Entering Space

September 14 - October 30, 2002

Gallery & Web Exhibition

“Entering Space,” a show that could be viewed in the abstract space of the web or the physical space of the gallery, consisted of fifty-two paintings and works of art from China and Japan.  The Chinese paintings range in date from the 14th to the 20th century; among the great variety of their formats, materials, and subjects is an extremely rare Yuan-dynasty depiction of a glass or crystal container holding an arrangement of flowering branches.  A landscape painting by the Japanese master Ike Taiga and one by his very accomplished wife Gyokuran comprise a most seductive pair, formerly in a private museum collection in Japan, while a stunning pair of Kano period byobu, depicting Chinese historical figures against a shimmering gold ground, represent the opposite extreme of Japanese aesthetics and taste.
   
Neolithic Japanese and Chinese ceramics set the stage for numerous high quality wares from subsequent periods.  These include tomb figures from the Han through Tang: an engaging Han period pond with no fewer than fifteen models of ducks, a pair of painted-earthenware tomb guardians, qitou of extremely menacing demeanor, a horse with an actual horse-hair tail, and a stunning figure of a court lady of great size and stature and dressed in beautiful garb.  A rare early Yue tripod basin introduces the celadon tradition represented also by stunning Longquan wares from the Song and Yuan. Those interested in the lively Cizhou were delighted by a very fine sampling of these stonewares in a variety of shapes and decorative techniques.