When I was a child I was plagued by night terrors. Grotesque Lilliputian devils would visit me in the dark hours. Ghosts and ghouls, it often seemed, were never that far behind. So it was with some hesitation that I… Continue reading
Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781-1826) spent most of his career as an East India Company official in Southeast Asia. He was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Java in 1811 and assumed the Lieutenant Governorship of Sumatra in 1818. Raffles is credited as… Continue reading
There is an abundance of ambiguity in Orientalist art. For Edward Said, a scholar of literature and music rather than the visual arts, those 19th-century Western paintings were distressingly black and white – or brownish and white. The artists were,… Continue reading
There was a moment in Kurt Neumann’s classic 1958 sci-fi horror movie, The Fly, when Vincent Price – the actor known for his roles in such films – delivered an introduction to the audience, ‘It would be unfair … to… Continue reading
Asian Art in London 2019 galleries are showing a variety of Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Southeast Asian and Himalayan works of art alongside the London Chinese and Japanese sales by international auction houses Asian Art in London (AAL) is now in… Continue reading
Asian Art Newspaper takes a look at artist Lindy Lee’s new sculpture for Chinatown in New York In July this year, Australian/Chinese artist Lindy Lee, was in Chinatown New York to consult with locals and stakeholders about an international competition… Continue reading
Asian Art Newspaper discovers the art of Mingei, traditional Japanese folk craft from the Montgomery Collection Japanese mingei is loosely translated as arts of ordinary people, or folk-art but, lest this conjure images of macramé or amateur pottery, rest assured… Continue reading
Snuff bottles use traditional Chinese art practices such as painting, porcelain manufacture, jade and stone carving and enamelling. The function of a Chinese snuff bottles was twofold: to contain snuff in a convenient manner, and to be a beautiful handheld… Continue reading
The Idea of America in 19th-century Japanese prints is explored in this exhibition from the Art Institute of Chicago. The selection of Yokohama prints featured in this exhibition emerged from the specific historical events initiated when a fleet commandeered by US… Continue reading
The Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio is its ‘main industrial artery’ and has been critical to the city’s development following its founding in 1796. Cleveland’s rapid industrialisation in the mid-19th century, which led to much prosperity and wealth, was largely… Continue reading