Looking at Art

Trace the spread of Buddhism through close looking at Buddhist objects from different regions. Explore how artifacts reveal distinct local traditions as well as common ideas and motifs.

Explore this interactive map. Zoom-in on high resolution details and discover English translations of the classical Chinese text and synopsis by scholars.Explore this interactive map.

This lustrous stoneware vessel is a ewer, or pitcher, dating to the early 1100s, during Korea’s Goryeo dynasty (918–1392). It was probably used for wine, which may have been warmed by placing the ewer in a matching bowl of heated water. The ewer’s color is called celadon, which is created by a glaze that includes iron oxide. Today, connoisseurs around the world continue to treasure Goryeo celadon as among the most precious items created by Korean artisans.

In this Therese Schoofs Memorial Lecture, Asian Art Museum docent, Kalpana Desai, discusses the life and works of the Korean artist Yoong Bae.

See demonstrations of employing both traditional (no electric needles!) and modern techniques. Joining Horitaka’s diverse, talented crew of tattooists are special guests from Japan — Shige, a powerhouse tattoo artist who has been showcased all over the world; Mutsuo, who’s designed for Bathing Ape and Hysteric Glamour; and Kazunobu Nagashima, a client of Shige who will proudly display his backpiece, which won a 2007 Milano Tattoo Convention award.

Learn about Indonesian rod puppets (wayang golek) with puppet master Kathy Foley.

Hailed as one of the most important photographers of our time, New York-based Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto is also an accomplished architect. He approaches his work from many different perspectives, with architecture as one component in designing the settings for his installations. As a photographer of the highest technical ability, with equal acclaim for the conceptual and philosophical aspects of his work, Sugimoto has created works in his “Five Elements” series that are constructed as shrines to a primordial birthplace. Using geometric symbols from thirteenth-century Buddhism, Sugimoto encases a single image from his iconic Seascape series in each glass structure.

Learn more about hidden meanings in Chinese art from Asian Art Museum docent, Linda Lei. This talk was given to teachers from the Chinese American International School (CAIS) for their professional development day at the Asian Art Museum on August 23, 2011.

Heman Chong imagines a future of dystopian stillness with Calendars (2020–2096), an installation of 1001 photos, each a calendar page capturing a moment of complete emptiness in today’s bustling areas of Singapore. View this work for yourself at the Asian Art Museum during the exhibition, Phantoms of Asia: Contemporary Awakens the Past (on view from May 18–September 2, 2012).

Japanese artist and pop icon Fuyuko Matsui explores the haunted, interconnected realms of traditional and modern aesthetics. As one of the few women to have attained top training and mastery of traditional Japanese painting (nihonga) techniques in Japan, Matsui also cites centuries-old artistic influences, such as the iconoclastic eighteenth-century painter Soga Shohhaku and the fifteenth-century painter Soga Jasoku.