June sees the first edition of this new initiative to promote Asian art in Europe – especially in Paris. The new event, building on the success of Asia Week New York and Asian Art in London, aims to attract established and new collectors, galleries and auction houses to come together to promote Asian art in all its forms. Twenty galleries and five auctions houses are committed to the first event, along with smaller auction houses and associates that offer their sales through Hôtel Drouot. The two major Asian museums in Paris have also joined the initiative, Musée Cernuschi and Musée Guimet. A brochure, including a map, can be found in the participating galleries. Many galleries are having an Open House on 7 June evening – please check with individual galleries for openings and specific times.
Galleries
Mingqi: Spirits of Light
7 to 30 June
Jacques Barrère is presenting a collection of Chinese funerary object from the Han to the Tang dynasty. These pottery and terracotta objects reflect items and needs that the deceased need in the after-life and were mainly found in the tombs of the elite and including musicians and dancers, court ladies, guardians, servants, polo players and horses and grooms. A highlight of the exhibition is a pair of Tang-dyansty horses (618-907), rendered with great naturalism and sensitivity that still retain traces of red and gold polychrome.
- Galerie Jacques Barrère, 36 rue Mazarine, Paris, artasie.com
Chinese Ceramics
7 to 30 June
This gallery specialises in European and Asian ceramics, as well as European furniture. For Printemps Asiatique the gallery is presenting a selection of Chinese ceramics, including export wares.
- Galerie JM Béalu & Fils, 3 rue du Bac, Paris, bealu.net
Lacquers from China and Japan
7 to 17 June
This gallery has been specialising in lacquer objects since the 1920s and is now includes the third generation of the family. Restoration is one of the core activities of the company which restores all types of lacquer and varnishes from traditional Asian lacquers from China and Japan to the types found in the West. The company also undertakes lacquerware commissions, as well as selling antique lacquer objects in the gallery.
- Ateliers Brugier, 74 rue de Sèvres, Paris, ateliersbrugier.com. Hours: Mon-Fri only, 10am to 5pm.
Treasures from Ancient China
7 to 17 June
For this first edition of the event, the gallery, which specialises in ancient bronzes and gold works of art, is presenting a selection of masterpieces from China, including bronze ritual vessels, mainly from the Shang dynasty (circa 17th/16th to 12th /11th centuries BC), as well as gold and silver-gilt metal works of art from the Tang (618-907) and Liao (10th century) dynasties. Other works on offer include terracotta sculptures from the Han and Tang dynasties.
- Galerie Christian Deydier, 30, rue de Seine, Paris, deydier.com
Celebrating 60 Years of Exceptional Chinese Art
7 to 17 June
To celebrate the first anniversary of the gallery, Anne Duchange is exhibiting some of the finest pieces from her family’s collection. The collection was started by her father in the late 1950s and has been flourishing ever since. A highlight is a pair of 18th-century embellished gilt-bronze bottle vases originally given to the opera singer Maria Callas by Aristote Onassis. Other works of art include Chinese porcelains with other pieces on offer dating from the Ming (1368-1644) to the Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.
- Galerie Anne Duchange, 21 Quai Voltaire, Paris
Japanese Samurai Art and Chinese Snuffbottles
7-17 June
Espace 4 are offering works of art showing the influences Europe and Japan had on each other’s artworks from the 16th to the end of the 19th century, including an unusual Nagasaki lacquer box. Also on show is a selection of Chinese snuffbottles from an old French collection, a highlight here is an imperial, 18th-century, red cinnabar lacquer example.
- Galerie Espace 4, 9 rue Mazarine, espace4.com
From Aesthetic to Divine
7 to 17 June
Jean Gauchet is offering a selection of Buddhist figures and scholars’ objects. Highlights include a pair of Tang-dynasty gilt-bronze Bodhisattva and a gilt-bronze Lokapala’s head from the Densatil Monastery in Tibet. Also on offer are category of objects made from materials such as stone, bronze, and wood that show an aesthetic and a technical mastery that made these objects highly sought after by scholars, courtiers and emperor. A highlight of the exhibition is a carved white jade teapot, dating to the Qing dynasty.
- Gauchet Asian Art, exhibiting at 40 rue Mazarine, Paris, gauchet-expert.com
Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art
7 to 17 June
Galerie Christophe Hioco specialises in Indian and Himalayan art, as well as Southeast Asian bronzes. There are more than 40 pieces in this exhibition, including a selection of Gandharan works of art (a highlight is a seated bodhisattva). Also on show are Tibetan bronzes and thangkas, including a Hayagriva gilded bronze figure from Northern China, as well as a selection of Buddhist pieces from Thailand and Sri Lanka. Christophe Hioco is exhibiting at Compagnie de la Chine et des Indes’s gallery for this event – their second collaboration, having already celebrated the 80th anniversary of the Compagnie (who are also participating in Printemps Asiatique in the gallery).
