Art Conservation Project

The Bank of America Merrill Lynch Art Conservation Project 2012 Recipients © 2012 Bank of America Corporation Bank of America Merrill Lynch: Supporting the Arts As a company serving clients in more than 100 countries, Bank of America Merrill Lynch is committed to a diverse program of cultural support that engages individuals, organizations and communities in building mutual respect and recognition. The company’s investment in the arts strengthens institutions that contribute to local economies and sets opportunity in motion in a climate that promotes innovation and tolerance in an increasingly integrated world. Building on the company’s leadership in supporting the arts in the United States, Bank of America Merrill Lynch now partners with more than 5,000 arts organizations worldwide. The company’s multifaceted Arts and Culture Program provides assistance for a wide spectrum of the arts, with an emphasis on programs that foster greater cultural understanding. Works of art can provide a lasting reflection of peoples and cultures, but, over time, they are subject to deterioration or even loss. The Bank of America Merrill Lynch Art Conservation Project is a unique program that provides grants to nonprofit museums throughout the world to conserve historically or culturally significant works of art that are in danger of degeneration, including works that have been designated as national treasures. The program, introduced in 2010 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, has been expanded to the Americas, Asia and Australia, with conservation projects in 19 global markets. Initially, works of art from ten markets received funding for conservation, including Winged Victory of Samothrace at the Louvre and Pablo Ruiz Picasso’s Woman in Blue at the Reina Sofia in Madrid. The program also funded the conservation of Cain Slaying Abel, by Peter Paul Rubens, at The Courtauld Institute of Art, a newly discovered painting by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner at the Städel Museum and a collection of Ndebele beaded aprons from the Wits Art Museum. Bank of America Merrill Lynch is proud to support the preservation of treasures from nations around the world, to highlight beauty and heritage as well as the need for art conservation. Qianlong Great Buddhist Canon (Qing Dynasty) Jian (Water Vessel), Dragon Pattern, c. early 6th–5th century B.C. Capital Museum, Beijing Carved Woodblock Conservation Project Shanghai Museum Bronze 36.5 cm (height) x 80 cm (mouth) (14½” x 31½”) The Qianlong Great Buddhist Canon is a Tripitaka A jian is a water vessel used for bathing and for compiled during the reign of Emperor Qianlong storing water and ice. Jians were commonly used in the Qing Dynasty (1735–1796). A Tripitaka during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 B.C.) contains systematically assembled Buddhist and the Warring States period (475–221 B.C.) (The sutras (scriptural narratives) and treatises. Warring States period is often considered to have Tripitaka means “three baskets,” from the way in begun in 403 B.C., when the three remaining elite which it was originally recorded; the text was families in Jìn—Zhào, Wèi and Hán—partitioned written on long, narrow leaves, which were sewn the state.) Some jians were elaborately decorated, at the edges and then grouped into bunches and inlayed with turquoise and engraved with subtle stored in three “baskets” of teachings. decorative patterns. A jian might also be adorned with animal-shaped feet and exquisitely crafted Since Buddhism was introduced to China, its handles formed in the shape of a dragon. sutras have grown in number after generations of translation and circulation. The Shanghai Museum has a particularly strong The last official Tripitaka and the only existing collection of ancient bronzes, and this jian one in China, the Qianlong Great Buddhist will be a significant addition, permanently and Canon is extraordinarily significant—historically, prominently displayed. However, this large bronze scientifically and artistically. It is a treasure to jian had been shattered into pieces when it was China and to the world’s Buddhist community. unearthed. Conservation will begin with piecing the fragments of the vessel together and patching the The Qianlong Great Buddhist Canon is composed areas for which parts have been lost. After this, of 724 cases carved on 79,036 woodblocks. Each the conservator will repair and trim the dragon case is marked by a Chinese character from pattern meticulously to restore its original glory. “tian” ( ) to “ji” ( ), all selected from the Thousand Character Classic. Each case has ten volumes, for a total of 7,240 volumes. It is a complete collection of 1,669 sutras, teachings, treatises and other literature. Twenty to thirty percent of the carved woodblocks have deteriorated and are in need of conservation. After conservation, a special collection