So you think you’re sufficiently recovered from Armory Week? Good, because the next major entry in the New York art-world calendar, Asia Week (March 15–24), is already upon us.

Forty-five of the world’s best Asian galleries are setting up shop in New York for 10 days, most in Midtown and the Upper East Side, and all free to visitors. Offerings are as wide-ranging and diverse as the continent itself: Asian porcelain, jewelry, textiles, paintings, ceramics, sculpture, bronzes, prints, photography, and jade, with ancient artifacts as well as contemporary designs, from China, Japan, and Korea, to India, the Himalayas, and Southeast Asia.

On the auction house side, Bonhams and Christie’s will each hold six sales, while Sotheby’s is going all out with 11 auctions, plus two separate viewing exhibitions. The area’s institutions are also getting in on the action, with 19 participating museums and Asian cultural institutions.

As always, lest things get too overwhelming, artnet News is here to guide you through all the arty goings-on with a list of the highlights.

GALLERIES

“Three Giants: Kamoda Shoji, Matsui Kosei and Wada Morihiro” at Joan B. Mirviss, Ltd.
Works from three of Japan’s most accomplished clay artists are on display to coincide with Asia Week; the works of Shoji, Kosei, and Morihiro are functional and innovative objects, each with their own individual style.

Location: Joan B. Mirviss, Ltd., 39 East 78th Street Suite 401
Price: Free
Date and Time: March 14–April 20; Monday–Friday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

 

“Zao Wou-Ki: Watercolor. Ink on Paper. Porcelain” at Marlborough Gallery

The artist Zao Wou-Ki, best known for blending the styles of Western artists like Pierre Soulange and Sam Francis with traditional Chinese practices, is the subject of a show opening this week. Despite being most notable for his oil paintings Zao Wou-Ki used a variety of mediums, including watercolor, ink on paper, and porcelain.

Location: 40 West 57th Street
Price: Free
Date and Time: March 15–April 14; opening reception March 15, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.

“Exotic Mirror: In the Eye of the Other, and Other Stories” from Alexis Renard
This French gallery will be located at Tambaran Gallery, presenting an intriguing array of Indian artwork depicting European leaders, architecture, and society.

Location: Exhibiting at Tambaran Gallery, 5 East 82nd Street (lower level)
Price: Free
Date and Time: March 15–March 23; opening reception: March 16, 5 p.m.–9 p.m.; Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.

“Korean Contemporary Art, Decorative, and Traditional Ink Paintings” from the Kang Collection
Artworks by contemporary Korean artists, featuring the work of Seongmin Ahn, who studied traditional Asian painting in Seoul South Korea, before moving to the United States and studying at the Maryland Institute College of Art.

Location: Exhibiting at Arader Galleries, 1016 Madison Avenue, 3rd Floor
Price: Free
Date and Time: March 15–March 24; opening reception March 16, 6 p.m.–9 p.m.; Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.

“Chittaprosad: A Retrospective” at DAG
A retrospective featuring the work of the Indian artist Chittaprosad Bhattacharya, most well-known for his unflinching illustration of the Bengal Famine of 1943. Chittaprosad was a self-taught artist and member of the Communist Party of India, and his politically charged work is considered an invaluable document of the country’s history.

Location: DAG, the Fuller Building, 41 East 57th Street, Suite 708
Price: Free
Date and Time: March 16–June 15; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

“Jars and Jars” at Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd.
To celebrate Asia Week 2018, Dai Ichi Art Gallery has a selection of jars, jars, and more jars.

Location: Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd., 18 East 64th Street, 1F
Price: Free
Date and Time: March 16–March 24; opening reception March 16, 5 p.m.–8 p.m.; Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.

MUSEUMS AND INSTITUTIONS 

“Spirited Creatures: Animal Representations in Chinese Silk and Lacquer” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Objects ranging from silk embroidered textiles to lacquered vessels show off how animals—real and imagined—were depicted throughout late imperial China. Almost 100 objects drawn from the Met’s collection span the 13th through 19th century and illustrate the creativity and craftsmanship of a range of arts and crafts.

