This is my second post on the Asian Art Museum new exhibition. This exhibition includes a creative approach which I personally appreciate very much. It is the “Tomb Pleasures” self-guided tour with contemporary experts.
Ten contemporary experts commented on ten highlights of the exhibits. I particularly like the comment on the Dancer Figurine by Yuan Yuan Tan, Principal Dancer of San Francisco Ballet. She is my favorite ballerina in San Francisco Ballet. I am very impressed not only by her performance in SF Ballet but also her comments on this exhibit. Below is the picture I took in the gallery. It includes the comments from Yuan Yuan Tan on the Dancer Figurine. She said: “Certainly as long as any other form of human expression, dance is in our very nature to express ourselves and our desire to be understood. It is a window into another’s soul. Through the movements and expressions of dancers, we catch a glimpse of their inner monologue: the joys, agonies, triumphs, and failures that are part of the universal human experience.”
The female dancer figurine shows a very dynamic posture of the “flying swallow” dance. It is very bold in its design 2200 years ago! My reader Adelaide commented on my previous post that she found the dancer figurine very modern. It is really eye-opening for us. Apart from this figurine there is an ensemble of dancers in the gallery. I took a few of these photos and created a short video on Magisto. I am posting these photos and the video here which is also posted on YouTube. Enjoy!
Last week, I visited Asian Art Museum of San Francisco with family and friends, to see this interesting exhibition. My friends are all world travelers. Visiting the Museum is one of the best travel programs for them. In order to share with my friends and readers who may be interested to see this exhibition in future, I took many photos. The museum allows photo taking without flash. I am so thankful!
The exhibits include 100 objects which are new discoveries from the tombs of two kingdoms in the Han Dynasty (206 BCE to 220 BCE). The exhibition is a collaboration of Asian Art Museum of San Francisco and Nanjing Museum of China. There are lots of interesting information included in the gallery captions, the docent tours, as well as the exhibition catalog. Apart from appreciating the beautiful artworks made two thousand and two hundred years ago in ancient China, I am thrilled that these objects also give us a glimpse of the way of life of the elites in the Chinese society.
I am particularly interested in the figurines of dancers and musicians. The dancers wear long sleeves garments and show big movements that stimulate our imagination how the dances were appreciated at that time. The bell set gives us some idea about the musical performance for the elite. Many visitors may also be in awe seeing the jade suit and the jade coffin of the elite.
As inscribed on the artworks in the Tomb Treasures: “Everlasting happiness without end” is probably the theme which may evoke visitors’ emotions.
I hope you will visit this exhibition which will end in May this year. If I have time, I will study a little bit more some of those objects and share the information with you. Meanwhile, I hope you will like these pictures shown in the gallery and slide show. Just click any picture and you will see the photos shown in carousel. Enjoy!
If you live in San Francisco or travel here for a visit, this is an art exhibition that you will enjoy very much. Asian art is not as commonly appreciated by most Americans, but the Impressionists are more popular. You may be interested to know that in the late 19th Century, a generation of artists and collectors embraced Japanese art, and created the trend called Japonism. Impressionists and post-impressionists including van Gogh, Cassatt, Degas, and Monet were much influenced by the Japanese art and culture.
In this exhibition, there are many paintings that you can pair the art work of the Western artists with the Japanese artists. I usually don’t take pictures in the museum, but this time I was encouraged by the museum’s request: SNAP and SHARE. So, I did my part. I took many pictures without flash and shared with you all. Very often, artists inspire one another, but it is interesting to learn how they were inspired by other cultures without even having visited those countries. We have social media nowadays and technology. But what kind of communication did they have at that time? Art has become the subject, as well as the media in communication. Art has existed since the beginning of civilization. It never stops to inspire, to cultivate, and to appreciate.
I know very little about Japanese Art though I visited Japan many years ago through a work-study program in the university. Ten years ago, I attempted to study Asian Art at the Asian Art Museum, but failed to complete the course due to work. This exhibition has re-ignited my interest in this area. I looked up some information via the internet and bought some books. There are some interesting articles I found. Take a look if you are interested.
