MAR/APR 2020

VOLUME 51 - NUMBER 2

The theme of this issue is innovation, from a feature on the redesigning of some of the galleries in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco based on the concept of ‘architectural acupuncture’, which suggests a natural relationship between the museum and the body, to articles on artists across time and space: Qiu Ying (c. 1494–c. 1552), Iwasa Matabei (1578–1650), Frederic Leighton (1830–96) and Chen Chi-kwan (1921–2007). Qiu rose to become one of the most celebrated artists of the Chinese Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and was included in the ‘Four Masters of the Wu School’, which dominated painting in Suzhou in the late 15th and early to mid-16th centuries. His works are celebrated in ‘Where the Truth Lies: The Art of Qiu Ying’, the first exhibition on the painter ever to be organized outside Asia, which opened at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on 9 February. Matabei’s works are imbued with a psychological penetration previously unseen in the history of Japanese painting, and capture intense emotion as well as the grand pathos of episodes from East Asian classical literature. Leighton is included not for his artistic production but for his vision in commissioning what became known as the Arab Hall, an extraordinary reception room inspired by Islamic architecture and his travels in the Middle East. Lastly, Chen was a professional architect of international renown in addition to being a painter. He collaborated with I. M. Pei to design the Luce Memorial Chapel on the campus of Tunghai University in Taiwan, a hallmark of mid-century modernist architecture. His unique experience in both Asia and the United States enabled him to develop a style that fuses Chinese ink painting and Western concepts of space and modern art.

As we welcome spring and a new season of art events and exhibition openings, the coronavirus outbreak has created a state of flux, with Art Basel Hong Kong, one of the biggest art events in the city, cancelling this year’s edition after weeks of anticipation and debate among exhibiting galleries, and Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Bonhams in New York postponing most of their Asian sales to the middle of the year in view of the US travel ban on visitors from China or any foreign nationals who have been to China in the last fourteen days. Nevertheless, the galleries participating in Asia Week New York (AWNY) and others in the city will mount their exhibitions as planned. The AWNY galleries have frequently reported a lack of visitors when the auction previews and sales kick off. Although auction previews will still be held, it will be interesting to see if an Asia Week without auctions will bring more traffic into the galleries.

FEATURES
Robert Mintz. Bringing Life to the Galleries of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
Abby Chen. Experience, Engage, Empower: Expanding Contemporary Art at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
Stephen Litlle. ‘Where the Truth Lies: The Art of Qiu Ying’ at LACMA
John T. Carpenter. Recontextualizing a Tale of the Heike Scene by Iwasa Matabei
Gautama V. Vajracharya.Three Licchavi Period Sculptures Under One Roof: The Solomon Family Collection of Nepalese Art (Part One)
Melanie Gibson. ‘An Oriental Kiosk’: The Building of the ‘Arab Hall’ at Leighton House in London
Tiffany Wai-Ying Beres. The Outlier: Chen Chi-kwan and his Views on Chinese PaintingREVIEWS
Rachel Parikh. Arms & Armour of India, Nepal & Sri Lanka: Types, Decoration and Symbolism
INTERVIEWS
Sharing a Passion for Antiques: An Interview with Taiwan Collector Steven Hung
CURATOR’S CHOICE
John Guy. The Essence of Things: Constantin Brancusi and Indian Sculpture