Society for Asian Art Newsletter for Members July-August 2016 No. 4

A Welcome from Our Incoming President

As the new SAA President, I want to extend my warmest greetings to the entire SAA family! I’m honored to be given the opportunity to lead such a distinguished organization, and my principal objective will be to continue the Society’s tradition of providing outstanding cultural programs relating to Asian art for our SAA members.

Before highlighting upcoming programming, please join me in thanking my predecessor, Linda Lei, for her exemplary leadership during the past two years. I would also like to applaud the important contributions made by our outgoing board members (Rick Beleson, Jeanne Dorward, Mel Hetzel, and Teri Sandison) and welcome our new board members (Melissa Abbe, Margaret Edwards, Pamela Royse, Ehler Spliedt, Kasey Yang, and Carolyn Young).

All SAA members can take special pride in celebrating the Asian Art ’s 50th anniversary this year because it was a small group of Society members who originally convinced Avery Brundage to donate his collection of Asian art to the city of San Francisco – thereby initiating the creation of what was to become the Asian Art Museum. I suspect that small group would be very pleased to see how the Society has grown and flourished ever since!

In light of the Museum’s anniversary, this year we will emphasize programs supporting the Museum’s blockbuster Emperors’ Treasures and Ramayana exhibits. However, regular programs like the Arts of Asia lecture series will continue to achieve high standards by recruiting top scholars – addressing the progression of 19th century to contemporary Asian art (“From Monet to Ai Weiwei: How We Got Here”) this Fall and examining women’s roles (“Women and Asian Art”) this Spring. The SAA’s travel program will also prove exciting with trips planned for places like Japan, India, Houston and San Antonio.

The primary goal, however, is to keep you, the SAA audience, interested and stimulated. To that end, please give your input to board members and myself so new programs can be initiated and existing ones improved. Let’s all work together to make a great organization even more extraordinary!

Sincerely, Anne Kahn

Ewer in the shape of a monk’s cap with poem by Emperor Qianlong carved on the bottom. Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, , reign of Emperor Xuande (1426–1435). Porcelain with red glaze. , Taipei, Guci 017764 Lü-1804-30. Photograph © National Palace Museum, Taipei.

Glass vase with design of peony blossoms, by the Imperial Workshop, . Qing dynasty, reign of Emperor Kangxi (1662–1722). Glass with polychrome decoration. National Palace Museum, Taipei, Guci 017588 Lie-360-73. Photograph © National Palace Museum, Taipei.

Ritual vessel with phoenix-shaped handles, by the Imperial Workshop, Beijing. Qing dynasty, reign of Emperor Yongzheng (1723–1735). Copper alloy with cloisonné enamel inlays. National Palace Museum, Taipei, Gufa 000116 Lie 427–16. Photograph © National Palace Museum, Taipei.

The Society for Asian Art is a support organization for the IN THIS ISSUE

Saturday and Sunday, June 25 and 26 Weekend in Monterey at Orientations

Saturday, July 2 Society for Asia Art Demonstration with Hou Shao Kui July - August 2016 No. 4

Saturday, July 9 Members’ Newsletter Lecture: The Monochrome Wares, Where Elegance Lies with Jennifer Chen Edited by Trista Berkovitz, Jeanne Dorward, Saturday, July 16 and Jean Karnow Study Group: Traditional Japanese Costumes and Textiles with Alan Kennedy published bimonthly by:

Wednesday, August 3 Society for Asian Art Visit to the Center with Abby Chen 200 Larkin Street San Francisco, CA 94102 Fridays, August 19 – December 2 www.societyforasianart.org Arts of Asia Fall Lecture Series Copyright © 2016 Society for Asian Art Friday, August 26 Souk Donation Drop-Off Day Board of Directors 2015-2016

