Met Museum Centennial with Yearlong Program

A Passion for Jade: Heber Bishop and His Collection
March 14, 2015—June 19, 2016
Heber R. Bishop's collection of carved jades was formed in the last quarter of the 19th century and bequeathed to the Metropolitan Museum in 1902. Consisting of over 1,000 pieces-primarily Chinese jades of the 18th and 19th centuries, and jades from
Mughal India-it was the first major collection of its kind in the country. This exhibition features a selection of the finest examples from this renowned collection. The exhibition is made possible by the Joseph Hotung Fund.
#Bishopjades

China: Through the Looking Glass
May 7—August 16, 2015
The Costume Institute's spring 2015 exhibition, presented in the Museum's Chinese Galleries and Anna Wintour Costume Center, will explore how China has fueled the fashionable imagination for centuries, resulting in highly creative distortions of cultural realities. High fashion will be juxtaposed with Chinese costumes, paintings, porcelains, and other art, as well as films, to reveal enchanting reflections of Chinese imagery. From the earliest period of European contact with China in the 16th century, the West has been fascinated with enigmatic objects from the East, providing inspiration for fashion designers from Paul Poiret to Yves Saint Laurent, whose fashions are infused with romance, nostalgia, and make-believe. Through the looking glass of fashion, designers conjoin disparate stylistic references into a pastiche of Chinese aesthetic and cultural traditions.
The exhibition is made possible by Yahoo.
Additional support is provided by Condé Nast and several generous Chinese donors.
#ChinaLookingGlass

The Royal Hunt: Courtly Pursuits in Indian Art
June 20—December 13, 2015
Expressions of imperial authority are universally embodied in royal imagery of the hunt, rulers pursuing prey as metaphors for power and martial prowess. This theme is celebrated throughout the history of Indian painting, most notably in the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar, and became ubiquitous in later Rajput painting. The installation will combine works from the Asian art department with loans from the departments of Islamic Art and Arms & Armor, as well as from New York private collections.

Asian Art at 100: A History in Photographs
September 5, 2015—May 22, 2016
A selection of archival photographs of galleries and installations dating from 1907 to 1945 documenting the changing face of Asian art at the Metropolitan Museum. Complementing the display will be a wall-mounted timeline with images of the building and floor plans, along with small versions of these historic photos to place them in the context of the larger museum.

Masterpieces of Chinese Painting from the Metropolitan's Collection
September 12, 2015—April 24, 2016 (first rotation: September 12, 2015—January 24, 2016; second rotation: February 6—April 24, 2016)
During the last 40 years, the Metropolitan's collection of Chinese painting and calligraphy has grown to be one of the greatest in the world. Replete with masterpieces dating from the Tang dynasty (608-917) to the present, the collection encompasses the vast historical sweep of the brush arts of China, from serene Buddhist scriptures to bombastic court portraits to lyrical scholars' paintings. Presented in two rotations, this exhibition highlights the gems of the permanent collection in a chronological display, with an emphasis on works from the Song (960-1279) and Yuan (1271-1368) dynasties.
The exhibition is made possible by the Joseph Hotung Fund.

Chinese Textiles: Eight Centuries of Masterpieces from the Met Collection
September 12, 2015—June 19, 2016
Showcasing some of the most important and unusual textiles in the Museum's collection, this installation explores the cultural importance of silk in China. In addition to three rare pieces dating from the Tang dynasty ( 618-906), it includes 11th and 12th century tapestries from Central Asia, spectacular embroideries, and a monumental late-17th- or early-18th-century panel showing phoenixes in a garden.

Chinese Lacquer: Treasures from the Irving Collection, 12th-18th Century
September 12, 2015—June 19, 2016
Featuring many of the most important examples of Chinese lacquer in the Museum's collection, the installation explores the laborious techniques used to embellish lacquer objects with scenes derived from history or literature, images of popular gods, and representations of animals-real and mythical-landscapes, flowers, and birds.

