Fourteen members of the Asian Art Dealers New York (AADNY) will present an exciting Fall schedule of exhibitions, focusing on a wide range of subject matter, throughout the month of September.
The specialists in Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian works of art include: Art of the Past, Leiko Coyle, Arnold Lieberman, Kapoor Galleries, Theresa McCullough, Nancy Wiener, and Doris Wiener. Chinese art, ancient through contemporary, will be shown at the Ralph M. Chait Galleries, China 2000 Fine Art, Kaikodo and M D Flacks, with Joan B. Mirviss, Scholten Japanese Art, and the Kang Collection Korean Art, representing Japanese and Korean art, ancient through contemporary, respectively.
Chinese Art, Ancient through Contemporary
At the Ralph M. Chait Galleries, 724 Fifth Avenue, An Autumn Feast of Color: Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art will showcase an array of polychrome decorated porcelains and works of art of superb quality from a private collection. One of the highlights is a very rare pair of 18th century painted ivory, jade and hardstone appliqué figures of a court lady and gentleman.
Literati Musing: Inscriptions on Chinese Paintings and Scholar Objects, will be held at China 2000 Fine Art, 434A East 75th Street. Like the contemporary Twitter, ancient inscriptions on Chinese art were the momentary (and now art historically monumental) thoughts about society, relationships, politics, and aesthetics of the literati. Karen and Leon Wender gathered together objects for the scholar’s desk and Chinese paintings that bear inscriptions by eminent scholars and calligraphers of Chinese history. The scholar’s words, literally etched in stone or wood or written with indelible ink on paper, provide clues to where they were at particular times in their lives and offer their knowledge about the object or the painting upon which they inscribe their thoughts. Among the exhibition’s highlights is an Important Scholar Rock Anhui Inkstone with calligraphy by Ding Jing, dated 1750 and a Ming dynasty poem carved onto on a soapstone seal-paste box by Deng Shiru, a very important calligrapher and seal carver from the 18th century.
Kaikodo, 74 East 79th Street, presents Buddhist Lives, which includes Chinese and Japanese paintings from the 14th century to contemporary works featuring images of the Buddha along with stone and gilt bronze Buddhist sculpture. The paintings cover a wide range of styles and subjects, from an early image of Sakyamuni attributed to the Yuan-dynasty painter Yan Hui, to several paintings of lohan dating to the Ming and Qing dynasties to a “Bodhidharma Meditating” by Zhang Daqian painted in the 1930’s. The most recent works include stamped images of the Buddha by Mansheng Wang, who had a successful exhibition at the Today Museum in Beijing this summer, and a photograph by Michael Cherney of a bodhisattva from a Tang-period Buddhist cave printed on xuan paper and mounted as a hanging scroll. Japanese paintings featured in the exhibition include a large and impressive “Neihanzu” (death of the Buddha), Sesshin’s “Daruma,” Isshi’s “Kannon,” and Kano Tanyu’s “Jizo.”
Marble at M D Flacks, Ltd. 32 East 57th Street, will feature small marble treasures including: A Leaf-shaped Tray, circa 17th-early 18th century; a rare 18th century white marble vase, and a rare Censor (17th-early 18th century) that is identical in shape to ceramic and bronze examples from the Ming and early Qing dynasties. According to Marcus Flacks, this is the first time that an exhibition solely concentrated on White Marble, sometimes referred to as Chinese White Jade, has been mounted. “There was a rich tradition of skilled masonry in China and the quality and variety included in this unique show affords us a look into that culture,” Flacks said.
Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Works of Art
Art of the Past, 1242 Madison Avenue, presents Rasananda – A Celebration of Aesthetic Bliss. The items selected for this exhibition explore the perceptions of beauty in the history of South and Southeast Asian art. Highlights are: a Ramayana painting from Kangra, circa 1820, Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana Visiting the Hermitage of Bharadwaja. Among the other works included in the exhibition are a colossal stucco head of a Bodhisattva from the Gandhara Region, and an important bronze Chola Period sculpture of Parvati.
Following the success of previous co-exhibitions, the Asian Art galleries at 311 East 72nd Street, which include Arnold Lieberman, Leiko Coyle Asian Art and Theresa McCullough, join forces once again for September Asia Week.
Leiko Coyle features Recent Acquisitions, a selection of Tibetan Thangkas ranging from the 14th to the 19th centuries. Complimenting these works on fabric will be an array of sculpture from Tibet, Nepal and India, including a large stone relief of Ganesh, the Hindu God of prosperity and good fortune.