Also on view at the Met: “Celebrating the Year of the Dog” through July 4; “Diamond Mountains: Travel and Nostalgia in Korean Art” through May 20; “A Passion for Jade: Heber Bishop and His Collection” through July 22; “The Poetry of Nature: Edo Paintings from the Fishbein-Bender Collection” through January 21, 2019; “Crowns of the Vajra Masters: Ritual Art of Nepal” through December 16; “Streams and Mountains Without End: Landscape Traditions of China” through January 6, 2019; “Japanese Arms and Armor from the Collection of Etsuko and John Morris” through January 6, 2019

Location: The Met Fifth Avenue, 1000 Fifth Avenue
Price: General admission $25
Date and Time: On view through July 22; Sunday–Thursday, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.–9 p.m.

“The Second Buddha: Master of Time” at the Rubin Museum
In keeping with the Rubin Museum’s year-long exploration of “The Future,” this show explores how time was articulated through the story of legendary Indian master Padmasambhava, considered to be the “Second Buddha.” It is believed that Padmasambhava helped to convert Tibetans to Buddhism, and his teachings remain central in Tibetan arts.

Location: The Rubin Museum, 150 West 17th Street
Price: General admission $15
Hours: On view through January 7, 2019; Monday, Thursday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.; Wednesday, 11 a.m.–9 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m.–10 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

“Arts of Korea” at the Brooklyn Museum
The newly revamped second floor showcases a selection from one of the largest Korean art collections in the United States. Highlights include jewelry from the Silla kingdom, garments, textiles, and decoration from the Joseon dynasty, and the much-lauded ceramics from the Goryeo dynasty.

Location: Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway
Price: General admission $16
Hours: Exhibition ongoing; Wednesday, Friday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m.–10 p.m.

“Unknown Tibet: The Tucci Expeditions and Buddhist Painting” at the Asia Society
The famed collection of Italian scholar Giuseppe Tucci includes paintings from his travels to Tibet between 1926–1948, plus his personal photographic documentation of the journeys. For the first time, the collection is on view in the United States thanks to the Italian Museum of Civilization/Museum of Oriental Art.

Location: The Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue
Price: General admission $12
Date and Time: On view through May 20; Tuesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m.–9 p.m.

“Art of the Mountain: Through the Chinese Photographer’s Lens” at the China Institute
The “Art of the Mountain” is a visual exploration of the spiritual role of the mountain in Chinese legend; the show features contemporary photography as an aesthetic counterpart to information on the geography and history of the landscape.

Location: The China Institute, 100 Washington Street, entrance at 40 Rector Street, 2nd Floor
Price: Admission is free March 15–24
Date and Time: On view through December 2; Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

“Passion. Continued: A Wave of Peace From Korea to the World” at the Korean Cultural Center
The Winter Olympic Games might be over, but the Korean Cultural Center isn’t done celebrating the “Olympic Wave” surge in arts and culture associated with the PyeongChang Games. “Passion. Continued” features work by 200 artists, each from countries hosting the games; Korea (PyengChang, Winter 2018), Japan (Tokyo, Summer 2020), China (Bejing, Winter 2020).

Location: The Korean Cultural Center, 460 Park Avenue, 6th Floor
Price: Free
Date and Time: On view through April 20; opening reception, March 14, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.

“A Giant Leap: The Transformation of Hasegawa Tohaku” at the Japan Society
“A Giant Leap” is the first exhibition in the US to explore the work of artist Hasegawa Tōhaku, whose artistic evolution in Japan’s 16th century is a window into the larger cultural and aesthetic transformations.

Location: The Japan Society, 333 East 47th Street
Price: General admission $12
Date and Time: On view through April 12; Tuesday–Thursday, 12 p.m.–7 p.m.; Friday: 12 p.m.–9 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.

“Divine Feminine: New Masterpieces from Nepal” at the Tibet House
Illustrations of female icons are on display in a new selection of work from the Dharmapala Thangka Center in Nepal; the female form in Tibetan art can be manifested in many ways, including protectors and historical figures.