Monet’s collection of Japanese prints: what are the historical and cultural factors, and how these two cultures met. If you like, let us study a little and hold a discussion group, just to have fun. Meanwhile, these photos I took told us lots of information. The exhibition is still on till February 7. Don’t miss this opportunity. See you there!
Vincent van Gogh Postman Joseph Roulin
Actor Onoe MATSUSUKE as the Carpenter_Rokusaburo
Maternal Caress, Mary Cassatt
Haystacks, Claude Monet
Mariko: famous Tea Shop’, Utagawa Hiroshige
The Water Lily Pond, Claude Monet
Carp Banner in Kyoto, Louis Dumoulin
Suido Bridge and Surugadai, Utagawa Hiroshige
Seacoast at Trouville, Claude Monet
Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec, The Jockey
Painted horse escaping from Ema, Totoya Hokkei
Meditation, Alfred Stevens. note the Japanese patterns on fabrics
Women dressing gown, Japanese, for the Western Market
I also found this You Tube video from Asian Art Museum very educational.
My dream to see this painting had finally come true! This is one of my few “most desired to see” paintings. My trip to Spain last year was one of my most satisfying one. I did have the opportunity to visit three of the most famous museums in the world, and see three very important works of art while traveling. Lucky me!
A visit to Prado Museum in Madrid was one of the most exciting programs in the itinerary. We joined a guided tour. Though the docent was excellent, I drifted away from the group when we came to this gallery where Las Meninas was placed. I was able to see this beautiful painting only a few feet away whereas my fellow travel mates were listening to the docent at the back. My attention was completely absorbed into this amazing piece of art, imagining that I was among this group of individuals drawn by Diego Velazquez who created a puzzle out of this picture. No wonder this has become one of the most important paintings in the Western World!
Diego Velázquez’s masterpiece Las meninas (ca. 1656),
Museo Nacional del Prado
Blake Gopnik , Washington Post staff writer, called Las Meninas an encyclopedia of artistic greatness, in his article: The Velazquez painting ‘Las Meninas’: An encyclopedia of artistic greatness. Gopnik said: “Las Meninas never stops giving: Every time you think you’re done, the picture insists that everything you’ve thought was wrong, and that you’ll have to start over from scratch. And instead of putting you off, it makes you enjoy that relentless perplexity.”
“The painting shows a large room in the Royal Alcazar of Madrid during the reign of King Philip IV of Spain, and presents several figures, most identifiable from the Spanish court, captured, according to some commentators, in a particular moment as if in a snapshot.[2] Some look out of the canvas towards the viewer, while others interact among themselves. The young Infanta Margaret Theresa is surrounded by her entourage of maids of honour, chaperone, bodyguard, two dwarfs and a dog. Just behind them, Velázquez portrays himself working at a large canvas. Velázquez looks outwards, beyond the pictorial space to where a viewer of the painting would stand.[3] In the background there is a mirror that reflects the upper bodies of the king and queen. They appear to be placed outside the picture space in a position similar to that of the viewer, although some scholars have speculated that their image is a reflection from the painting Velázquez is shown working on.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Meninas
“Measuring “ten and a half feet by nine feet wide” (96), the painting’s near life-sized figures, along with its “spatial construction,” creates a sense of overwhelming realism, emphasizing complexities, such as literary-like symbolism, that confuse the viewer.” (Natalia Rivera: Diego Velazquez’s Las Meninas ).
There are many intellectual discussion and interpretations of this painting. I am interested in the theory of Michel Foucault.
Michel Foucault devoted the opening chapter of The Order of Things (1966) to an analysis of Las Meninas. “We have pictures not simply of what things looked like, but how things were made visible, how things were given to be seen, how things were shown to knowledge and power.” Jonathan Rajchman, Foucault’s Art of Seeing.
After reading a few interpretations of this painting, I can’t help asking the same question like everybody else: What is this painting about? Is it about power? Whose power? The Monarch’s power, or the people’s?
There is another very natural question: Who stands in front of the painting? Most will say “the King and the queen? No, I would say: It is me, you and me! “The viewers complete the art’ ~ Marcel Duchamp.
