Chinese Ceramics of the Transitional Period: 1620-1683 (Chinese Institute)

Little, Stephen

Arts & Photography

Univ of Washington Pr

Like new. The interior clean and free of markings. The picture on the listing page is of the actual book for sale. Catalogue of an exhibition held at China Institute Gallery, New York, April 22-Aug. 5, 1995.

Chinese Porcelains of the Seventeenth Century: Landscapes, Scholars' Motifs and Narratives

Curtis, Julia B.

China Institute Gallery

History & Criticism

China Inst in Amer

The Shunzhi era (1644-61), marking the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing, was a transitional period in Chinese history. As far as porcelain was concerned, until the last 20 years, it was a little-known reign not only in the West but in China itself. 
By the late 1630s, painters on porcelain had developed a new, highly recognizable, and successful style. Many of the innovative themes were taken from woodblock prints, with landscapes and narrative scenes particularly inspired by contemporary scroll and album paintings. Soon after 1644, potters began to paint wonderful landscapes, with stylistic devices such as clouds and rock formations used to fill in the "back" of the pot. The beauty and liveliness of the pots' paintings, along with the evolving shapes of the pots, stands out and makes these years a most significant period the art history of China. In the Shunzhi era, more than any other time in the last 500 years of Chinese porcelain, there was a strong emphasis on individual works of art, each one unique.

Treasures from an Unknown Reign: Shunzhi Porcelain

Butler, Michael

Honolulu Academy of Arts

Trammel & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art

University of Virginia Art Museum

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

Art Services Intl

This volume presents leading edge research into the disparate economies of Asia, and considers the dynamics and developments of those economies and their implications for the emerging global economy. Global Change is based on debates that took place at the second Global Change conference at Manchester Metropolitan University in 1998. The conference captured the Asian economic crisis as it was happening, enabling both the causes and effects of the crisis to be analysed by researchers, practitioners and key academics. The editors present here a selection of papers from the conference which focus on Asia's impact in the twenty-first century: ranging from the history of developments in Asia over the last thirty years and the changes in growth, to the processes of globalisation and its effects. The contributors are specialists in the Asian region, enabling them to analyse recent case evidence from an `insider' perspective.

Global Change: The Impact of Asia in the 21st Century

Business & Money

Economics

PALGRAVE~MACMILLAN

A major contribution to the scholarship of South and Southeast Asian art. A major survey of South and Southeast Asian art drawn from the Alsdorf Collection, one of the finest private collections of Asian art in America. Although this extraordinary collection is well known to scholars and collectors, the exhibition and the accompanying catalogue will provide the first opportunity for the general public to view these remarkable works of art. This collection of more than 450 objects includes sculpture, jewelry, paintings, and architectural elements from India, Nepal, Tibet, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Java, and elsewhere. The objects range in date from a medallion from the second century BC to twentieth-century sculpture. The catalogue has been written by the eminent scholar Pratapaditya Pal. Dr. Pal explains the major themes represented in the collection--Hindu gods, Buddhist and Jain subjects, goddesses, human figures, animals, and ritual, ornamental, and ceremonial objects--and discusses in detail the style, history, and iconography of individual pieces.

A Collecting Odyssey: The Alsdorf Collection of Indian and East Asian Art

Art Institute Of Chicago

PAL, Pratapaditya

Thames&Hudson

According to legend, stones have been revered in China since at least the third millenium B.C., when they were presented as tribute to Emperor Yu, a mythical sage-ruler. Stones were prized and collected for display in gardens and, probably, interiors from the Han dynasty onward, and by the Tang dynasty a true literature of stones had appeared. This tradition of stone collecting, which was to find its ultimate expression during the second half of the late Ming dynasty, focused on stones as representations of the universe in miniature, or, more precisely, of the inchoate energies that created the universe. The most treasured stones were those with strange and bizarre shapes suggestive of remote and numinous mountain peaks or of Daoist paradises. In April 1999, The Art Institute of Chicago presented an exhibition of more than thirty-five of these sacred Chinese stones, along with related paintings and objects, from the Ian and Susan Wilson Collection. The accompanying catalog explores the history of stone collecting in China and the connections between stones, Daoist philosophy, cosmology, garden design, interior decoration, painting, and woodblock printing.