Location: The Rubin Museum, 22 West 15th Street
Price: Free
Date and Time: On view through May 11; opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

“Akari: Sculpture by Other Means” at the Noguchi Museum
Isamu Noguchi created “Akari,” a series of lamps in the early 1950s, at the request of a small-town mayor who sought the designer’s help to reinvigorate local craftsmen, whose industry was decimated during the war. In this exhibition, Noguchi’s innovative creations are on display alongside advertisements, brochures, and photography pertaining to the commercial brand that helped revolutionize contemporary design.

Location: The Noguchi Museum, 9-01 33rd Road (at Vernon Boulevard), Long Island City
Price: General admission $10
Date and Time: On view through January 2019; Wednesday–Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

“Fabricating Power with Balinese Textiles” at the Bard Graduate Center Gallery
A selection of rare textiles culled from the fieldwork of anthropologists Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, the materials in this show are objects of both ceremony and function and provide insight to the unique culture of the island of Bali.

Location: The Bard Graduate Center Gallery, 18 West 86th Street
Price: Suggested admission $8
Date and Time: On view through July 8; Tuesday, Friday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.; Wednesday & Thursday, 11 a.m.–8 p.m.

“Dramatic Threads: Textiles of Asia” at the Newark Museum
The Newark Museum highlights the diversity of Asian embroidery, from luxury imports of gold and silk to home-woven fabrics in simpler cotton, with decorative as well as architectural textiles. By highlighting these differences, the show will tease out the distinct regional histories that gave rise to different color preferences, stitches, and techniques.

Location: The Newark Museum, 49 Washington Street, Newark
Price: $15
Date and Time: March 14, 2018–February 2019; Wednesday–Sunday, 12 p.m.–5 p.m.

“Ham Sup: Paper Dreams” at the Korea Society
The artist Ham Sup uses traditional Korean hanji paper for his works, which feature colorful collages based on the mulberry-bark pulp. In “Paper Dreams,”  opening to coincide with Asia Week, Ham Sup’s work demonstrates a contemporary artist whose practice is rooted in historical methods and materials.

Location: The Korea Society, 350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor
Price: Free
Date and Time: On view through April 12; Opening reception, Thursday, March 15, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

PARTIES & EVENTS

Annual Distinguished Lecture on the Arts of South and Southeast Asia: The Bodhisattva Cult and a Newly Rediscovered Masterpiece of Pala Buddhist Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
John Guy, the Met’s curator of the arts of South and Southeast Asia, will talk about a Pala-dynasty sculpture, among the most important examples acquired by a Western collection in the last 100 years, and how it fits in among Vajrayana Bodhisattva cults of medieval eastern India.

Location: The Met Fifth Avenue, 1000 Fifth Avenue
Price: Free
Date and Time: March 16, 4:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m.

Wu Man and Huayin Shadow Puppet Band at the New York Society for Ethical Culture
The Asia Society presents a soaring presentation of both traditional and contemporary music from Grammy Award-nominated musician Wu Man, the world’s most acclaimed player of the pipa, an over-2,000-year-old lute-like Chinese instrument. Her collaborations with artists across disciplines have allowed her to reach wider audiences as she works to break through cultural and musical borders. The Huayin Shadow Puppet Band will draw on Chinese folk tales for their performance, singing and playing a variety of instruments rarely heard in the US.

Location: New York Society for Ethical Culture, 2 West 64th Street
Price: $35–65
Date and Time: March 17, 8 p.m.–9:30 p.m.

Asia Week New York 2018 Reception at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Met celebrates Asia Week with its exclusive annual cocktail party, on the calendar of every curator, auction house expert, and collector in town for the occasion. It’s also the perfect opportunity to enjoy all seven of the museum’s current exhibitions in the Asian wing.

Location: The Met Fifth Avenue, 1000 Fifth Avenue
Price: Invitation only
Date and Time: March 19, 6:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m.

The Rubin Museum of Art Asia Week Celebration at the Rubin Museum of Art 
One of the highlights of the Asia Week social scene, the Rubin Museum’s annual fete will feature hors-d’oeuvres and signature cocktails from TYKU Sake as well as beer from the Brooklyn Brewery. It’s also the perfect opportunity to catch the current exhibition, “The Second Buddha: Master of Time.”

Location: Rubin Museum of Art, 150 West 17th Street 
Price: $85
Date and Time: March 22, 6:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m.