We did see Picasso’s Las Meninas (all the 58 paintings of this suite). Which one do I like best?
Although I am a big fan of Picasso, my answer is : No doubt Velazquez’s Las Meninas is the greatest work of art in western cultures.. Picasso is my favorite artist but his Las Meninas is not my favorite painting. My goal is to post Picasso’s most famous painting Guernica at the Museo Reina Sofía, Queen Sofía Museum next time. Stay tuned, my friends.
PabloPicasso, The Maids of Honor (Las Meninas, after Velázquez) (Les Ménines, vue d’ensemble, d’après Velázquez), La Californie, August 17, 1957, Museu Picasso de Barcelona
Reclining Dionysus sculpture on the East Pediment of the Parthenon, Athens. Greece.
(A picture I took when I visited Athens in 2011)
The Asian Art Museum (in San Francisco) recently had a joint exhibition with SFMOMA. The latter is under renovation, and so SFMOMA is “on the go”. As I work in the Civic Center area, I was able to visit this exhibition a few times at lunch with a number of colleagues there.
The title of this Exhibition was called GORGEOUS! This was on the AAM website:
“What’s “gorgeous” to you? There’s often a fine line between attraction and repulsion, but this summer at the Asian Art Museum, we’re drawing no lines at all.
Gorgeous presents 72 uniquely stunning artworks drawn from the collections of the Asian Art Museum and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Spanning over 2,200 years and dozens of cultures, these artworks are organized in an attempt to shift the focus from historical and cultural contexts, emphasizing instead the unique ways each work announces itself or solicits a viewer’s attention.”
Among the exhibits were “Michael Jackson and Bubbles” by Jeff Koons, and the “infamous” “Fountain” by Marcel Duchamp. As I am also a member of SFMOMA, I have seen most of the exhibits at SFMOMA. But to see them in this context, standing side by side with another ancient art object, was not too often. I enjoyed this exhibition very much, and all my colleagues that I brought over concluded that they are indeed “Gorgeous”. The show ended last week. I like the show and the docent’s guided tour which was very helpful stimulating us to think and to see these art objects in different lights.
Among these exhibits, the sculpture “Michael Jackson and Bubbles” was one of the most favorite among the visitors . Many of my friends took pictures with the sculpture. At that time, I just glanced at it and took pictures for them, but never thought of anything more than the gold and white, the pop star and his chimpanzee. I did not bother to find out more about this piece, and just regarded it as one of those expensive arts because of the famous pop star and creative artist. Well, I was quite ignorant.
Today, this sculpture was brought to my attention again because a fellow blogger Artdone wrote a post about Jeff Koons and an exhibition at the Whitney Museum. Out of curiosity, I looked up a few things from the internet and suddenly became “enlightened” by an academic article written in 2002 by Susan Cameron. I was so inspired by her writing that I suddenly realized that I saw “it” before. It was in Athens! Modern art in Athens? I must be crazy. Please hold on. Before we talk about this interesting article, let me find out a bit of the history and information about this sculpture.
SFMOMA has an interactive site and a YouTube video. Check them out.
Other background information from Wikipedia site is also helpful: “Michael Jackson and Bubbles is a porcelain sculpture (42 x 70.5 x 32.5 in) by the American artist Jeff Koons. It was created in 1988 within the framework of his Banality series.”
“Three of the Michael Jackson and Bubbles sculptures were made. One was sold at Sotheby’s on 15 May 2001, when it was auctioned off to the record price of 5.6 million dollars.[1] The artist’s proof is owned by the Broad Art Foundation of businessman and art collector Eli Broad and is displayed in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The two other versions are in Athens and in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.[4]“
I saw two of them : in SF MOMA and LACMA. Where is it in Athens? So I searched around but I couldn’t find it online. My conclusion is that it is not in any museum or public display. But I visited Athens before…an instinct told me to look up my pictures. Here it is ! I am so happy. It was the “Reclining Dionysus“ sculpture on the East Pediment of the Parthenon, Athens. Greece, a picture I took when I visited Athens in 2011. How does this photo relate to this sculpture?