Saturday, August 27 President Linda Lei Lecture: Emperors as Patrons, Participants, and Producers of Painting Vice President Anne Adams Kahn with Richard Vinograd Vice President Maureen Hetzel Vice President Peter Sinton Wednesday, September 7 Secretary Jeanne Dorward Visit to the Berkeley Art Museum with Julia White Treasurer Mel Hetzel Asst. Treasurer Vince Fausone Sundays, September 11, 18, October 9, 16, 23 Literature and Culture of Asia: Gods on Earth: Ten Incarnations of Vishnu Richard Beleson with Robert and Sally Goldman Trista Berkovitz Deborah Clearwaters* Anne Dorsey Sheila Dowell UPCOMING EVENTS (subject to change) Elizabeth (BJ) Johnson Jennifer Kao Kristl Lee Fridays, September 9, 23, and October 7 Sheryln Leong Souk Donation Drop-Off Days Forrest McGill* David Menke Sunday, September 11 Julie Kim Nemeth Conversation with Stan Lai Greg Potts Merrill Randol Saturday, October 1 Teri Sandison Lecture: Material Culture in the Dream of the Red Chamber Nazneen Spliedt Lucy Sun Saturday, October 8 Alice Trinkl Lecture: Understanding the Ramayana through Dance Kalim Winata Barbara Wirth Thursday, November 17 Sylvia Wong Lecture: Joan Mirviss on Contemporary Japanese Ceramics *ex officio Saturday, November 19 Rama Symposium Society Book Sale 2017

Donations for our Annual Book Sale are accepted throughout the year. If you have any Asian related books on art, culture, travel, cooking, or novels, please call the SAA office. If you have a couple of boxes, we will pick them up from your home in the Bay Area!

2 ARTS OF ASIA FALL 2016 LECTURE SERIES

From Monet to Ai Weiwei: How We Got Here

When: Fridays, August 19 - December 2 Time: 10:30 am - 12:30 pm Place: Samsung Hall Fee: $175 Society members, $200 non-members (for the series after Museum admission) $20 per lecture drop-in (after Museum admission, subject to availability)

Where did modern Asian art come from? What is contemporary Asian art? Sign up for this lecture series and find out! Inspired by the recent exhibitions Looking East, 28 Chinese, and First Look, the Society for Asian Art’s Fall 2016 Arts of Asia lectures will explore how art trends beginning in the late 19th century influenced modern and contemporary Asian art.

The series will start with a two-lecture overview covering important 19th and 20th century art movements, such as impressionism, surrealism, abstraction, and conceptualism. Prominent scholars like Joan Kee and Ming Tiampo will then examine the development of late 19th century and early 20th century pre-war Asian art from areas like Meiji Japan and colonial Southeast Asia through post-war movements like the Gutai Group in Japan, the '85 New Wave in , and Korea's Avant-Garde Association. The legacy of classical Chinese traditions, Indian nationalism, and Islamic attitudes toward art will also be considered against the backdrop of Mid-Autumn Festival, 1969, by Liu modernism, concluding with an examination of globalism, new media, and biennials. Guosong (Chinese, b. 1932). Ink and colors on paper. Asian Art Museum, 2003.22. © Liu Guosong.

August 19 October 7 Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? Warhol and Mid-Century Modernisms: Art is anything you can get Gauguin and Early Global Modernism away with Karin Oen, AAM Karin Oen, AAM

August 26 October 14 European Modernism and Its Global Repercussions in the First Half Post-War Japanese Art of the 20th Century Ming Tiampo, Carleton University (Ottawa) John Zarobell, University of San Francisco October 21 September 2 Thirteen Ways of Looking at Abstraction The Rise of Imperial Japan: Japanese Arts and Crafts of the Taisho Joan Kee, University of Michigan and Showa Eras Kendall Brown, California State University Long Beach October 28 Looking for the Contemporary in “Islamic” Art September 9 Talinn Gregor, UC Davis The Bauhaus in Bengal: Reflections on Art and Design in Modern India November 4 Saloni Mathur, UCLA Everyday Partitions: Contemporary South Asian Art Sonal Khullar, University of Washington September 16 Where the Ancient Never Tread: Dunhuang as a Source of Artistic November 11 Inspiration Extreme Reverberations and the Existing Real: The Birth of Joseph Scheier-Dolberg, Metropolitan Museum of Art Contemporary Chinese Art Taliesin Thomas, Director – AW Asia September 23 Rise of the East: Modernity and Modern Diaspora Chinese Art of November 18 the Postwar Era Who Am We? Five Contemporary Artists of Korea An-yi Pan, Cornell University Hyonjeong Kim Han, AAM