AUCTIONS

“The Great Within: Photographs of India and the British Raj in the 19th Century” at Sotheby’s New York
In addition to a slate of Asia Week auctions, Sotheby’s is also hosting a selling exhibition of 19th-century photographs of India, then a part of the British Empire. British Crown photo historian and collector Clark Worswick has printed these images from rare original prints he has acquired over the last six decades, taken by photographers operating in colonial India such as Colin Murray, Felice Beato, Raja Deen Dayal, and Bourne and Shepherd, one of the world’s first photography studios.

Location: Sotheby’s, 1334 York Avenue
Date and time: March 14–29, 5 p.m.

“Asian Works of Art Auction” at iGavel
Ahead of its post-Asia Week sale, online auction house iGavel takes its offerings, which include ancient bronze vessels and jade carvings, offline, to an exhibition in East Harlem.

Location: Lark Mason Associates Gallery, 227 East 120th Street
Date and time: Exhibition viewing March 15–24, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. (closed Sundays); auction online, April 3–17

“Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art, Including Selections from the Elizabeth and Willard Clark Collection” at Bonhams New York
Bonhams is hyping up a gilded 15th-century Tibetan sculpture of the thousand-armed Avalokiteshvara that could go for $1 million–1.5 million). A new translation of an inscription on the work identifies it as the work of Sonam Gyaltsen, a previously unidentified master craftsman. According to the lot description, this discovery undermines “the ever-more questionable narrative of the ubiquitous ‘anonymous’ Tibetan artisan,” and a number of other major gilt bronze works are now being attributed to Gyaltsen.

Location: Bonhams, 580 Madison Avenue
Date and time: March 19, 3 p.m.

“Asian Works of Art” at Doyle New York
Doyle’s one Asia Week sale is a wide-ranging one, encompassing painting, furniture, jade, pottery, bronzes, porcelains, and more. The most expensive could be a striking Chinese Flambe-Glazed Porcelain Bottle Vase with a pre-sale estimate of $15,000–20,000.

Location: Doyle, 175 East 87th Street
Date and time: March 19, 10 a.m.

“The Maitri Collection of Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art” at Bonhams New York
The Hindu and Buddhist virtue of “maitri,” or friendliness, serves as unifying theme for this evening sale of over 40 paintings and sculptures from across Asia. Among the highlights, don’t miss the dancing Chola bronze figure of Krishna from the collection of John D. Rockefeller III, estimated at $300,000–500,000.

Location: Bonhams, 580 Madison Avenue
Date and time: March 20, 6:30 p.m.

“South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art” at Christie’s New York
For those less interested in the ancient sales, Christie’s offers a selection of works by modern masters such as Syed Haider Raza and Tyeb Mehta. Vasudeo S. Gaitonde’s Untitled (1980) is expected to be among the sale’s top lots, fetching up to $2.8 million. The artist created his complex, multilayered paintings through an all-consuming, meditative process that only allowed him to finished five or six works in a given year.

Location: Christie’s, 20 Rockefeller Center
Date and time: March 21, 10 a.m.

“The Classic Age of Chinese Ceramics: The Linyushanren Collection, Part III” at Christie’s New York
The third part of the sale of Japan’s private Linyushanren collection, previously billed as “the most comprehensive private collection of Song ceramics ever to appear at auction,” is offering bowls, vases, and other vessels painted and glazed in a wide variety of colors. A bold purple “Narcissus” bowl from the Ming Dynasty (circa 14th–15th century) could fetch as much as $200,000.

Location: Christie’s 20 Rockefeller Center
Date and time: March 22, 10 a.m.

“The Richard R. & Magdalena Ernst Collection of Himalayan Art” at Sotheby’s New York
Richard and Magdalena Ernst spent decades collecting Himalayan & Southeast Asian painting and sculpture, now on offer in one of Sotheby’s “most significant single-owner sales” of international art, according to the house. Highlights include a rare and well-preserved 13th-century Tibetan thangka, an iconographic lesson in Buddhist teachings. The high estimate for the brilliantly colored cloth painting is $800,000.

Location: Sotheby’s, 1334 York Avenue
Date and time: March 22, 10 a.m.