Let us now come back to the article written by Susan Cameron, May 2002, SURJ, Stanford Undergraduate Research Journal. She noticed that curators only wrote useful information about the sculpture, but it does not mention the obvious iconography link to “Dionysus”. She thought that Koons crossed the traditions of ancient Greek cult statues at the Parthenon, with pop culture.
“He was the god of fertility and wine, later considered a patron of the arts. He invented wine and spread the art of tending grapes. He has a dual nature. On the one hand bringing joy and divine ecstasy. On the other brutal, unthinking, rage. Thus, reflecting both sides of wines nature. Dionysus can drive a man mad. No normal fetters can hold him or his followers.”
Was that what Jeff Koons had in mind when he created this sculpture? Well, the viewer completes the art (Marcel Duchamp). What do you think?
San Franciscans are indeed blessed with many opportunities of appreciating interesting art shows. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (de Young Museum) ‘s “David Hockney, a Bigger Exhibition” is closing today, January 21, 2014. I finally had the chance to see it yesterday. David Hockney is one of the best known living artists, renowned for his mastery of drawing, oil painting, printmaking, art design, photo collage, and the use of camera and video-making, with the help of technology.
I had seen a PBS interview of David Hockney back in October, 2013 when the show just began. I would like to share with you this video from PBS to get an overview of this exhibition and then two articles of art review…
The Summer Opera season has just started in SF Opera. Tonight we watched The Tales of Hoffmann. The music, the singing, the costume, the set, were all beautiful. This is the trailer from SF Opera.
The Tales of Hoffmann Trailer from San Francisco Opera
Les contes d’Hoffmann (in English: The Tales of Hoffmann) is an opera by Jacques Offenbach. It was first performed in Paris, at the Opéra-Comique, on February 10, 1881.
The libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E.T.A. Hoffmann. E.T.A. Hoffmann himself is a character in the opera just as he often is in his stories. The stories upon which the opera is based are Der Sandmann,Rath Krespel, and Das verlorene Spiegelbild.
The opera contains a prologue, three acts and an epilogue. Offenbach did not live to see his opera performed, since he died on October 5, 1880, just over four months before its premiere. Before his death, Offenbach had completed the piano score and orchestrated the prologue and the first act. Since he did not entirely finish the writing, many different versions of this opera emerged, some bearing little resemblance to the original work. The version performed at the opera’s premiere was that by Ernest Guiraud, who completed Offenbach’s scoring and wrote the recitatives.
The most famous aria from the opera is the “Barcarolle” (Belle nuit, ô nuit d’amour), which is performed in Act 2. Curiously, the aria was not written by Offenbach with Les Contes d’Hoffmann in mind. He wrote it as a ghost-song in the opera Les fées du Rhin (which premiered in Vienna on February 8, 1864 as Die Rheinnixen). Offenbach died with Les contes d’Hoffmann unfinished.
Ernest Guiraud completed the scoring and wrote the recitatives for the premiere. He also incorporated this excerpt from one of Offenbach’s earlier, long-forgotten operas into the new opera.
The Barcarolle has been incorporated into many movies including Life Is Beautiful and Titanic.
The most famous aria Barcarolle ….sound familiar? Yes, we all played it when we were children! It is beautiful and has different ways of presentation. I found this one played with mandolins, guitar, double bass and piano. Enjoy!
Barcarolle, J.Offenbach, ATTIKA “Musica Poetica” official version
“Barcarolle” was originally composed for soprano. Let us hear these beautiful voices:
Finally, please don’t forget, that Offenbach has another very popular piece widely used in movies all over the world: Can Can. This video uses the images from the artist Toulouse-Lautrec who is famous for his Moulin Rouge paintings. Enjoy!
I would like to end this post with a very interesting quote from Thomas May who wrote in the program book for SF Opera. He said that Hoffman has become Offenbach’s signature work but it has actually made a big shift of his style from light-hearted comedy. He quoted David Littlejohn’s comments: “as if the world’s most popular comedian had a try at playing Hamlet just before he died, and pulled it off successfully.”
