JOHN CLARKE Curator of Himalayan and South East Asian Art, Victoria and Albert Museum 1 Bowl. Bamboo, horsehair and lacquer, Pagan yun ware with the nan-dwin or “King at Court” design, showing scenes from the Mahodatta Jātaka. Signed as the work of Saya Saing. Pagan, Myanmar (Burma), circa 1905–1910. Height 34 cm. V&A, IM.57-1932. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London THE COLLECTION of lacquer objects from Burma (Myanmar) held by the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), though not numerically large, is nevertheless important, as it documents in a representative way lacquer production du ..read more

YANNICK LINTZ President of the Guimet National Museum of Asian Arts, Paris The Guimet Museum, © Guimet National Museum of Asian Arts, Paris, photo David Giancatarina, 2023 THE GUIMET MUSEUM in Paris is a globally celebrated institution with a truly fascinating history and exceptional collections. Few museums in France bear the name of their founder, but ours is so closely related to the singular and remarkable personality of Émile Guimet that his name has come to represent more than a trace of the past: it is a core element of the museum’s identity. Émile Étienne Guimet (1836–1918) hailed fr ..read more

Christophe Hioco, Chairman of Printemps Asiatique, and Yannick Lintz, President of the Guimet National Museum of Asian Arts, Paris, welcoming guests at the Printemps Asiatique 2023 reception at the Guimet Museum IN JUNE 2023, I had the pleasure of returning to Paris to attend Printemps Asiatique (Asia Week in Paris). It was a wonderful event with many collectors, curators and art enthusiasts from all over the world in attendance. I was delighted to have an enjoyable introductory meeting with Dr Yannick Lintz, President of the Guimet National Museum of Asian Arts, Paris. She has had a truly d ..read more

XIN XIONG 1 Lui Shou-kwan (1919–1975), Zen, 1970, ink and colour on paper, 152 x 82 cm. Private collection CHUI TSE-HUNG (Xu Zixiong, born 1936), one of the key figures of Hong Kong’s New Ink Painting Movement, recalled his time sitting in on extramural classes taught by Lui Shou-kwan (Lü Shoukun, 1919–1975) at The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1969: Regrettably, I was unable to enrol on the course because there were too many people and the quota was full. I had to give up my seat for new students, and twice I avoided the line by listening to the lesson while sitting in a corner on the ..read more

Mr Keiji Ichikawa, Chairman of The Japantique Show, with his son, Takashi Ichikawa. Photo by Robin Markbreiter DURING JAPAN’S Golden Week in May 2023, I made a trip to Tokyo and Kyoto where I had the pleasure of meeting Mr Toru Niwa, Director of the Suntory Museum of Art at Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi. The museum on average holds six special exhibitions annually, which are highly regarded by the approximately 300,000 visitors they attract each year. The museum’s collection, which includes one National Treasure, fifteen Important Cultural Properties and twenty-one Important Art Objects, now num ..read more

CLARISSA VON SPEE Chair of Asian Art and Curator of Chinese Art, Cleveland Museum of Art 1 Sogdian Coat with Ducks in Pearl Medallions; Tang Chinese lining, 700s. Probably Uzbekistan. Silk: weft-faced compound twill weave (samite). 48 x 82.5 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J.H. Wade Fund, 1996.2.1 THE CLEVELAND Museum of Art (CMA) opened its doors to the public over a century ago, in 1916. Since then, the museum’s collections have been free of admission and “for the benefit of all the people forever”. Cleveland was at the time one of the nation’s largest and wealthiest cit ..read more

J. KEITH WILSON Curator of Ancient Chinese Art, Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art 1 Anyang excavation team, Season 2 (1929), Li Chi seated at far left, courtesy of the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica COMMEMORATING THE Freer Gallery of Art’s centenary, the National Museum of Asian Art has organised the exhibition, “Anyang: China’s Ancient City of Kings”, drawn entirely from its own holdings. The show is inspired by the parallel interests of Charles Lang Freer (1854–1919) in collecting Chinese antiquities and promoting scientific archaeology in China. One of his am ..read more

MINORI EGASHIRA 1 Nemoto (active Meiji period), Seal Case with Skeleton Procession Design, circa 1890, Shibayama style kinji gold lacquer with encrustation of nacre, tortoiseshell, ivory, coral, horn, silver mounts and gilt signature plaque, 11.9 x 7.4 cm. Private collection, New York City. Photograph by Richard P. Goodbody The Meiji Period and its Objects The Japanese Art Society of America’s ( JASA) 50th anniversary exhibition, “Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan” (2023–2024), reconsiders the art of the Meiji period (1868–1912), a tumultuous era defined by the collapse of the Tokugawa ..read more

ARTS OF ASIA Please press the play button if the video does not load automatically. Arts of Asia‘s Autumn 2023 issue shines the spotlight on the remarkable Asian Art collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH). It was a privilege to work with the MFAH, one of the most important and active museums in America. We feature six impressive articles by the museum’s curators and specialists, including on the cover, the exquisite sarpech (turban ornament) of Nizam of Hyderabad. Other highlights include the newly opened Hossein Afshar Galleries for Art of the Islamic Worlds, dou ..read more

View of the MFAH exhibition, “Woven Wonders: Indian Textiles from the Parpia Collection” FOR THIS AUTUMN 2023 issue, I am delighted to present the richness of the Asian art collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH). My team and I warmly thank the six curator and specialist authors for their outstanding articles. In addition, we would like to acknowledge the continued support of Amy G. Poster (Consulting Curator, Asian Art, MFAH and Curator Emerita, Asian Art, Brooklyn Museum) and Aimée Froom (Curator, Art of the Islamic Worlds, MFAH), who have both worked very closely with us for ..read more