Celebrating the Arts of Japan: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection
October 20, 2015—July 31, 2016 (first rotation: October 20, 2015—February 21, 2016; second rotation: March 5—July 31, 2016)
Over the course of five decades, Mary Griggs Burke (1916-2012), a New York based collector of Asian art, built one of the finest and most comprehensive private collections of Japanese art outside of Japan. Over 300 masterworks, including many of the most outstanding examples, were bequeathed to the Metropolitan Museum. This exhibition, which serves as a tribute to a great collector, reveals the distinctive features of Japanese art as viewed through the lens of 50 years of collecting: the sublime spirituality of Buddhist and Shinto art; the boldness of Zen ink painting; the imaginary world conjured up by the Tale of Genji and classical Japanese literature; the sumptuous colors of bird-and-flower painting; the subtlety of poetry, calligraphy and literati themes; the aestheticized accoutrements of the tea ceremony; and the charming portraiture of courtesans from the "floating world" (ukiyo-e).
The exhibition is made possible by The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Foundation Fund.

Encountering Vishnu: The Lion Avatar in Indian Temple Drama
December 19, 2015—June 5, 2016
Dramas presented during religious festivals in southern India are an important aspect of popular Hindu celebration. This exhibition highlights five rare wooden sculptural masks that represent a largely unrecorded category of late medieval Indian devotional art. The masks depict the protagonists in a deadly battle between Vishnu in his man-lion avatar, Narasimha, and an evil king whose destruction was essential for the restoration of order in the universe.

NEW GALLERIES

Chinese Treasury
Opened May 19, 2014
This gallery, which recreates the type of collecting and display found in 18th-century treasure cabinets (duobaoge), features some of the Museum's most precious works of Chinese art including sculptures and vessels of ivory, rhinoceros horn, glass, porcelain, and jade. Touchpads allow viewers to read introductory texts for all of the objects as well as to explore further by grouping the works of art digitally by material and by theme.

The Arts of Nepal and Tibet
Reopened March 13, 2015
These newly reinstalled galleries for Nepalese and Tibetan arts display some 100 sculptures, paintings, and textiles from the 9th to the 19th century, showcasing the 14 masterpieces acquired recently from the Zimmerman Family Collection.

The Arts of South Asia
Opening Fall 2015
This reinstallation represents the first reconfiguration and reinterpretation of the galleries for the art of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan since they were first opened in 1994. Encompassing works dating from the second century B.C. to the
14th century, the new installation features some 150 choice examples of early Hindu, Buddhist and Jain sculpture and ritual objects. These galleries encompass the early temple arts of the Shunga, Kushan and Gupta eras of early northern India, the Gandharan regions of the northwest, and the medieval arts of Kashmir and the Pala­ Sena dynasties of eastern India.

PROGRAMS & EVENTS

• Exhibition Tours—Discovering Japanese Art: American Collectors and the Met
By John Carpenter, Mary Griggs Burke Curator, Met's Department of Asian Art 
March 7, 4 p.m. & March 20, 6:30 p.m., Gallery 225

• Exhibition Tours—Discovering Japanese Art: American Collectors and the Met
By Monica Bincsik, Assistant Curator, Met's Department of Asian Art
April 18, 11 a.m. & May 18, 11 a.m., Gallery 225

• Exhibition Tours—Korea: 100 Years of Collecting at the Met
By Soyoung Lee, Associate Curator, Met's Department of Asian Art
March 13, 11 a.m. & May 8, 11 a.m. Gallery 233

• Conversation with an Educator—Su Shi (Dongpo) in a Straw Hat and Sandals
Joseph Loh, Met Educator, March 19, 11 a.m., Gallery 534

• Exhibition Tours—Sacred Traditions of the Himalayas
By Kurt Behrendt, Associate Curator, Met's Department of Asian Art
March 16, 10:30 a.m. & May 11,10:30 a.m., June 2 10:30 a.m., and June 12, 10:30 a.m., Gallery 251

• The Observant Eye—The Seat of Power: Portrait Painting in Asian Art
Spend an hour contemplating a single work of art selected from the Korea: 100 Years of Collecting at the Met exhibition, through close observation and deep discussion. May 22, 7-8 p.m., Carson Family Hall. Registration required.

