APR 2014

VOLUME 45 - NUMBER 3

A major exhibition opening at the Met on 14 April celebrates the sculptural art of early Southeast Asia. ‘Lost Kingdoms’ features some 160 works in stone, bronze, gold, silver, terracotta and stucco from lenders including major museums in the US, Southeast Asia and Europe.

Illustrated on our cover is a mid-7th century sandstone Devi, probably Uma, from eastern Cambodia, exemplifying the masterpieces on view. Suprisingly naturalistic, the image is thought to embody a portrait of an early 7th century Khmer queen. John Guy, curator of the exhibition and guest editor for this issue, explores early associations of Southeast Asian kingship with Indic ideals. Articles by Anne-Valérie Schweyer, Nicolas Revire and Anna A. Ślączka provide further illumination on aspects of the built-temple tradition of the 1st millennium, embracing first Hinduism then Buddhism.

In other features, Valerie Hansen discusses the practice of Buddhist image-making, as seen through the eyes of Ennin, a Japanese monk who travelled to Tang dynasty China; and Thomas Berghuis looks at the oeuvre of Wang Jianwei, the first artist to be commissioned by The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Chinese Art Initiative at the Guggenheim. In our commentary, Richard M. Barnhart considers the authentication of a work of Chinese calligraphy, and welcomes the return of connoisseurship to public view.

FEATURES
John Guy. Shiva's Land: Brahmanical Sculpture in the Religious Landscape of Early Southeast Asia
Anne-Valérie Schweyer. Inscriptions, Art and Religious Patronage in the Early Cham Kingdoms
Nicolas Revire. Five Monumental Bhadrasana Buddhas from Nakon Pathom
Anna A. Ślączka. Golden Bulls and Tortoises: Temple Consecration in Southeast Asia
Valerie Hansen. The Devotional Use of Buddhist Art in Ennin's Diary
Thomas Berghuis. Painting into Media―Wang Jianwei
PREVIEWS & REVIEWS
Asian Art Hong Kong 2014
Nancy Lee. Exhibition Review: Masterpieces of Chinese Painting: 700-1900 Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 26 October 2013-9 January 2014
Rosalind Wade Haddon. Book Review: In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art
Romain Maitra. India Art Fair
NEWS
Pascal Royère (1965-2014)
James Cahill (1926-2014)
COMMENTARY
Richard M. Barnhart. In Search of Authenticity