SEP 2013

VOLUME 44 - NUMBER 6

Nanjing Museum, which is 80 years old this year, reopens this autumn after a major expansion. The project encompasses the renovation of the existing premises, along with the construction of six purpose-designed halls to accommodate the museum’s more than 420,000 works.

Having last devoted an issue to the museum almost a quarter of a century ago, in 1989, we revisit the museum to mark both the anniversary and the reopening. We begin with our interview with the museum’s director Gong Liang, who introduces the museum’s unique history and its emphasis on both tangible and intangible cultural heritage. We also present essays by six leading scholars – Li Zebin, Lu Jianfang, Wan Xinhua, Huo Hua, Chang Qing and Ouyang Moyi – each highlighting specific aspects of the museum’s collections, its research work, and some of the individual treasures on view.

Elizabeth ten Grotenhuis pays tribute to author and collector of Japanese art Bill Burto. David Dewey and Robert Jacobsen talk about their new publication on Dewey’s collection of Chinese tomb sculptures. Alexandra Green reviews Enlightened Ways: The Many Streams of Buddhism in Thailand, while Libby Chan summarizes the recent symposium on Chinese gold at Chinese University of Hong Kong. Rounding up the issue, John Vollmer comments on the recent exhibition ‘Looking East: Rubens’s Encounter with Asia’ at the J. Paul Getty Museum, with specific reference to the artist’s enigmatic painting Man in Korean Costume.

FEATURES
Nanjing Museum at 80: An Interview with Director Gong Liang
Li Zebin. Fashion and Rituals of the Han Dynasty: Cultural Relics of the Royal Houses of Jiangsu
Lu Jianfang. Early Aesthetics: Jade Cong of the Liangzhu Culture
Wan Xinhua. Portraying Figures With Spirit: Ming and Qing Period Painted Portraits
Huo Hua. Expressions of Power and Prestige: Ming and Qing Imperial Porcelain
Chang Qing. Reading the Iconography of a Four-Armed Avalokiteshvara
Ouyang Moyi. Exquisite and Elegant, Natural and Intelligent: Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove and Rong Qiqi
PREVIEWS & REVIEWS
Alexandra Green. Book Review: Enlightened Ways: The Many Streams of Buddhist Art in Thailand By Heidi Tan with contributions from other scholars Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore, 2012
Libby Lai-Pik Chan. Symposium Report :Radiant Legacy: Ancient Chinese Gold from the Mengdiexuan Collection’ Art Museum, Institute of Chinese Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
John Vollmer. Exhibition Review: ‘Looking East: Rubens’s Encounter with Asia’ The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles 5 March-9 June
INTERVIEWS
In Conversation: Robert D. Jacobsen and David W. Dewey
NEWS
Elizabeth ten Grotenhuis. William Burto (1921-2013)