September 30 December 2 Artisans to Artists: Colonial and Post-Independent Art Education in Globalism and New Media: The Long History of World’s Fairs and Vietnam and Cambodia Biennials Nora Taylor, School of the Art Institute of Chicago Caroline Jones, MIT

3 MEMBER EVENTS

Weekend in Monterey at Orientations

When: Saturday and Sunday, June 25 and 26 Time: 5:00 pm Saturday - Sunday morning Place: Orientations, 700 Camino El Estero, Monterey Fee: $75 Society members, $85 non-members

As always Jerry Janssen at Orientations will pull out all the stops and treat us to an elegant evening with a fabulous meal which will be Japanese inspired American, accompanied by a sushi bar and koto music. His special exhibit and sale will be recently arrived Japanese bronzes from the Meiji and early Taisho periods as well as an extensive collection of rare Japanese tansu. The bronzes include flower containers, hibachi, and sculptural figures. Other wonderful pieces from his extensive collection will also be on view. On Sunday morning an expert will give a talk on the bronzes while we have coffee and breakfast goodies.

Kunqu Chinese Opera With Master Hou Shao Kui, Sabrina Hou, and Xiaomu Hou

When: Saturday, July 2 Time: 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm Place: Samsung Hall Fee: $15 Society members, $20 non-members (after Museum admission)

See a demonstration of the Chinese opera style Kunqu, by the Master actor Hou Shao Kui with his famous daughters Sabrina and Xiaomu. The art of Kunqu has continued from the 14th century and is acclaimed by UNESCO as one of the Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage. The three will demonstrate the acting, dancing, and singing of this art form. They will perform arias from the Peony Pavilion written in 1593, and from Escorting Lady Jing on a 1000 Mile Journey, the story of Zhao Kuangying, founder of the Northern Song Dynasty, and the lady he is protecting who falls in love with him. Xiaomu Hou (left) Sabrina Hou (right) Actors Hou Shao Kui, Sabrina Hou, and Xiaomu Hou comprise this internationally noted Kunqu performing family. Sabrina and Xiaomu co-founded the Peony Performing Arts School, based in the Bay Area, in 2003. They have appeared in many local venues, including the Asian Art Museum, ODC Dance Theater, and the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival.

The Monochrome Wares: Where Elegance Lies With Jennifer Chen

When: Saturday, July 9 Time: 10:30 am – 12:00 pm Place: Education Studios Fee: $15 Society members, $20 non-members (after Museum admission)

This talk will focus on the monochrome ceramics in our new exhibition, Emperors’ Treasures – Chinese Art from the National Palace Museum, Taipei. It will feature topics such as visual aesthetics, creative techniques, and the cultural and economic significance of these objects at the time they were produced and in the modern era.

Jennifer Chen is an independent researcher and writer on Chinese art, specializing in ceramics. She was educated in China and the U.S. as an art historian. Her curatorial experience includes working at the Shanghai Museum, Sotheby's in New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Seattle Art Museum.

Mallet-shaped vase with greenish- blue glaze, Northern Song Ju Ware, Late 11th - early 12th Century, National Palace Museum, Taipei

4 MEMBER EVENTS

Visit to the Chinese Culture Center With Abby Chen

When: Wednesday, August 3 Time: 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm tour followed by dinner Place: 750 Kearny St., San Francisco Fee: $45 Society members only, includes dinner

Curator Abby Chen will lead us through the newly energized galleries at the Chinese Culture Center. The CCC sponsors innovative contemporary exhibitions such as their current exhibition, Retrieved, a narrative of China in the last century. After our visit we will have dinner at Z&Y Restaurant nearby. Please note this is a 6-course, set meal; no substitutions will be possible.

Abby Chen is the Curator and Artistic Director of the CCC. She has an MA in Visual and Critical Studies from the California College of the Arts. She lectures frequently on contemporary Chinese art and has curated many exhibitions and programs relating to contemporary art and issues relevant to the Chinese-American community. She has written for numerous publications and catalogs, and was a 2012 National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Scholar.

