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.
HKMoA — “Eternal Enlightenment: The Virtual World of Jiajing Emperor”
10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong
This exhibition at the Hong Kong Museum of Art, in collaboration with the owner of the famed Huaihaitang Collection, marks the 500th anniversary of the Jiajing Emperor, Zhu Houcong’s (1507–1567) ascension to the throne. The imperial porcelain designs during his reign were greatly influenced by his Daoist belief. The forms and patterns of these wares reflected the hopes and wishes of the Jiajing Emperor and mirrored the predicaments and uncertainties of reality at the time. This exhibition aims to shed light on the struggles and aspirations of this legendary Ming emperor by featuring artefacts that have survived for five centuries from the era.
Asia Society Texas — “Summoning Memories: Art Beyond Chinese Traditions”
1370 Southmore Blvd, Houston, USA
This group exhibition features 32 artists of Chinese descent working to push the boundaries of tradition across painting, sculpture and photography. The artists develop unique fabrication processes to subvert the visual language and meaning of borrowed imagery from the past in order to respond to current social, political and environmental concerns. Artists include Zhang Jian-Jun and Yang Yongliang, Xu Bing, Kelly Wang, Yun-fei Ji, among others.
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.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston — “None Whatsoever: Zen Paintings from the Gitter‐Yelen Collection”
1001 Bissonnet, Houston, USA
This exhibition explores the origins of Zen Buddhism in Japanese painting with masterworks from the renowned holdings of Kurt Gitter and Alice Yelen as well as the MFAH’s collection of modern and contemporary art. With the title taken from a fabled encounter between Bodhidarma and Emperor Wu Liang (r. 502–549), who was told that his good deeds earned “none whatsoever” merit points in the eyes of the Buddha, the exhibition highlights ink paintings and calligraphy by Zen monks.
“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.
Wattis Fine Art Gallery — “Hong Kong Around and About”
20 Hollywood Road, 2/F, Central, Hong Kong
This exhibition showcases a collection of pictures, ephemera and memorabilia of Hong Kong and the surrounding region from 1842 to 1983. Pictured here is an 1847 lithograph painted by hand of the Chinese junk “Keying”, which first appeared in New York on July 13, 1847, 212 days from China, with Captain Kellett. It later sailed to London, where it was displayed publicly at temple-bar pier, Essex St., Strand.
Hong Kong Museum of Art — “Joan Miró: The Poetry of Everyday Life”
10 Salisbury Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
This exhibition presents the works of Spanish master Joan Miró (1893–1983), including paintings, sculptures, drawings, textiles, lithographs, posters and audio-visual materials related to him, many on loan from the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona, founded by Miró himself in 1975. Also exhibited are works by Chinese artists of the same period such as Zao Wou-ki and Wu Guanzhong as well as new works by contemporary artists made for the occasion.
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.
The Seattle Art Museum (SAM) — “Ikat: A World of Compelling Cloth”
1300 First Avenue, Seattle, USA
Ikat is known for its jagged or flaming edges that have been adapted in fashion and design in a factory-made, printed form. The exhibition, beginning with a contemporary installation, then presents a tour of ikat textiles from around the world featuring over 100 textiles from the 12th century to the present from the museum’s collection and from the David and Marita Paly Collection. On display are kimonos, furnishings, robes, and other cloths from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
Thomsen Gallery—”Japanese Art 1910–1940″
9 East 63rd Street, Floor 2, New York, USA
With a new selection of works, the exhibition of “Japanese Art 1910–1940” at Thomsen Gallery continues until July 28. The exhibition focuses on folding screens, hanging scroll paintings, and gold lacquer works from the Taisho and early Showa eras, 1910–1940. It was a period of great change during which superb works were created for the domestic market, in contrast to the export-oriented output during the preceding Meiji era (1868–1912).