“The Chew Family Collection of Chinese Paintings & Calligraphy” at Sotheby’s New York
Qiu Yonghe (Thomas Chew) and Wu Zhongying (Joan Chew) immigrated from China to California, where they ran an import/export business specializing in Chinese antiques—which put them in prime position to amass their extraordinary collection. Among the top lots, keep an eye on Zhang Daqian’s Gazing Water and Sky After Rain In Splashed Color (1968), which features the artist’s original “splashed color” technique, an important contribution to traditional Chinese painting. It could bring in as much as $1.8 million.

Location: Sotheby’s, 1334 York Avenue
Date and time: March 22, 5 p.m.

See the full list of participating Asia Week galleries and their exhibitions below:

Walter Arader, “New Acquisitions”
The Art of Japan, “Fine Japanese Prints and Paintings from 1750−1950”
BachmannEckenstein | JapaneseArt, “Japanese Art | Pre-modern and Beyond”
Bardith Ltd., “Freedom of Brush: Chinese Export Blue and White Porcelains”
Dr. Robert R. Bigler, “A Merger of Cultures: Buddhist Art of the Yuan and Ming Eras”
Buddhist Art, “Treasures from Tibet”
Ralph M. Chait Galleries, Inc., “Spring Exhibition of Chinese Porcelain and Works of Art”
Cohen & Cohen, “Chinese Export Porcelain and Oriental Art”
Carlo Cristi – Asian Arts Company, “Art of India, Tibet, Central Asian Textiles”
Gisèle Croës s.a., “Collecting Chinese Art”
DAG, “Chittaprosad, 1915–1978: A Retrospective”
Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd., “Jar and Jars”
Egenolf Gallery Japanese Prints, “Masters of the Genre: Fine 18th–20th c. Japanese Prints and Drawings”
Findlay Galleries/Robert Kuo, “Art in the Age of Displacement”
Oliver Forge & Brendan Lynch Ltd., “Indian and Persian Court Painting”
Francesca Galloway, “Paintings from Persia & India”
Nicholas Grindley, “March 2018”
Galerie Hioco, “New Acquisitions in Indian Art and Himalayan Art”
HK Art & Antiques LLC, “Whanki Kim and His Circle”
Michael C. Hughes LLC, “Chinese and Korean Works of Art”
Andrew Kahane, Ltd., “Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art”
KAI Gallery, “Contemporary Asian Art Exhibition”
Kaikodo LLC, “Parallel Lives”
Kang Collection Korean Art, “Korean Contemporary Paintings and Decorative Traditional Arts”
Kapoor Galleries, “Selected Works of Indian and Himalayan Art”
Suneet Kapoor, “Recent Acquisitions”
Alan Kennedy, “Recent Acquisitions”
Navin Kumar Gallery, “Himalayan and Indian Art”
Robert Kuo/Findlay Galleries, “Art in the Age of Displacement”
J.J. Lally & Co., “Ancient Chinese Jade”
Littleton & Hennessy Asian Art, “Chinese Bronzes from Private Collections”
Joan B. Mirviss, Ltd., “Three Giants from the North: Kamoda Shoji, Matsui Kosei, and Wada Morihiro”
Susan Ollemans, “Asian Jewels”
Onishi Gallery, “Japanese Ceramics and Metalwork in Contemporary Design”
Giuseppe Piva, “Japanese Art and Antiques”
Priestley & Ferraro, “Song Ceramics & Works of Art”
Alexis Renard Indian & Islamic Art, “EXOTIC MIRROR: In the Eye of the Other, and other stories”
Scholten Japanese Art, “Mirror Mirror: Reflecting Beauty in Japanese Prints and Paintings”
Runjeet Singh, “ICONIC: Arms & Armor from the East”
M. Sutherland Fine Arts, “Huang I-Ming: New Ink”
TAI Modern, “Realization of Form: Masterworks of Japanese Bamboo Art”
Tenzing Asian Art, “Buddhist Bronzes and Paintings from the Himalayas”
Erik Thomsen, “Contemporary Lacquer by Yoshio Okada and Washi Screens by Kyoko Ibe”
Hiroshi Yanagi Oriental Art, “Selections of Japanese Art”
Zetterquist Galleries, “Celadons”