Emperors as Patrons, Participants, and Producers of Paintings With Richard Vinograd

When: Saturday, August 27 Time: 10:30 am – 12:00 pm Place: Education Studios Fee: $15 Society members, $20 non-members (after Museum admission)

This talk will explore the role of Emperors, Empresses, and other imperial men and women of the Chinese courts in the sponsorship, design, and fashioning of paintings, from the 11th through the 18th centuries. Dr. Vinograd will take us through case studies of several of the rulers and the works represented in the Emperors’ Treasures exhibition. Half-portrait of Emperor Gaozong. Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279). Album leaf, ink and color on Richard Vinograd is a Society Advisor and has been a Professor of Asian Art in the Department of silk. National Palace Museum, Taipei, Zhonghua 000322-11. Photograph © National Palace Museum, Art & Art History at Stanford since 1989. His field of interest and research is Chinese portraiture Taipei and landscaping paintings. He has written numerous books and articles and is well known to our Docents and members as an Arts of Asia lecturer. His book Chinese Art & Culture has been used as a text by our docents.

Visit to the Berkeley Art Museum With Julia White

When: Wednesday, September 7 Time: 11:00 am – 12:30 pm tour, followed by lunch Place: 2155 Center St., Berkeley Fee: $30 Society members only, includes lunch and museum admission

We will visit the newly opened Berkeley Art Museum with Senior Curator for Asian Art Julia White, who will lead us through their current exhibition on Chinese paintings, Summer Trees Casting Shade: at Berkeley, the First Fifty Years. This exhibition celebrates the breadth and depth of BAM's acclaimed Chinese paintings collection with 50 works of art on display from the 13th to 20th Century, some from the collection and gift of the late Professor James Cahill, who was instrumental in building this fabulous collection at Berkeley.

Julia White is the Senior Curator for Asian Art at BAMPFA and a newly appointed Advisor for the SAA. Her current research and exhibition projects include both contemporary and traditional Chinese arts. She has curated numerous exhibitions and published widely. She is well known to our members for her always popular and in-depth tours of the Berkeley Art Museum. Dai Jin, Summer Trees Casting Shade, Early 15th century, Ink on silk, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

5 STUDY GROUP

Traditional Japanese Costumes and Textiles With Alan Kennedy

When: Saturday, July 16 Time: 10:30 am - 3:30 pm Place: Education Studios Fee: $45 Society members, $55 non-members (after Museum admission), includes lunch

The workshop will focus on three types of Japanese costumes of the Edo period (1615 - 1868). Known in Japanese as kosode (forerunner of the kimono), shôzoku (costumes for Noh theatre), and kesa (Buddhist monk’s mantle), these garments come from the worlds of fashion, theater, and religion. Such costumes represent the height of creativity in design and in luxury textile production of the period.

Besides an art historical approach to the costumes, Alan Kennedy will examine textile techniques, design motifs, and pictorial representations of costumes in paintings, prints, and sculpture. This will be a 'hands-on' Noh theater costume in the collection of the Art Gallery of New South workshop (gloves to be provided), as actual Edo period costumes will be available in order to better Wales, Sydney, understand and appreciate this important Japanese art form.

Alan Kennedy is an Asian art specialist with a focus on the textiles and paintings of Japan and China. He has contributed articles to museum exhibition catalogues, scholarly journals, art magazines, and encyclopedias, and lectures regularly in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. He has 40 years of experience as an art dealer, and his clients include and collectors from across the globe.