Arnold Lieberman presents a special display of exceptional recent acquisitions. Included are a large (and fierce) 17th- – 18th century Tibetan Thangka painting of Sri Devi, a bronze Gupta period water vessel in the form of Nandi, a rare stone Vaishnavite goddess from the Hoysala Era in India, and other distinctive objects primarily from South Asia and the Himalayan regions.
Theresa McCullough, rounds out the trio with her Recent Acquisitions, which includes a selection of Indian and Southeast Asian sculpture and Indian miniature paintings. The highlight is an exquisitely executed painting, titled Padam Singh Rathore and Consort Drinking Rose Water, Noor Muhammed (known as Nure), who ran the royal workshop of Bikaner from 1700-1715 and had previously been a leading artist in the workshops of Ruk-Nud-Din, Ibrahim and Nathu Ji. He was one of the master painters of the Bikaner school. Padam Singh Rathore was killed in battle in 1683 and the piece was painted in commemoration of him and would have been presented to the royal family as a token of respect.
Kapoor Galleries Inc., 1015 Madison Avenue, will present Recent Acquisitions featuring an important sculpture from Eastern India of a Dancing Ganesha, dated to the 12th century. Also on view will be a finely cast image of a Jain Tirthankara, from South India, and a very fine leaf from a Ramayana series, from Mandi, dating to circa 1700.
Indian and Southeast Asian Master Works of Art, at Doris Wiener, 1001 Fifth Avenue, will include a Dancing Ganesh in black stone (Pala Period, 9th-10th century) from Northeastern India or Bengal, Chola bronzes, a rare pre-Khmer Krishna Govinda, a selection of Himalayan gilt bronzes and Thangkas, a sumptuous Pala Buddha, and recently acquired Khmer and Indian sculptures.
In Flora, Fauna, and Sacred Geometry; A Timeless Presence, Nancy Wiener, Inc., at The Ansonia on2109 Broadway, reveals that life and form from the simple to the intricate are an integral part of sacred Indian and Southeast Asian art, finding their ways from great public edifices into the private settings of devotion and adornment. One example Wiener will showcase is an arresting Pre-Angkorian Ganesha, which merges the human and the animal into a single pristine form.
Japanese and Korean, Ancient to Contemporary Art
Joan B. Mirviss Ltd., 39 East 78th Street, presents Flights of Fancy, masterworks in enameled porcelain by Kutani master Takegoshi Jun. Forty new works will be featured, including several larger scale forms, created exclusively for this show, his second one in the United States. Using his signature jewel-like glazes to depict various species of birds, Takegoshi’s carefully painted, sometimes whimsical compositions are always in harmony with his uniquely shaped hand-built vessels. His use of polychrome over-glaze enamels on opaque and visually flat white porcelain adds to the push and pull between surface and space.
Scholten Japanese Art, 145 West 58th Street, marks their tenth year in New York with a special presentation, 2010: 20th Century Japanese Prints and Paintings, 10th Anniversary. This exhibition reflects the gallery’s continuing interest in the intertwining development of Japanese woodblock prints from the early to mid-20th century by artists who designed shin-hanga (lit. ‘new prints’) and sosaku-hanga (lit. ‘creative prints’). The show will include twenty to thirty woodblock prints and a few original paintings, by popular masters such as Hashiguchi Goyo, Kaburagi Kiyokata, Ito Shinsui, Kobayakawa Kiyoshi (1896-1948), Kitano Tsunetomi, Takahashi Hiroaki, Kawase Hasui, and Torii Kotondo. Scholten will also exhibit a select few examples of color woodblock prints by Western artists who played a role in the development of these genres, including Arthur Wesley Dow, Emil Orlik. Bertha Lum, and Fritz Capelari.
On view at Kang Collection Korean Art, 9 East 82nd Street, are two concurrent art exhibitions, which will illustrate the different realms of men and women during the late Joseon Dynasty: Revelations of the Brush: Joseon Scholar Ink Paintings, exhibited in the main gallery, showcases classic monochromatic screens and hanging scrolls by Joseon scholar officials. The traditional subjects, include the Four Gentlemen (plum, orchid, chrysanthemum and pine), landscapes, and calligraphy, are depicted by different artists, revealing individual varieties of expression and character. Hidden Beauty: Lacquerware, Garments, and Furniture from the Joseon Women’s Quarters, highlights furnishings that would have adorned the inner quarters of Joseon women, including fine lacquer cosmetic boxes, mirrors and tables; metal-fitted wooden chests; decorative screens; and traditional silk garments.
Asian Art Dealers New York is a dealer-run and self-vetted organization whose thirty-one international members rank among the most prominent in the world.
Check with each gallery for dates and gallery hours.
