Metropolitan's new exhibition of Islamic art will have "major impact" on antique carpet market

Metropolitan's new exhibition of Islamic art will have "major impact" on antique carpet market

The Emperor's Carpet (detail), second half of 16th century, Iran. Silk (warp and weft), wool (pile); asymmetrically knotted pile, 24 ft. 11 in. x 11 ft. 1 ½ in. (759.5 x339 cm).The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1943 (43.121.1) Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

OAKLAND, CA.- The new exhibition of Islamic Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York will have a major impact on the appreciation and valuation of antique Oriental rugs and carpets Jan David Winitz, president/founder of Claremont Rug Company, today predicted. Winitz visited the Islamic Art exhibition prior to its recent opening and marveled at the majesty of the rugs on display. He said, “It easily contains the most important display of historical Oriental rugs on U.S. soil. “I believe that the exhibition at the New York Met will be an enormous influence on the interest in and on the value of highly-collectible rugs from the ‘Second Golden Age of Persian Weaving,’” he said, pointing out that the period is generally identified as the 19th to the turn of the 20th century, when vegetal dyes were still employed exclusively and the traditional carpet weaving techniques were central to the culture. “Before the Met exhibition, the unfathomable level of craftsmanship and artistry of the best of antique Persian carpets had been overlooked primarily from lack of exposure, with very few museum shows or widely-circulated publications addressing them,” Winitz said. “The popularity of our brochures, which we have produced seasonally for nearly 30 years, is a proof point. There is even a secondary market among collectors for the older editions, which indicates that enthusiasts are thirsting for information and examples of the profound artistic level that certain antique Oriental rugs have reached.” Winitz also said that major publications, including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, have written detailed feature articles about the new Islamic Galleries “and I have spoken with several art publications about it.” The attention drawn to the aesthetic tradition of this region “will certainly reinforce our long-held contention that the traditions of Middle Eastern Art have been major influences on Western Art, starting as early as the 15th century. Winitz, author of The Guide to Purchasing an Oriental Rug, described his tour of the exhibition as a deeply moving experience. “Frankly, it was an honor to stand before the great Persian carpets of the Savafid period and experience the world they depict where all life swirls in a never-ending dance around a motionless center,” he said. “Along with a duo of architectural installations, the carpet presentation is the most immediately captivating in this extremely admirable exhibition. “The thrilling colors and staggering fineness of detail in the carpets from the Savafid dynasty are unforgettable and centrally important because they represent the technical height of Persian Court weaving. Those workshops had the ultimate venture capital funding, the Safavid Court.” Historians and connoisseurs have long agreed that until commercialism irrevocably compromised the weaving art in the second quarter of the 20th century, rug-making was an unbroken 4,000-year tradition, alive at every level of Near Eastern society from royal workshops to tribal encampments. By tradition, in each venue, the most inspired weavers ignited the imaginations of the next generation of rug artists. Winitz said, “I was awe-struck by the Khorossan compartment fragment with its architectural strength and sensuous color. The Portuguese carpet (17th century) clearly provided inspiration for carpets from Persian Azerbaijan, such as Serapis, two centuries later. Carpets, such as the Kurdish Garden Carpet (18th century) or the 14th century Turkish Animal Carpet created images in my mind of great 19th century carpets that have passed through my gallery.” Winitz found the Seley Carpet to be particularly awe-inspiring. “Of all the remarkable things about this carpet, the range of green dyes is unparalleled. The interplay of this green spectrum with the golds and reds reflects the Persians’ profound command of color theory.” Referring to the Emperor’s Carpet, Winitz commented, “Viewing the technical achievement of this masterwork, which is of central importance to the long and diverse history of textiles, is extremely moving. The unique hand-knotted construction of Near Eastern carpets, coupled with their ability to yield an astonishing spectrum of colors using natural dyes, allows for the unparalleled ability of the finest early examples to render definition and nuance. I feel that the New York Times deeming them ‘portable monuments‘ to be a very apt appraisal. “It is only natural that the grandeur of the exhibition rugs at the New York Metropolitan will spur art collectors to seek out the diminishing supply of the finest 19th century Oriental carpets that are still available for purchase,” he said. “I firmly believe that we are the last generation that will have access to antique rugs of this magnitude and which are already moving from the ‘public’ market to museum collections.” Claremont Rug Company, which he founded in 1980, has an inventory of 4000 antique Oriental rugs and carpets, primarily from the 19th century and considered highly-collectible/investment level.