LITERATURE AND CULTURE OF ASIA

Gods on Earth: Ten Incarnations of Vishnu With Robert P. and Sally J. Sutherland Goldman

When: Sundays, September 11, 18, October 9, 16, 23 Time: 10:15 am – 12:15 pm Place: Education Studios, Opera Plaza 10/23 Fee: $100 Society members, $120 non-members (after Museum admission) The ten incarnations of the Hindu deity Vishnu, approx. 1975–1982, by Batohi Jha (Indian, active approx. 1975-2000). Ink and colors on paper. Courtesy of One of the most colorful, dramatic, and popular elements of Hinduism is Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Museum purchase, 1999.39.45. © Batohi Jha. the Vaishnava tradition of Lord Vishnu’s ten avataras, or earthly Photograph © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. incarnations. These grand manifestations of God on earth range in evolutionary sequence through the animal kingdom to such towering epic heroes as Rama and Krishna. Through readings of primary texts and secondary scholarship, renowned experts Professors Robert and Sally Goldman will explore the fascinating histories and deeper meanings of these iconic religious figures. The readings are illustrated with artistic representations of the avataras across time from antiquity to modernity, and across genres from temple sculpture and courtly painting to modern cinema, television, and popular ephemera.

Primary reading materials for this class will be taken from Classical Hindu Mythology (Cornelia Dimmit and J.A.B. van Buitenen, Temple University Press, 1978). In addition, other selected readings will be provided.

Professors Robert Goldman and Sally Goldman teach in the Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies at UC Berkeley. Both have published widely in the fields of Sanskrit literature and Indian epics. Their most recent scholarly work is the definitive, critical and fully annotated translation of Valmiki’s Ramayana.

SOUK

We are collecting donations of Asian or Asian-themed art, antiques, collectibles, and crafts (except large furniture) from 2:00 to 4:00 pm on August 26, September 9, September 23, and October 7. Please bring your donations to the home of Trista Berkovitz and Stephen Pegors at 855 29th Avenue, San Francisco, just north of Golden Gate Park between Fulton and Cabrillo Streets. If you have questions, please email Trista at [email protected] or call her at 415-852-2774 (cell).

6 TRAVEL

The SAA in Iran, May 2016

Starting in Tehran, the SAA traveled throughout Iran to see important art and architecture, ranging from ancient times to the present. Particularly impressive were ancient Persepolis, the holy shrine at Mashad, and the dazzling Safavid capital Isfahan. In northwest Iran the extension visited famous architectural sites like Soltaniyeh, Takht-e-Soleyman, and the Ardabil shrine.

Group Gathers for photo at Pasargad, Iran. Rhyton (gold drinking cup) from the Aechmenid Dynasty in ancient Persia © Teri Sandison Photography, Exploring Takht-e-Soleyman © Teri Sandison Photography

The Souk is Coming!

Keep your donations coming and help make this year’s Souk a success! This bazaar is a favorite of our members and benefits the Asian Art Museum, and will take place October 29 and 30 at Fort Mason’s Firehouse.

7 REGISTRATION FORM How to Register

To Register you may:

1. Go to our website, sign up and pay online: www.societyforasianart.org

OR

2. Print this registration form and send it with a check to: SAA, 200 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA 94102

We cannot accept fax registrations at this time. Please use mail, our website, or call the office.

Registration is required for all programs unless otherwise noted. If a program becomes fully enrolled, your payment will be returned. Refunds are granted for cancellations up to one business week before the event and take one or two weeks to process. SAA does not issue tickets or confirmations. You will be contacted ONLY if your registration cannot be completed.

Paid Programs Fee Quantity Sub-Total

$75 Members q June 25 and 26: Weekend in Monterey at Orientations $85 Non-Members

$15 Members q July 2: Kunqu Chinese Opera Demonstration with Hou Shao Kui $20 Non-Members

$15 Members q July 9: The Monochrome Wares with Jennifer Chen $20 Non-Members

$45 Members q July 16: Traditional Japanese Costumes and Textiles with Alan Kennedy $55 Non-Members

$45 Members SAA Members Only q August 3: Visit to the Chinese Cultural Center with Abby Chen

$175 Members q Fridays, August 19 - December 2: Fall Arts of Asia Lecture Series $200 Non-Members

$15 Members q August 27: Emperors as Patrons, Participants, and Producers of Painting with Richard Vinograd $20 Non-Members

$30 Members q September 7: Visit to the Berkeley Art Museum with Julia White SAA Members Only

q Sundays, September 11, 18, October 9, 16, 23: Gods on Earth: Ten Incarnations of Vishnu $100 Members with Robert and Sally Goldman $120 Non-Members

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