Ranging from emerald green to milky white, jade carvings work their magic on collectors both Western and Chinese. Continue reading
Romancing the Stone
Asian Art
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Features From Previous Issues
Think in Ink
A dedicated group of Chinese artists have revitalized the centuries-old tradition of ink-and-brush painting, giving it a distinctly contemporary aesthetic. Continue reading
Dynamic Ceramics
With changing tastes, growing interest from China’s middle class and ancient objects emerging from the ground, there are some new opportunities in the hugely diverse realm of Chinese earthenware. Continue reading
Screen Stars
Japanese folding screens, delicate but durable, enshrine centuries of painting tradition. Continue reading
Tibetan Art: An Unusual Exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
From 17th-century scrolls to contemporary psychedelic prints, the MFA Boston points the route to Shambhala, Tibetan Buddhism’s mythic city. Continue reading
Oriental Art: Egyptian Collector Shafik Gabr and Orientalist Artwork
Egyptian collector Shafik Gabr believes that Orientalist paintings can further understanding between the West and the Arab world. Continue reading
The Emperor as Aesthete
As patron and collector, the long-reigning Qianlong emperor put his mark on Chinese art. Continue reading
Otherworldly Masquerade
There is something inherently uncanny about masks. The placement of a false face over a real face, the displacement of identity, the fixed expression, all conspire to unsettle or even frighten the beholder. The sense of the weird is especially strong in masks that were intended to represent unearthly beings and to allow humans to temporarily assume the identity of denizens of the spirit world during religious or magical ceremonies. Continue reading
Critic’s Notebook: Conceptualizing Tradition
In 1997, the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei published a photograph showing Tiananmen Square blocked out by his middle finger. He titled his image Study in Perspective, in a phrase making a provocative statement out of an obscene gesture. Formulating his contempt for power in a manner akin to a classical painter extending a digit to reckon proportions, Ai suggested that the individual artist might eclipse even the most oppressive government. Continue reading
In a Nutshell: Up to Snuff
Some objects that modern collectors regard as works of art were not seen that way by the people who originally made and bought them; so it is with snuff bottles. Tobacco reached China in the 16th century, but the use of snuff, its powdered form, became fashionable in the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). Its wealthy inhalers carried their personal rations in bottles rather than the boxes their European counterparts favored. Continue reading