of the woodblocks and resulting prints will be on display in the museum. Hinoki-zu (Cypress Tree) Five Dragons Tokyo National Museum Eight-fold Screen, Azuchi-Momoyama period (16th century) Attributed to Southern Song Dynasty, 13th century, China Ink on paper covered with gold leaf Traditional Chinese handscroll format, ink and light color on paper 3 170.3 x 460.5 cm (67” x 181 /8”) Chen Rong (Chinese, c. 1200–1266) 45.7 x 298.7 cm (18” x 117½”) Kanô Eitoku (Japanese, 1543–1590) This folding screen by Kanô Eitoku, the leading Japanese late work by Kanô Eitoku. Against a backdrop of gold-leafed ground Chen Rong, a poet and painter who lived during the end of the Creases are apparent over the entire surface of the painting. artist of his day and one of the most influential painters, is and clouds, the powerful form of a cypress tree fills the screen. By Southern Song Dynasty, was born in Changle (Fujian Province) If they are left untreated, the support will split, eventually a highly celebrated work representative of the monumental simplifying the background, minimizing the number of colors and by and also called himself Su W ng and Su Zh i. He passed the leading to paint loss; some areas of the painting have already polychrome-and-gold painting style of the Azuchi-Momoyama depicting the tree bark energetically with a seemingly coarse brush, Imperial civil-service examination in 1235 and subsequently held worn away as the result of the rolling and unrolling of the period (1573–1615). The screen was handed down within the Eitoku emphasizes the tree’s commanding presence. a number of official state posts. After years of frustration with handscroll. Losses in the support have been patched with Katsuranomiya Imperial Family (formerly known as the political life, he began to paint dragons with India ink and was pieces of paper, and some seams where the artwork and silk Hachijônomiya family). With the death of the final heir and The Japanese government has designated this work as a National prominent in the B oyòu period from 1253 to 1258. Five Dragons borders are joined have separated. There are also several subsequent end of the Katsuranomiya house in 1881, it became Treasure. After thorough analysis of the current condition of the carries the seal of “ ” at the end of the roll and is thus tears on the edge of the mount. Upon restoration, the a Treasure of the Imperial Collection. screen, the project will be submitted to the Commissioner for said to be a work by Chen Rong. The painting came to Japan handscroll will be displayed in the Tokyo National Museum’s Cultural Affairs. Upon approval, it will be treated to prevent the during the fifteenth century, and the Japanese government has Asian Gallery, currently under renovation. From the telltale traces of door pulls in the paper, it is peeling of paint, gold leaf and paper. It will then be cleaned, designated the work as an Important Cultural Property. believed that the paintings on these screens were originally retouched, patched and reframed. sliding-door paintings in the Hachijônomiya residence, which was completed in 1590. They are therefore thought to be a very Anvar-I Suhayli, c. 1575 The Flood in the Darling 1890, 1895 (detail pictured) Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Manuscript illustrations, tempera on handmade paper Art Gallery of New South Wales, Oil on canvas 26.6 x 21.8 cm (sight size of the scrapbook pages) (10½” x 85/8”) 122.5 x 199.3 cm (48¼” x 78½”) Sangrahalaya (CSMVS) Museum, Sydney Frame: 172.5 (h) x 249 (w) x 14 (d) cm (67 7/8” x 98” x 51/2”) Mumbai William Charles Piguenit Mughal Emperor Akbar’s Court (Australian, 1836–1914) (1542–1605) The Panchatantra, a compilation of five books Few canvases in Australia match the cinematic of charming animal fables, is believed to have aplomb of The Flood in the Darling 1890, Piguenit’s originated in India around the fourth century and best-known work. This painting has gained was translated and enriched over the centuries iconic status due to the sparkling sweep of by a variety of civilizations. In the eighth century, the composition; its sense of a scene observed this collection of tales was known to the Muslim firsthand and faithfully reported; and the dazzling world as the Kalilah wa Dimnah and had evolved manner of its application, leading to near- to become a series of illustrated manuscripts. miraculous evocations of water and sky. There are also Hebrew and Greek versions of it. The Persian version in the CSMVS—known as Tasmanian by birth, printmaker, photographer Anvar-I Suhayli—was created in the second half of and painter Piguenit traveled widely and worked the sixteenth century by the court of the Mughal prolifically, understanding nature as a spectacle emperor Akbar, possibly for his young son, and both beautiful and cruel. His 23 years as a contains more than two hundred illustrations.

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