NOV/DEC 2008

VOLUME 39 - NUMBER 8

Our November/December issue focuses on aspects of the Chinese collection at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, as well as two leading figures in its development. Under the guidance of the present director, Marc Wilson, the facilities have been greatly expanded and the installations reassessed to meet the needs of today’s audience. Jason Steuber interviews him about his vision for the museum, while Thomas Lawton explores the career of former curator and director Laurence Sickman, who played a major role in establishing the collection.

The museum houses a significant group of bronzes; Guolong Lai shows how two tureens expose different approaches to collecting and Colin Mackenzie looks at the shift in appreciation for elaborate decoration and design in three sets of gilt-bronze fittings. Amy McNair considers how several sculptures from the collection reveal the perceived need to preserve, defend and promote Buddhism in 6th century China, while following a detailed examination, Jonathan Hay argues for the early attribution of the much-discussed painting Travellers in Snow-Covered Mountains.

Through a Zhende period thangka in the museum, Marsha Weidner traces the transmission of the Vaishravana cult to China and reflects on his varied iconography. James Watt discusses two of the collection’s 16th century lacquers and the identifying characteristics of works from China and the Ryukyu islands

FEATURES
James C. Y. Watt. Notes on Two 16th Century Lacquers in The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Marsha Weidner. A Vaishravana Thangka from the Ming Dynasty
Jonathan Hay. 'Travellers in Snow-Covered Mountains': A Reassessment
Amy McNair. The Ending of the Law and the Hope of Salvation: Some 6th Century Chinese Buddhist Sculptures in The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Colin Mackenzie. Re-Imagining Luxury: Gilded and Inlaid Bronze Fittings of the Late Warring States and Han Periods
Guolong Lai. The Tale of Two Tureens: Connoisseurship, Taste and Authenticity
Thomas Lawton. Laurence Sickman: Curator, Director and Connoisseur
Jason Steuber. Tradition and Innovation: Director Marc F. Wilson and Chinese Art at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
PREVIEWS & REVIEWS
Robert L. Brown. Book Review: Bayon: New perspectives, Edited by Joyce Clark, Contributors: Ang Choulean, Olivier Cunin, Claude Jacques, T.S. Maxwell, Vittorio Roveda, Anne-Valérie Schweyer, Peter D. Sharrock, Michael Vickery and Hiram Woodward, River Books, Bangkok, 2007
COMMENTARY
Harold Mok. Commentary: An Inkling of Ink Art