated in Chinese painting and calligraphy.
HKMoA — “A Tale of Three Cities: Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Export of Silk Products in the Ming and Qing Dynastie”
10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Jointly organised by the Guangdong Museum, the Hong Kong Museum of Art, and the Macao Museum, this exhibition explores the connections between the three places and the story of cultural exchange between East and West through export silk.
Dai Ichi Arts — “Object, Vessel: Ikebana Sogetsu, Yasuhara Kimei, and the Art of Japanese ceramics”
18 East 64th Street, Suite 1F, New York, USA
Little known in the west, Yasuhara Kimei (1906-1980) was one of Japan’s most avant-garde ceramic artists of the 20th century. His ceramic work inspired the innovative floral artists of the famous Ikebana Sogetsu school and produced a transcendental impact on modern potters and Ikebana artists alike in Japan that has lasted generations. This exhibition focuses on the symbiotic relationship between the ceramic works of Japanese potter Yasuhara Kimei and the Ikebana Sogetsu school in Japan.
HK Palace Museum — “Gazing at Sanxingdui: New Archaeological Discoveries in Sichuan”
Hong Kong Palace Museum, 8 Museum Drive, Hong Kong
The special exhibition presents the astounding new archaeological discoveries at Sanxingdui in China’s Sichuan province. A significant part of the “Archaeological China” project, the excavation at Sanxingdui has enriched and transformed our understanding of the advanced ancient culture in the Chengdu Plain in particular and the upper Yangtze River valley in general. The exhibition features 120 remarkable bronze, jade, gold, and ceramic objects dating back some 2,600 to 4,500 years.
Bonhams Hong Kong — “Captivating Curiosities from the Markbreiter Collection”
Bonhams Hong Kong and Online
“Captivating Curiosities from the Markbreiter Collection”, an online sale from 29 September to 5 October, features more than 40 lots of antique jewellery and Vietnamese paintings from Robin Markbreiter, passionate collector of Asian Art and Publisher of Arts of Asia—one of the foremost international magazines dedicated to Asian arts. Highlights include a Gold Repoussé Necklace and a Pair of Gold Repoussé Earrings, Champa, 14th century, estimated at HK$40,000-60,000.
Bonhams Hong Kong — “Claude de Marteau Collection – The Final Journey”
20/F, One Pacific Place, Admiralty, Hong Kong
This October sale also marks the finale of the four-part auction of the spectacular Claude de Marteau Collection, one of the world’s important private collections dedicated to Hindu and Buddhist cultures in the ancient regions of India, Nepal, Tibet and China. Much of its museum-grade content spanning 400 consummate treasures has never been seen in public, chronicling a period of 1,500 years. Preview starts on October 1.
Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art — “Park Chan-kyong: Gathering”
1050 Independence Ave, Washington, DC, USA
Seoul-based artist Park Chan-kyong has gained international recognition for his use of photography and film to examine the complex history of modern Korea. “Park Chan-kyong: Gathering” will be the first solo presentation of his work in a major U.S. museum. The exhibition will feature a range of works that highlight Park’s masterful use of the photographic medium to explore the enduring traces of tradition, history and disaster in contemporary society.
International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society (ICSBS) Convention 2023
Tivoli Avenida Liberdade Hotel, Lisbon, Portugal
The Society has held annual conventions since the first event in New York City, September of 1969. The 55th Annual ICSBS Convention will take place in Lisbon, Portugal. Events include an opening lecture by Jessica Harrison-Hall, Head of China section at the British Museum, Curator of Chinese Ceramics and Decorative Arts, and Curator of the Sir Percival David Collections, as well as museum and gallery visits. You do not have to be a member of ICSBS to join this outstanding program.
“Special Exhibition Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of America’s First National Museum of Art”
584 Komatsucho, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, Japan
Eighteen high-resolution facsimiles of Japanese artworks from The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art will be on view within Kyoto, Japan’s oldest Zen temple, Kenninji. This setting allows the works to be seen in natural light, something impossible to achieve with the original paintings. Canon and the Kyoto Culture Association created these facsimiles of the most important Japanese paintings in the museum’s collection using a combination of advanced printing technology and traditional craft.
Bowers Museum — “Beyond the Great Wave: Works by Hokusai from the British Museum”
2002 North Main Street, Santa Ana, California, USA
This exhibition includes a beautiful early example of The Great Wave and ventures beyond to feature a broad selection of works that Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) produced right up to his death at the age of 90. Visitors will be able to examine Hokusai’s personal beliefs through more than 100 paintings, drawings, woodblock prints, and illustrated books that speak to his early career, rise to fame, interest in the natural and supernatural worlds, personal life, and search for immortality.
Brooklyn Museum — “Arts of South Asia and the Islamic World”
200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, USA
The reopening of the galleries marks the completion of a ten-year project that revamped the museum’s entire floor of Asian art. The South Asia gallery features work spanning 5 millennia, from the Indus Valley to many Hindu objects . The Islamic World gallery presents the extent of Islam’s global reach with works from Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America across 14 centuries.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston — “Art of the Islamic Worlds”
1001 Bissonnet, Houston, USA
These 6 new, permanent galleries doubles the museum’s space for Islamic art, and presents hundreds of objects from both the MFAH and from the Hossein Afshar Collection of Iranian art, which is on extended loan. Works spanning more than 1000 years include paintings, manuscripts, ceramics, carpets, and metalwork, from present-day Morocco, Spain, Tunisia, Egypt, Türkiye, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.
Walters Art Museum — “Across Asia: Arts of Asia and the Islamic World”
600 N. Charles St., Baltimore, USA
The new exhibition displays Asian and Islamic works of art together at the museum, drawing out the artistic connections across these different cultures with over 600 artworks spanning 5,000 years. Works include examples of architecture, calligraphy, ceramics, cloisonné, enamelwork, lacquerware, manuscripts, metalwork, painting, sculpture, and textiles.