MARCH 9, 2010 Volume 2, Issue 5
With a remarkable number of exhibitions, auctions and events, March has become the month of Asian art BY VALERIE GLADSTONE orth light floods the Kaikodo gallery, illuminating a 17th-century Chinese scroll with its scene of a robed scholar contemplating a waterfall tumbling down jagged rocks. Perched high in an airy duplex above East 79th Street, the gallery specializes in Asian art, and the light is a perfect complement for the silvery green of a 10th-century celadon pitcher, or the group of small, dignified Buddhist, giltbronze votive figures. Carol Conover, the gallery’s director, hopes this year’s Asia Week New York—taking place March 20 through 28—will awaken art lovers everywhere to the treasures in the field. “Of course, I’m a longtime convert,” she admits, casting a glance at a green-and-gold ceramic headrest decorated with a playful lion. “There’s been a big increase in interest in Asian art in recent years. Now everyone can see why.” While many Asian galleries sell at least half of their objects to museums and universities— with the price of items soaring into the millions—they also find buyers for the other half among seasoned collectors and ordinary citizens who appreciate the art’s allure. “It’s always enjoyed a niche audience,” says Amy Poster, curator emeritus of the Brooklyn Museum Asian Art Department. “But people have become more attuned to Eastern philosophies and artistic milieus. They are better read and travel more widely. People who collected modern Western masters look to Asia. After all, Asia isn’t very far away anymore. It’s a well-priced field, with works that may be underappreciated, and thus, very affordable.” Though Asian art fairs are not new to the city, at no other time has the Asian Art Dealers Association, a dealer-run organization composed of 30 international specialists, made such a concerted effort to arrange appealing events for the public. In fact, Asia Week is not a traditional fair and since it coincides with a number of other related exhibitions, auctions and events, March is the unofficial month of Asian art. Unlike the Haughton International Asian Art Fair—which took place from 1996 until last year, and had booths in one central location—Asia Week begins with a special weekend of open houses March 20 and 21, when New York gallery owners
Photo © Trustees of The British Museum.
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Look East Utagawa Kuniyoshi, “Sakata Kaidomaru Wrestles with a Giant Carp,” c. 1837, on view at Japan Society March 12 through June 13.
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