Celestial Spirit of the West:the Tiger in Asian Art

MICHIGAN ORIENTAL ART SOCIETY - Our 39th Year

DATE: Sunday, February 21, 2010, 12:30 pm
SITE: St. Johns Hospital – Oakland: Education Center
27351 Dequindre Rd (West side); Madison Heights
(North of 11 Mile Rd • South of 12 Mile
Conveniently located North of I-696 and East of I-75)

Meeting Information: Patricia Beer @ (586) 558-9767


Amelia will begin her Lecture with Asian
art images earlier than usual, at 1:30 pm
 
"Celestial Spirit of the West:
the Tiger in Asian Art."
with Amelia Kit-Yiu Chau

Born in Hong Kong, Amelia attended college in California, where her family currently lives. She holds an undergraduate degree in Business: Marketing from Santa Clara University, and an MA in History of Art from the University of California, Riverside, where her thesis examined 20th-century Chinese painting in the context of traditional Chinese and Modern European painting theories.

Since arriving in Detroit in the summer of 1996, Amelia has helped install a number of rotations in the Asian galleries, including "Harbinger of Spring: The Flowering Cherry and Plum" in 1998, "Valor and Grace: Personal Artifacts from the World of the Samurai Warrior" in 1999, and "Points of Departure: Traditional and Contemporary Asian Art" in 2001. Amelia was the organizing co-curator of the strikingly beautiful photographic exhibition “Kenro Izu: Sacred Places,” on display at the DIA in 2008.

Since layoff of 65 or more employees due to downsizing at the DIA, Amelia has joined her family in California, where she is assisting her parents who are beginning to need assistance. Amelia has been able to negotiate consulting services in Asian Art with several museums throughout the US, with hopes of a permanent position when economic conditions in this country improve. The failure to restore the Asian galleries at the DIA is a thorn in the aesthetic soul of those of us who have a particular penchant for these works.

Born in the Year of the Tiger you possess a good sense of judgment, are strong during times of trouble, and have an enterprising nature which brings success in many endeavors. Their stubbornness often brings them into arguments, even with superiors, which neutralizes their good luck; but a strong moral sense wins them the praise of their peers. Though failures are experienced in money matters, good judgment prevails.

Special Note: Join Amelia at Mongolian Buffet after the meeting for renewed friendship and conversation before her return to CA. Last year our Mongolian Buffet was named one of the top 100 Chinese restaurants in the US. Sunday buffet $10.50: includes tax and tip. Selection includes 4 soups, dim sum, sushi, salad, fresh fruit and dessert bar selections, Mongolian grill, plus several dozen daily chef’s specials: American, Cantonese, Hunan and Szrchuan style dishes.

2010 dues: Please renew your membership promptly. We will collect again at this meeting, payment by check preferred, please complete 2010 dues form with your payment to assure proper credit; form and check go to separate individuals. Thank you for renewing will appear on back flap of envelop on your next mailing when paid. Please renew will appear on back flap is your dues are not current.

To 20 yr. plus members who have never attended a meeting and continue to support the efforts of the group to keep Asian Art alive in Metro Detroit a special thank you for your continued support.

Note: Meetings are preannounced, see column to the left. There are many reasons you may receive your monthly announcement shortly before the program, information delay, computer or printer problems, an example is this announcement. We will have a meeting! If you have any questions regarding MOAS related issues please feel free to call me and leave a message.Patricia @ 586.558-9767.




2010 Program Schedule


January 17: Discover India’s Golden Triangle: Three most beautiful cities: Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur.

February 21 Amelia Kit-Yui Chau, Year of the TIGER (4707) lecture: Tiger Images in Asian Art. (Conversation and dinner with Amelia after the program at the Chinese Buffet)

March 21: Harvey Levin, architect: video of Miho Museum, Shiga, Japan by I. M. Pei, architect.

April 10: Exploring Indian Cuisine: Dinning experience restaurant; researched MOAS’S Cavers & Hall.

