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4/11/2011

Three Exhibitions

Smithsonian's Freer Gallery of Art, Washington

Six Centuries of Korean Ceramics Return to View at the Freer

Exhibition Celebrates the Distinctive Korean Decorative Art of "Sanggam"

An important assemblage of Korean ceramics in the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art collection will be on display in “Cranes and Clouds: The Korean Art of Ceramic Inlay” beginning Nov. 5. The exhibition inaugurates a newly renovated gallery dedicated to the arts of Korea and reaffirms the museum’s commitment to representing Korean artistic accomplishments.

Forty-four stoneware vessels dating from the 11th through the 16th century illustrate a decorative technique known as sanggam, the art of inlaying designs using black-and-white pigments. The exhibition highlights the evolving use of inlay during the latter half of Korea’s Goryeo dynasty (918–1392) and the early centuries of the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910).

“Sanggam was one of Korea’s great contributions to worldwide ideas of ceramic decoration, producing vessels distinguished by sharply contrasting colors, crisp outlines and repeating pictorial patterns,” said Louise Cort, curator of ceramics.

Goryeo potters developed the sanggam technique by the mid-12th century to decorate tableware and ritual vessels used by the court and nobility. It involved inserting white-and-black clay-based pigments in liquid form into stamped or carved motifs on the surface of the vessel, which was then coated with a translucent celadon glaze.

A highlight of the Freer collection, a kundika (water bottle), with its elegant herons wading in a stream, cranes soaring through clouds and ducks swimming in a lotus pond, is a featured work of the exhibition, exemplifying the finest in two-color sanggam technique.

A striking change in the use of the technique took place during the early Joseon dynasty, when Korean potters shifted to using only white inlay, partly in response to the emergence of white porcelain as a sought-after ceramic. Instead of the formerly precise black-and-white designs, potters applied thick, dense white pigment with large brushstrokes to their vessels, as seen on several bowls and bottles throughout the exhibition.

The Korean ceramics, installed in the newly renovated Gallery 14, are positioned in relationship to the Freer’s galleries of Chinese art. This neighboring location allows for deep cross-cultural comparisons and the opportunity to reflect on the changing nature of ceramics across countries and centuries.

The adjacent exhibition “Chinese Ceramics: 10th-13th Century,” in Gallery 15 will feature two dozen Chinese ceramics from the Freer collection, highlighting the glazes and the skills of Song dynasty artisans.
For information on programs planned in conjunction with the opening of the Korean Gallery visit http://asia.si.edu/press/2011/prKoreaEvents.asp.

The National Museum of Korea has provided financial and curatorial support for this reinstallation of the Freer Gallery’s Korean collection.

The Freer Gallery of Art, located at 12th Street and Independence Avenue S.W., and the adjacent Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, located at 1050 Independence Avenue S.W., are on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. every day except Dec. 25, and admission is free. For more information about the Freer and Sackler galleries and their exhibitions, programs and other events, the public may visit www.asia.si.edu. The galleries are located near the Smithsonian Metrorail station on the Blue and Orange lines. For general Smithsonian information, the public may call (202) 633-1000 or TTY (202) 633-5285.

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Silk Road Luxuries Glitter at the Freer

A Newly Renovated Gallery Showcases the Decorative Arts of a Cosmopolitan Tang China

Highways and byways crossing the vast Central Asian desert did more than facilitate the spread of Buddhism in the early Common Era, they also paved the way for the exchange of luxury goods between China and the West. “Silk Road Luxuries from China,” opening Nov. 5 in newly renovated Gallery 16 at the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art, reveals the cross-cultural impact of Silk Road trade on Chinese luxury goods.

The small but exquisite array of 21 objects, including intricately decorated mirrors, cups and other forms of tableware, display the highest levels of craftsmanship practiced by Tang dynasty artisans working in precious materials.

“A revolutionary change began to happen in China’s decorative arts, fueled by an open and cosmopolitan, multicultural society centered in the vibrant Tang capital, Chang’an,” said J. Keith Wilson, curator of ancient Chinese art. “The intermingling of Chinese traditions and foreign influences led to a remarkable change in luxury goods produced for Chinese urban elites in the sixth through the eighth century.”

Sogdian traders—ethnic Iranians originally from Sogdiana, now Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in Central Asia—introduced the Chinese to new ideas in the decorative arts in the form of western and central Asian luxuries they offered in exchange for silk and other sought-after Chinese products. Objects such as tablewares made of precious metals and glass helped transform Chinese secular artistic traditions and promoted explorations of new materials, techniques, forms and decorative patterns.

Ideas and goods traveled both into and out of China along the Silk Road. Among the objects that will be on view is a lobed Sogdian dish of hammered silver, decorated with the image of a lion, that may have influenced Chinese metal artisans. An eighth-century silk brocade with floral medallions that was once among the treasures held by the Shōsōin repository in Nara, Japan, reveals how Chinese exports inspired craftsmen further east.

Groupings of exquisite mirrors and silver vessels presented in the exhibition illustrate new fabrication methods and decorative motifs inspired by foreign models. Chinese smiths and founders set aside old practices and began creating objects from precious metals, adopting western hammering and gilding techniques to forge a new Chinese luxury aesthetic.

One of the highlights of the exhibition is a massive piece of burial furniture made in China for the repose of a Sogdian who died far from home. This and a small number of other Chinese burial couches feature layered decorative styles and Buddhist and non-Buddhist iconography, including depictions of foreign musicians and dancers. Although made for Sogdians, the objects belong to a Chinese tradition and reflect a multicultural vision.

“Silk Road Luxuries from China” in Gallery 16 and “Chinese Ceramics: 10th-13th Century” in Gallery 15 are the most recent installations in the Freer’s plan to reimagine the entire suite of six Chinese galleries, showcasing major collections in redesigned spaces that reflect the founder’s original focus on aesthetics and comparative study. Both galleries will reopen to the public Nov. 5.

The Silk Road Gallery project was made possible with the support of the Thaw Charitable Trust.
For more information about the Freer and Sackler galleries and their exhibitions, programs and other events, the public may visit asia.si.edu. The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, located at 1050 Independence Avenue S.W., and the adjacent Freer Gallery of Art, located at 12th Street and Independence Avenue S.W., are on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily, except Dec. 25, and admission is free. The galleries are located near the Smithsonian Metrorail station on the Blue and Orange lines. For general Smithsonian information, the public may call (202) 633-1000 or TTY (202) 633-5285.

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Chinese Ceramics: 10th-13th Century

Opens November 5
Freer Gallery of Art

Potters in both north and south China perfected the skills needed to control and modulate ceramic glazes—in shades of white, green, blue, brown, and black—during the Song dynasty (960–1279). In some modes, the glaze complemented carved or incised decoration; in others, its purity of color became a focal point on its own. Two dozen Chinese ceramics from the Freer collection highlight these glazes and the skills of Song dynasty artisans.

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Deborah Galyan
Head of Public Affairs and Marketing
General press inquiries:
publicaffairsAsia@si.edu
Tel: 202.633.0271
Fax: 202.633.0046

Opening november 5th, 2011

The Freer Gallery of Art
12th Street and Independence Avenue S.W.
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
1050 Independence Avenue S.W.Washington, D.C.
Hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. every day, except Dec. 25, and admission is free

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