Storytelling in Japanese Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

Storytelling in Japanese Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

The Story of the God of Kitano Tenjin Shrine, Kamakura period (1185-1333), 13th century. Scroll IV from a set of five handscrolls, ink, color, and gold leaf on paper, 11 5/16 in. x 18 ft. 8 15/16 in. (28.8 x 571.4 cm) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fletcher Fund, 1925; 25.224d

NEW YORK, N.Y.- Japan has enjoyed a long tradition of storytelling through paintings and illustrated books, which continues today in the popular art of manga (comic books for children and adults). Showcasing more than 90 vibrant works drawn from the New York Public Library and other local collections, as well as works from the Metropolitan’s own holdings, Storytelling in Japanese Art traces the rich history of illustrated narratives that thrived in the medieval and early modern periods of Japan. The focus of the exhibition is on some 20 rare illustrated handscrolls called emaki. Highlights among them are: an exceptional fragment of the set of handscrolls nicknamed Frolicking Animals, whose parent scrolls in Japan have the designation of National Treasure and are often referred to as ancestors of modern manga; The Tale of the Drunken Demon, capturing a dramatic and gory scene of a warrior chopping off a demon’s head; and the Illustrated Legend of Kitano Shrine, a set of five handscrolls that is displayed simultaneously for the first time. Dating from the 12th to the 19th century, the exhibition also includes works in other formats: handscroll, fan, book, and screen. Illustrated handscrolls, or emaki, represent an artistic tradition that stretches back to the eighth century in Japan. Extant emaki from the 12th and 13th centuries represent the quintessence of narrative presentation in this highly developed format. The tales, many now part of the canon of classical Japanes literature, include miraculous events of the Buddhist and Shinto religious traditions, romantic trysts of courtiers and court ladies, heroic adventures of men and women during times of war, and antics of animals in the roles of humans, not to mention the macabre escapades of ghosts and monsters. Other highlights of the exhibition include rarely seen masterworks such as A Long Tale for an Autumn Night, a homoerotic tale of a romance between a Buddhist monk and a young male novice. The exhibition also features works in various formats illustrating dramatic episodes from The Great Woven Cap, a tale of Fujiwara no Kamatari, the founder of the powerful Fujiwara clan; in its climactic scene, a female diver is chased by a dragon. Some 20 works of art will be rotated into the exhibition in February. The exhibition includes full views of some of the handscrolls in the exhibition on iPad displays within an exhibition reading area. A lavishly illustrated publication and an Audio Guide is also available.

Standing Buddha, 3rd - 5th century

Schist

31 7/8 in. x 10 1/2 in. x 5 in. (80.96 cm x 26.67 cm x 12.7 cm)

Crocker Art Museum Purchase from the William P. & Edith E. Cleary Fund

2007.115

http://www.crockerartmuseum.org/education/catalog/Asian/zoom/index.html?zoomifyImagePath=http://www.crockerartmuseum.org/education/catalog/Asian/zoom/2007.115/&zoomifyMinZoom=-1&zoomifyX=0&zoomifyY=0&zoomifyZoom=-1&zoomifyToolbar=1&zoomifyNavWin=1&zoomifyNavWidth=75&zoomifyNavHeight=75 title="Standing Buddha " rel="shadowbox;width=720;height=520"

Description

• The region of Gandhara in present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan lay on the 5,000-mile Silk Route that linked East Asia with the Middle East and beyond. Buddhist monasteries flourished and consisted of large establishments with multiple stupas (reliquary mounds), shrines, and living quarters. Patrons were generous in their donations of both money and imagery. While the earliest images of the Buddha in Gandhara are generally included in narrative reliefs of his life story, by the 3rd century, freestanding images were produced in greater numbers.
  These images, many of which were life-size, were placed at the base of stupas or in shrines. Most depicted the historical Buddha Shakyamuni, though some represent the future Buddha Maitreya. By the 3rd century, the iconography of the Buddha image was set: he is dressed in monk’s robes, and although he has forsaken his princely life, his earlobes are still distended from the weight of the heavy jewels that he once wore. The ushnisha (cranial protuberance) and the urna (the small dot representing a whorl of hair between his eyebrows) are lakshanas(symbols) of a mahapurusha (great man).
  The treatment of the drapery of this Buddha reflects the Greco-Roman influence that characterizes Gandharan sculpture. His facial features, however, do not have the classical proportions of many images, but instead verge on portraiture. Unlike most Buddha images, which are shown either standing or sitting in a frontal pose, this Buddha has one knee raised, as if he is walking. His posture may thus refer to a specific moment in the historical Buddha’s life, though without a context, it is not possible to say what moment that might be.

9th century Jain sculpture on display at Egmore museum - The Times of India

9th century Jain sculpture on display at Egmore museum

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CHENNAI: A rare Jain sculpture, said to date back to the ninth century AD, was put on display at the Government Museum in Egmore on Monday for the first time since it was gifted in 1976. Part of an exhibition during the heritage week, it will be on display till November 27.

The sculpture called " Navadevata Chakra", museum officials said, is the earliest evidence of the type of worship popular among members of the Digambara sect of Jainism.

"Of the 44 stone Jain sculptures in the museum, this one is unique because it contains details like petals of lotus and a cone-shaped crown. It also an improvisation of sculptures of earlier periods with more ornaments," said museum commissioner SS Jawahar who inaugurated the exhibition.

It is aimed at highlighting the deep roots of Jainism in South India.

Usually, museum officials said, 'Navadevata chakras' (nine deities in a circular format) have eight deities on eight lotus petals and the ninth one on a petal in the centre.