April 18: Natsu Oyobe, Ph.D.Research Curator of Asian Art UMMA Ann Arbor
Highlights of two exhibitions at UMMA:
- Turning Point: Japanese Studio Ceramics in the mid-20th Century
- Wrapped in Silk and Gold: A Family Legacy of Twentieth-Century Japanese Kimono

May 16: Mary Brodbedk: Demonstration and lecture on making of moku hanga woodblock prints: Artist displays her works and members share their contemporary prints.

June 20: Chinese program

July 17: Exploring Japanese Cuisine Birthday Party for MOAS member

Sept. 14: Pot luck social / Show & tell; Private home visit members only (if we are able to finalize)

Sept. 19: Jane Yamazaki, PhD, Women in Japanese Art, Bring your beautiful women in woodblock prints.

October 17: Shuishan Yu, PhD; “Writing an Image: Chinese Literati Painting.”

November 21: Collectors Choice: Sharing the Good, the Bad and Ugly things we have loved and collected.

December No Meeting

NEWS FOR YOU

MOAS Web Site:Under Construction –
http://michiganorientalartsociety.blogspot.com
We have discussed a MOAS web site for several years, member John Podgurski has a work in progress. You can view the initial installment of the MOAS site by typing our organization name as seen in the above URL address in a search engine of your choice. I suggest that you send your self an email with the MOAS web address for easy future access.

NOW AVAILABLE: DVD of 2009 Japanese Woodblock Print Exhibition: Forging the New Japan: “Turbulent Time at the Turn of the Century” from the collection of MOAS members Sheldon Siegel, collector and David Pepper Japanese expert and curator, with a narration by both. DVD $10.00, catalog $10.00, both $15.00; plus shipping. If interested contact Sheldon directly via email at: snsiegel@aol.com If you don’t have email you may contact Patricia at 586.558-9767 for his phone number.

Look on your envelope to see: The U.S. Postal Service issue of the third of 12 stamps in its Celebrating Lunar New Year series. To commemorate the Year of the Tiger art director Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, MD, and illustrator Kam Mak of Brooklyn, NY, chose narcissus flowers, considered auspicious at any time of year and thus especially appropriate at this time of renewed hope for the future.

SYNOPSIS: Asian Art Market Presentation by Stuart and Barbara Hilbert at the Michigan Oriental Art Society meeting September 2009

Stu contrasted Western (Europe & the United States) collecting interests with Eastern (domestic Chinese & Japanese)collecting interests. For example, in the West, early Chinese burial jades are avidly collected whereas in the East, few collect them...they collect later jades from the Ming & Qing Dynasties. In Japanese art, the West avidly collects inro, netsuke, ojime and other forms of domestic Japanese art, whereas the Japanese consider them mostly utilitarian items and do not generally collect them. It then becomes clear that what is "hot" in China is quite different generally from what the West generally collects, and the same may be said for the Japanese collector--who avidly collects Korean and Chinese art. It was suggested that the major auction houses are great sources for the best in both Chinese and Japanese art. Today, however, many collectors are talking about "bubbles" in the art field....for example, modern Chinese art has dropped in the last few years by at least 30/35%, whereas Japanese art hit a bubble about a decade ago. In sum, the domestic Chinese and the Chinese diasporas* are presently driving the Asian art markets--and collecting areas such as mark and period Chinese porcelains and 18th century Qianlong jades have soared in price.

Barbara discussed the flip side of these rising values, the increase in exceptionally clever fakes. Creating a fake that could fool even the sophisticated collector, dealer, or curator becomes possible if no expense needs to be spared. Materials that mimic original substances can be used or can be transformed by technological advances. Expert craftsmen with deep knowledge of the wares of earlier periods can be employed. These fakes are not limited to Chinese antiques. Japanese reproductions that would fool the uninitiated also exist as do copies of Western antiques. Because of the number of clever fakes on the market, provenance has become increasingly important. Many Chinese buyers prefer to buy from trusted Western dealers and the value of Chinese antiques from known collections has shot up in value.