Alisan Fine Arts — “Ink Alchemy: Beyond Tradition”
21/F, 1 Lyndhurst Tower, Central, Hong Kong
This group exhibition features 15 Chinese artists of different generations and backgrounds to highlight the changes in Chinese ink painting over the last half-century. New works include those created for the exhibition by established artists Zheng Chongbin and Yang Yongliang, and emerging artists Zhang Xiaoli, Cheuk Ka-Wai, Cherie, Kelly Wang and Ren Light Pan.
LACMA — “Sam Francis and Japan: Emptiness Overflowing”
BCAM level 2, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, USA
This exhibition is the first to explore the practice of American artist Sam Francis (1923–1994), associated with abstract expressionism, in relation to historic and contemporary Japanese art and aesthetics. Over 80 works, including Japanese art and those by the artist, showcases Francis’s intellectual exchange with Japanese artists and his aesthetic sense.
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.
“17th-century Chinese Porcelain, Further Research, New Discoveries through an in-depth study of the Butler Collection”
1/F, Victoria Suite, The Hong Kong Club, Hong Kong
The Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong talk by Katharine Butler and Dr. Teresa Canepa presents the most significant fruits of their research and details the Butler collection. When Sir Michael Butler died in 2013, his collection of 17th century Chinese porcelain was the largest and most famous of its kind. Despite being well exhibited, more than half of the 850 pieces were not published until the speakers’ recent book, Leaping the Dragon Gate: The Sir Michael Butler Collection of Seventeenth-Century Chinese Porcelain. Registration is required.
Carole Davenport Japanese Art — “Ted Kurahara: 70 years of abstraction”
The Nippon Club Gallery, 145 West 57th Street, Floor 7, New York, USA
In his 98th year, Ted Kurahara is still creating his iconic canvases of vibrant color-field squares, which became his signature style decades ago. The Nippon Club exhibition focuses on works completed since 2000, and demonstrates his recent reawakening with Cadmium Red Medium and Deep, as illustrated. One sees his ordered grid underpinnings, over which he applies various colors and blends them directly on the canvas. The show also demonstrates his use of seductive blues, striking yellows, and introspective blacks. Kurahara-san has received numerous awards such as a Guggenheim Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts, Who’s Who in American Art, and a Living Legacy by the Joan Mitchell Foundation. He is represented in the National Gallery of Australia, the Library of Congress, Columbia University, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Singer Corporation, among others. 10 am to 6 pm daily, closed Sunday.
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.
Bonhams Hong Kong Spring Auctions 2023—Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art
Bonhams HK Saleroom, Suite 2001, One Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Admiralty, Hong Kong
Bonhams Hong Kong is excited to present three Chinese art auctions on 29 May. Kicking off the series will be a single-owner collection Inspired by the Past: The An Yu Xuan Collection of Chinese Works of Art, a theme sale Xiangdao: A Wisp of Tranquility, followed by Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art including a number of distinguished private collections. Collectors will be treated to a rich array of unique, exquisite and fun objects across multiple categories of approximately 300 works of art. Preview: 24-28 May 2023 (10am – 6pm HKT). Auction: 29 May 2023 (Starting at 2pm HKT).
British Museum — “China’s 1800s: material and visual culture “
BP Lecture Theatre, Great Russell St, London, UK
Discover more about China’s culture in the 1800s, including painting, calligraphy, commerce, fashion, and decorative arts in this two-day conference, which will offer participants a chance to hear from more than 30 speakers about the material and visual culture of the last century of imperial China. In the evening of the first day, there will be a keynote lecture from Susan Naquin, Professor Emerita of History at Princeton University, “Reconsidering China’s 19th Century”. Booking is required.
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.
Art Basel Basel
Messe Basel, Basel, Switzerland
The 2023 edition of Art Basel’s flagship fair in Basel features 285 galleries from 36 countries and territories, plus a participatory, site-specific installation by Latifa Echakhch on the city’s Messeplatz. Among these, 21 galleries join the fair for the first time. On display will be artworks across all media—from painting and sculpture to photography and digital works—by artists ranging from early 20th century Modern pioneers to contemporary practitioners.