- Christophe Hioco exhibiting at Compagnie de la Chine et des Indes, 39 avenue de Friedland, Paris,compagnie-chine-indes.fr
- Gallery Christophe Hioco7 rue de Phalsbourg, Paris,galeriehioco.com.
Himalayan Masks
7 to 17 June
Established in 2006 by Frederic Rond, Indian Heritage specialises in Indian and Himalayan art, especially South Asian masks. This exhibition focuses on animism to Buddhism and Hinduism in ritual Himalayan masks.
- Galerie Indian Heritage, 21 rue Guénégaud, Paris, indianheritage.biz
Chinese Export Porcelains
7 to 17 June
Chinese export porcelain is one of the specialities of this gallery and this exhibition announces their latest acquisitions. A highlight is a famille-verte dish displaying the French royal coat-of-arms, circa 1710-1715, which shows arms earlier than the royal order of Louis XV (1725).
- Galerie Betrand de Lavergne, 17 rue des Saints-Pères, Paris, bertranddelavergne.com
Chinese Works of Art
7 to 17 June
Valerie Levesque, established the gallery in 1994 and is presenting a wide array of Ming- and Qing- dynasty works of art, including porcelains, lacquers, textiles, jades and cloisonné objects. Also on show, to celebrate Printemps Asiatique, is a selection of lacquered furniture, sculptures and scholars’ objects, including Beijing red lacquers and colourful Coromadel lacquer works.
- Antiquités Valerie Levesque, 3 rue des Saints-Pères, Paris, chine-japon.com
Latest Acquisitions
7 to 17 June
For the edition of the Printemps Asiatique, Galerie Mingei is offering a selection of Japanese lacquers and among them is an unusual lacquer Kodansu-suzuribako, a small chest of drawers with seasonal flowers and auspicious motif from the Edo period, 18th century. Also on show are several figures of Buddhism art, from the Nara to Muromachi periods, and a selection of bamboo baskets for ikebana – classical and contemporary.
- Galerie Mingei,5 rue Visconti, Paris, mingei-arts-gallery.com
Recent Acquisitions
7 to 17 June
Renaud Montméat has been involved in Asian art since 1999 and specialises in Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian art. On offer will be a selection of recent acquisitions from the gallery, including a 14th/15th-century bronze Shiva from southern India.
- Renaud Montméat. 36 rue Etienne Marcel, Paris, montmeat-asianart.com
Himalayan Arts
7 to 17 June
This gallery’s connection with Asian art goes back more than 50 years and specialises in East Asian, Himalayan, Indian and Southeast Asian art. This show, especially created for this first edition of this event, includes works of art from the Himalayas – from the 14th to 18th centuries. A highlight is a religious copper-gilt 18th-century Buddhist crown from Nepal.
- Juliette Moreau-Gobard, exhibiting at 8 rue de Pré aux Clercs, Paris, moreau-gobard.com
Recent Acquisitions
7 to 17 June
For Printemps Asiatique, the gallery is offering a selection of East Asian art, including a selection of recently acquired Chinese export paintings and a selection of Japanese inro. From the Japanese selection, a highlight is a four-case inro by Shunposai Setsuzan from the late Edo period, circa 1800. The inro is decorated with a scene from the Japanese tale kitsune no yomeiri, showing the wedding procession of foxes holding red lacquer lanterns in a woodland. In various parts of Japan, the foxes wedding folklore is recounted in literature and re-enacted, or performed, at rituals and festivals. Foxes are popular creatures in Japan, being seen as intelligent shape-shifters and tricksters, who possess magical powers and are regarded as spiritual entities (they are associated with Inari the Shinto deity for rice).
- Galerie Cristina Ortega and Michel Dermigny, 23 rue de Beaune, Paris, cristinaortega.com
The Horse in China
11 to 18 June
Horses have always played an important role in Chinese daily, ceremonial and ritual life. This exhibition looks at horses throughout Chinese history, including a caparisoned horse from the Northern Wei dynasty (386-534).
- Galerie Eric Pouillot, 8 rue de Beaune, Paris, eric-pouillot.fr
Exotic Mirror: In the Eye of the Other
7 to 15 June
The theme of this exhibition, subtitled In the Eye of the Other and Other Stories, aims to show how the world is conceived as being ‘exotic’ and how being ‘other’ can seem fascinating and different. In the show, there are examples of Europeans depicted in Asia or in Asian attire, and classical Indian paintings showing the world of the gods. Works of art on show include Classical Indian paintings, sculptures from India, as well as a selection of arms and armour.
- Galerie Alexis Renard, Indian & Islamic Art, Paris, 5 rue des Deux Ponts, Paris, alexisrenard.com
Recent Acquisitions
7 to 17 June
This gallery, founded in 1980, mainly specialises in ceramics from Europe, as well as porcelains from China particularly from the Ming dynasty through the 19th century. Other works from China and Japan are also on offer for Printemps Asiatique, including a Japanese Nabeshima saucer dish, Edo period, from the late 17th/early 18th century.
- Galerie Théorème, 15 rue de Lille, Paris, galerie-theoreme.com