LECTURES AND PANELS

• Friday Focus-Collecting Japan for the Met in the Late 19th Century
Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere, The British Museum, and Monika Bincsik, Assistant Curator, Met's Department of Asian Art, April 10, 4 p.m., Bonnie J. Sacerdote Lecture Hall
In conjunction with Discovering japanese Art: American Collectors and the Met.

• Friday Focus-Annual Lecture on South and Southeast Asian Art: Conjuring the Buddhist Painting Tradition of Kashmir
Rob Linrothe, Northwestern University, March 13, 5 p.m. Bonnie J. Sacerdote Lecture Hall
This lecture is made possible by the generous support of Jeff Soref and Paul Lombardi.

• Friday Focus-Dressing the Divine in Himalayan Art
Katherine Anne Paul, Curator of Arts of Asia, Newark Museum, March 27, 4 p.m. Bonnie J. Sacerdote Lecture Hall
In conjunction with Sacred Traditions of the Himalayas.

DROP-IN DRAWING

• Compositions: Asian Painting
April 17, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Draw inspiration from original works of art. Join talented art instructors in the galleries for informal sketching fun. Materials are provided, but you may bring your own sketchbook; pencils only. Instruction provided every thirty minutes. Come and go as you like between each session. Gallery 227

PERFORMANCES & TALKS

• Paradise Interrupted
March 21, 3:00 & 7:00p.m., The Temple of Dendur in The Sackler Wing
A new work by artist Jennifer Wen Ma and composer Huang Ruo, and starring Qian Yi. An excerpt from the eagerly awaited opera will be staged at the glorious Temple of Dendur. This performance is presented in conjunction with the exhibition China: Through the Looking: Glass, on view May 7-August 16, 2015. Tickets start at $54- Bring the Kids for $1 tickets are available.

This performance, inspired by the exhibition China: Through the Looking Glass, is made possible by Adrian Cheng. Additional funding is provided by Sarah Solomon Billinghurst.

Paradise Interrupted is co-commissioned and co-produced by Spoleto Festival USA and Lincoln Center Festival.

• Lang Lang at the Met
May 14, 8:00 p.m., the Great Hall
Lang Lang performs in the grand setting of the Met's Great Hall.
This program is presented in conjunction with the exhibition China: Through the Looking Glass. Tickets start at $100.

This performance, inspired by the exhibition, China: Through the Looking Glass, is made possible by Adrian Cheng.

• The Great Wave: Japanese Art at the Met
March 12, 19 & 31, 11:00 a.m., The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
One of the great masterpieces of world art, Katsushika Hokusai's Under the Wave off Kanagawa (ca. 1830-32)-better known as the "Great Wave"-is said to have inspired Debussy's La Mer (The Sea) and Rilke's Der Berg (The Mountain). In this three-part series, Met curator John Carpenter examines the three critical elements of Hokusai's thundering seascape to lead viewers on a larger discovery of the Met's extraordinary collection of Japanese art, from historical, to classical, to contemporary works. Tickets start at $30 for one talk; $75 for all three

"Turbulent Waves: Images of Seas and Streams" 
March 12, 11:00 a.m.
"Eternal Mountains: Landscape Paintings and Prints"
March 19, 11:00 a.m.
"People at Work and Play: Genre Scenes" 
March 31, 11:00 a.m.

• CONTACT!
June 5, 7:00p.m., The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
The New York Philharmonic performs a Japan-focused program with works by Takemitsu, Messiaen, and Dai Fujikura, as well as the U.S. premiere of Misato Mochizuki's Si blue, si calme. It will be conducted by Jeffrey Milarsky, one of the leading conductors of contemporary music today.
Tickets start at $25-Bring the Kids for $1 tickets are available for this performance.

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March 16, 2015

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