Spirit Stones of China: The Ian and Susan Wilson Collection of Chinese Stones, Paintings, and Related Scholars' Objects

University of California Press

Taoism and the Arts of China

Taoism and the Arts of China brings together a remarkable collection of art from one of China's most ancient and influential traditions. Produced to accompany the first major exhibition ever organized on the Taoist philosophy and religion, this opulent book includes more than 150 works of art from as early as the late Zhou dynasty (fifth-third century b.c.) to the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Many of these works are paintings that show the breathtaking range of style and subject that makes the Taoist heritage so rich. Sculpture, calligraphy, rare books, textiles, and ritual objects are also represented. Like the exhibition, the book is organized thematically. It begins with the sage Laozi (to whom the Daode Jing is attributed), and moves on to explore the birth of religious Taoism and the interaction between Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. A wealth of subjects are covered: the gods of the Taoist pantheon, ritual, the boundaries and intersections between Taoism and popular religion, Taoist Immortals and Realized Beings, the role of alchemy, sacred landscape and its significance, and Taoist temples and their architecture. Taoism and the Arts of China includes an engaging series of introductory essays by scholars with a deep understanding of their subjects. Among the topics discussed are a historical introduction to Taoism, archaeological evidence for early Taoist art, and a general introduction to the functions of art in religious Taoism. Lavishly illustrated with over 150 color images, this volume affords a sweeping view of an artistic terrain that until now has received too little exposure in the West. Its publication constitutes a major advance in Western understanding of this important tradition.

Hung, Wu

Schipper, Kristofer

Steinhardt, Nancy

View of the Pinnacle is a richly illustrated catalogue featuring more than eighty suzuribako, dating from the fourteenth through the twentieth centuries, from the Edmund and Julia Lewis Collection.Suzuribako, the exquisite lacquer boxes designed to hold the implements used in creating brush-and-ink calligraphy, have for centuries combined utilitarian function with superb craftsmanship. The art of creating suzuribako came into being during the Heian period in Japan (794–1185), when aristocratic culture―both artistic and literary―flourished; it was in full flower during the sixteenth century and continued into modern times. The designs on suzuribako frequently represent highly refined visual representations of classical poetry, literature, mythology, and history. Diverse subjects are depicted, including religious figures, philosophers, poets, animals, mythical creatures, and landscapes (real and imagined). These artistic representations are often combined with calligraphed poems or excerpts from classical literature.In the catalogue, Stephen Little and Edmund Lewis give equal attention to both the literary content of the suzuribako and the lacquer techniques used in crafting them. The literary references and themes, drawn as much from Chinese as from Japanese classical texts, reflect the deep knowledge of Chinese and Japanese classical literature among the literate classes in Japan from the eighth century onward. A full appreciation of the themes and metaphorical imagery incorporated into many of the boxes requires a deep cultural sophistication on the part of the viewer. Stephen Little, describing the layered literary themes frequently depicted in suzuribako, notes that “the excavation of hidden layers of meaning in a box’s decoration becomes a thrilling quest.”The volume includes an essay by Edmund Lewis on the nuances of meaning in suzuribako designs, and the interviewing of the artistic and literary expressions embodied in them. In a second essay, John Stevens presents a brief history of Japanese calligraphy and explains its central importance in Japanese cultural expression.

View of the Pinnacle: Japanese Lacquer Writing Boxes

Lewis, Edmund J.

Edmund J. Lewis

Revised Edition, Updated 2017 Isms: Understanding Art is the perfect pocket-sized guide for gallery and museum lovers who have a general interest in the arts, but not necessarily any formal education in the visual arts. With this portable and indispensable tool in hand, anyone can guide themselves through the world's prestigious museums and major art collections and recognize and intelligently discuss the significant movements that have shaped the world of art. Using an informative and engaging style with informal and direct tone, each of the numerous "isms" that are used to define-but often misleadingly cloud-art movements are explained in simple terms and made accessible to the casual art lover. Readers are encouraged to think of styles as useful tools for conversation and exploration rather than as hard and fast academic definitions, and to relate to the art itself rather than to a merely conceptual idea. Each spread is devoted to a single art historical period and begins with an introduction that explains when the movement first emerged, the historical period to which it applies, and the principal disputes over its applicability, usefulness, or significance. The rest of the chapter is divided into several sections illustrating the most important artists and works within the period, related key words, and illustrations that best represent the distinctive features. This comprehensible structure makes it possible for any reader to gain a clear understanding of Classicism or Cubism while sitting in a cafe or visiting a gallery.

Isms: Understanding Art

Universe

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