Art & Culture

Current Exhibition: Beijing: Contemporary and Imperial ~ Photographs by Lois Conner

“Beijing: Contemporary and Imperial ~ Photographs by Lois Conner”

Solitary Arch, Changchun Yuan, Yuanming Yuan (Garden of Extended Spring, Garden of Perfect Brightness), 1998, printed 2013. Lois Conner

Who: Cleveland Museum of Art

When: Mar. 30, 2014 – June 29, 2014 (Mon-Sat. 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.)

Where:

Cleveland Museum of Art
11150 East Boulevard
Cleveland, OH 44106

How Much: Generally Free, some special exhibits require a ticket.

More Information: Here.

“Magical, miraculous, and often times dangerous is how photographer Lois Conner has described some of her experiences capturing the images included in Beijing: Contemporary and Imperial: Photographs by Lois Conner.Opening at the Cleveland Museum of Art on Sunday, March 30 alongside Conner’s in-person Artist Talk that afternoon, the exhibition features a vast visual tour of historic and contemporary Beijing, inviting the viewer to reflect on China’s rising power in the context of its history and cultural landscape. The sites depicted span three centuries, embracing the dynastic glory of the Qing and its decline, the revolutionary 20th century, and the post-imperial and post-socialist story of Beijing and China today.

“Conner has said that the subject of her photography is landscape as culture,” comments Barbara Tannenbaum, the museum’s Curator of Photography. “The designs of public squares, city streets, gardens, palaces, humble homes, and office buildings directly impact the lives and emotions of those who occupy them. Those spaces also reveal the intentions of their creators, whether it is to demonstrate political, religious, or social power; offer a soothing respite from urban bustle; or burnish the beauty of nature.” . . .

Ancient Gold Necklace

Ornament for the neck of a robegold, turquoise, garnet, pyrites, 29.1 cm lTillya Tepe, 1st century CENational Museum of Afghanistan Ornamentation Designed to Lay Over the Neckline of a Robe
Gemstones and Inlay include: Gold, Turquoise, Garnet, Pyrites
Tillya Tepe (Afghanistan), 1st century AD/CE
National Museum of Afghanistan (Currently on Exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales)

Scenes from Europe

Stunning Art from Thai Peck (Blog laroseedespetiteschoses) . . . Beautifully done!

Current Exhibition: “Museum of Russian Icons Peeks into Romanov Cupboards”

“Museum of Russian Icons Peeks into Romanov Cupboards”

by Sebastian Smee via “Boston Globe”

WHAT:

“The Tsar’s Cabinet: Two Hundred Years of Russian Decorative Arts Under the Romanovs”

WHERE:

“Museum of Russian Icons.”

203 Union St.

Clinton, MA 01510

Hours:

Tues.-Fri. ~ 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Sat. ~ 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

WHEN:

March 27, 2014 – May 24, 2014

HOW MUCH:

Generally:

Adults: $9

Seniors: $5

Students: $2

Children: $2

Children (under 3): Free

Special Free Admission: Varies, for more details, see here.

DETAILS:

“CLINTON — The romance of the Romanov dynasty — in odor so like certain over-evolved orchids — has been affiliated, aptly enough, with fragile accessories forever. One thinks, above all, of the products of the House of Fabergé, but more generally of the decorative arts (particularly porcelain) produced specifically for the Romanovs between the 18th and early 20th centuries, when the dynasty came to its bloody and unambiguous end.

The Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton is currently hosting a show called “The Tsar’s Cabinet: Two Hundred Years of Russian Decorative Arts Under the Romanovs” that’s filled with porcelain, as well as glass, lacquer, enamel, and other luxury materials.

Drawn from the private collection of consultant Kathleen Durdin (who, according to a biographical note in the show’s catalog, used to collect magazine advertisements that featured the Forbes Fabergé collection), the show summons the rich history of Romanov rule.

It comes to Clinton at the end of a five-venue tour of Canada and the United States. It was organized by the Muscarelle Museum of Art, which is on the campus of the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Va., in collaboration with International Arts and Artists, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. . . . .

“Culture Wars in Ukraine: History Lessons”

via “The Economist“

Scythian gold helmet

“HE WHO controls the past controls the future.” Orwell’s dictum now faces a new test. Shortly before Russia annexed Crimea, the Bakhchisaray museum, north of Sevastopol, lent some valuable artefacts to an exhibition in the Netherlands. The question as to which country these (and other objects from Crimean museums) should return is creating a diplomatic conundrum.

“Let yourself be overwhelmed by the gold of Crimea,” boasts the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam. Never before has Ukraine lent so many mostly Crimean treasures. The Black Sea peninsula is filled with gems left by invaders over the centuries. The exhibition includes a Scythian gold helmet from 400 BC, pottery from Greek colonisers and a lacquered Chinese box that came along the Silk Road. “We have given our very best objects,” sighs Valentina Mordvintseva, a curator at the Crimean branch of the Institute of Archaeology. She fears she may not see them again.

Who is the rightful owner? On legal grounds, Kiev has the upper hand because the Allard Pierson signed a loan agreement with the Ukrainian state. And as the Netherlands does not recognise Russia’s annexation, Ukraine still owns the property. Yet the Dutch also signed contracts directly with the lending museums. And, says Inge van der Vlies, a professor at the University of Amsterdam, there is an ethical case for returning the objects to them. But there is no guarantee that Russia might not pinch the pieces the moment they arrive.

The Dutch foreign minister, Frans Timmermans, does not wish to meddle but he also wants to avoid being seen to accept a new form of art looting. This may be impossible; whether the gold returns to Crimea or to Kiev, each side will accuse the Dutch of pilfering. . . . .