Rajasthan, Mewar, Women Yearning for Krishna, from the Kavipriya of Kesava Das, circa 1635-45, opaque watercolor on paper Ru Wenshu, Snowscape—Winter Scene after Guo Xi, 1597, hanging scroll, ink and light color on paper Tomoo Hamada, Vase, circa 2012, stoneware with salt glaze Asian Connections, September 21 until January 18, 2015, is the first time Bengtz Gallery at the museum will be filled with the finest examples of Asian art from its collection since 1990. All of the museum’s Chinese paintings will be shown. A variety of materials will be highlighted: painting, calligraphy, ceramics, bronze, prints, lacquer, jade, glass and textiles. Among the different themes explored will be the religions of Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Shinto and Confucianism as well as Kabuki theater and secular imagery of landscape and poets. This show will address many pertinent questions: What do the works of art from these various places teach us about similarities and differences within Asia?; How do these cultures connect to one another?; How do they relate to the past or reflect the present?; How has the museum chosen to acquire Asian works of art in recent years? Asian art is one of the four collecting areas of The Art Complex Museum. The other strengths of the collection are American paintings, Shaker objects and Works on Paper. The Asian collection includes over 1,450 works which span more than five thousand years. Carl and Edith Weyerhaeuser personally selected many of them. Their friends, Kojiro and Harriet Tomita, bequeathed a number of objects. Purchase of the Leland C. and Paula Wyman Collection added significant works of Indian and Persian art. Almost every Asian country is represented in the museum’s collection. The majority of objects are from Japan, China, India and Persia. The remainder are from Tibet, Kashmir, Nepal, Thailand, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka. The majority of the museum’s Chinese paintings depict the landscape, the most popular subject matter in traditional China. Snowscape—Winter Scene after Guo Xi, was painted by Ru Wenshu in 1597. Not much is known about this female who was a native of Jiangsu, a province with a rich cultural heritage in southeastern China. Women painters are rare in China. The style of this meticulously rendered work is based on the Scholar-Amateur tradition with a strong emphasis on brushwork. This particular group of artists liked to demonstrate their understanding of their predecessors by naming them in the inscription. Ru Wenshu refers to the great Northern Song (960-1127) painter, Guo Xi, circa 1000-circa 1090. Guo Xi specialized in winter scenes emphasizing the bare branches of the trees. The tall, narrow composition begins in the lower left with a traveler and servant proceeding to visit a friend in his pavilion midway up the right side of the painting. Mountain peaks punctuated by a water fall tower above and are silhouetted against a gloomy, grey winter sky. She handles the ink deftly, adding a few subtle washes of color. Most of Indian art is devoted to religious themes, especially Hindu works which focus on a particular deity. The three main Hindu deities are Brahma, the Creator, Vishnu, the Preserver, and Shiva, the Destroyer. Vishnu manifests himself as ten avatars or re-incarnations who appear when the world is in need of help. The most compelling is the eighth, Krishna, who was raised by a cowherd and his wife. Krishna grew up to become a model lover having many liaisons with the wives and daughters of the cowherds (gopis), especially his favorite, Radha. Her intense passion for Krishna symbolizes a devotee’s desire for union with god. Women Yearning for Krishna was painted around 1635-1645 in Mewar in Rajasthan to illustrate the Kavipriya, a poem written by Kesava Das. The vigorous drawing and limited palette with blocks of primary colors are typical of Rajput style. The Sanscrit script identifies the theme. The overall effect is flat and two-dimensional because there is no variation in the colors from light to dark. Ceramics, particularly those of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, are a focus of our Japanese collection. Many of them were created for use in the Tea Ceremony. Edith Weyerhaeuser believed that understanding the Tea Ceremony was one of the best ways to learn about Japanese culture. The curatorial staff is always on the lookout for pieces which would enhance the collection in a substantive manner. The stoneware Vase with salt glaze by Tomoo Hamada (born 1967) is a recent acquisition. It will add to our group of tea ceremony vases as well as document the continuation of the Mingei (Folk Craft) ceramic tradition founded by Tomoo’s grandfather Shoji Hamada (1894-1977) in Mashiko, Japan. When possible, we build on our existing holdings by purchasing works made by other generations of a family. We will display this Vase with the Tea Bowl in our collection by Shoji Hamada. Tomoo was trained not only by his grandfather, but also by his father, Shinsaku, born 1929. Tomoo values combining a free spirit with impeccable technique. The shape of this Vase is reminiscent of the Japanese folding screen. Its diagonals set up dynamic rhythms and the contrast between the brown and blue vertical striations create fascinating textural interest. These examples show the range in time, style, theme and materials from the three most important areas within our Asian collection. The exhibition will explore these concepts in greater depth and variety to demonstrate what our collection can teach us about the enticing connections to be found in Asian art at The Art Complex Museum.
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 17:19:44 +0000