Autumn Events in Paris: Preview Highlights

By Editorial Staff

Asian art dealers in Paris have united to present a series of events this autumn, which according to Mike Winter-Rousset of Compagnie de la Chine et des Indes, `will offer the public an incredible choice of works of art carefully selected by the participating dealers.' Winter-Rousset also notes that Paris is historically a centre for collecting, exhibiting and researching Asian art, and its importance is growing with Automne Asiatique … Paris, now in its fourth year (7-20 November), and with the recent establishment of the Association des Sp‚cialistes des Arts Asiatiques. Members of ASAA work together to monitor quality and integrity, and to organize events such as the first Biennale des Arts Asiatiques, which will take place in autumn 2002.

You China, Western Zhou period (c.1050-771 BCE) Bronze Height 24 cm Gisele Croes at Salon International d'Art Asiatique, Paris (Photography by Roger Asselberghs)

From 26 to 30 September, the Association des Sp‚cialistes de la C‚ramique de Collection et des Arts du Feu are organizing the Third Paris International Ceramics Show at Hotel Dassault. A number of specialists in Chinese, Japanese and export ceramics will be exhibiting, including Bertrand de Lavergne, Antoine Lebel, Vincent L'Herrou and Galerie de Breyne et Lamy; and from Brussels, Corinne Van der Kindere of Artcade Gallery, specializing in ancient Chinese pottery. Among the series of lectures relevant to Asian art enthusiasts will be B‚atrice Quette's discussion of Chinese cloisonn‚ enamels (28 September), Laurence Souksi's lecture on Chinese glass snuff bottles (29 September), and Anthony du Boulay's talk on Chinese Ming and Qing monochromes (30 September). For further information, contact ASCC (tel: 33 1 45 48 46 53).

Salon International d'Art Asiatique, organized by Orlowski SA, will finally take place from 5 to 8 October at the Hotel du Rond-Point. Originally planned a year ago, it was cancelled when the Mus‚e Guimet's inauguration was postponed until January 2001. With this new event, the organizers aim to create a show of international standard, as successful as - but not conflicting with - New York's spring Asian Art Fair. Fully supporting this idea are some twenty dealers from the UK, Belgium, Switzerland and France. They feel that Paris, ideally situated at the heart of Europe and with many unique assets, provides an excellent venue for continental and overseas collectors and dealers.

Gisele Croes endorses the fair with her participation, and comments: `The Asian Art Fair in New York has shown that a focused event, where different Asian art disciplines are juxtaposed, is challenging and inspiring for the collector.' In her view, timing at the start of the autumn season is appropriate, particularly as the French market remains comparatively stronger, and Paris has even greater potential, with increased activity at the Guimet and Cernuschi museums as well as among the trade. Croes's exhibition of fifteen select bronzes and pottery wares will encapsulate the achievements of the bronze-casters of the Shang to Han periods, and the artistic development of funerary art during the Han and Tang periods. Viewers will be drawn to a startling bronze human-like mask from the Shang period. It has deep-set bulging eyes with openwork pupils, a bulbous nose and grimacing mouth displaying teeth. A Western Zhou bronze you has a finely cast and unusual decoration of birds on the body and lid. Complementing these are Warring States to Western Han period belt hooks and a group of Western Han gilt-bronze architectural elements, similar to examples in the Rietberg Museum in Zurich. Her selection of pottery will include a pair of Tang period figures of a man and a woman, one metre high and dramatically sculpted.

Myrna Myers is anticipating that the more enlightened trend for Parisian dealers to be a united force bodes well for re-establishing Paris as a European base for Asian art. Her support is evident not only from her participation in the fair but also from the exhibition of Korean art at her gallery from 6 October to 17 November. The centrepiece of her show at the Salon will be a 7th century Buddhist votive stele from the Coray collection in Lugano, which, as Myers remarks, can be compared to Tang period steles from the Von der Heydt collection in the Rietberg. The stone is carved with a central Buddha figure seated in a large alcove draped with ornamental hangings. In separate niches at the sides and above are two standing bodhisattvas and several Buddhas in meditation.

In addition to displaying a few archaic jade carvings from her recent exhibition `Radiant Stones', Myers has acquired two imposing bi from the Liangzhu culture, probably carved from the same boulder. Also on view are elegantly carved ducks, swans, deer and fish in rock crystal, a material highly valued by the Liao aristocracy. Noteworthy among the 15th/16th century blue-and-white Vietnamese pieces recovered from the Hoi An shipwreck are vessels in the form of an elephant and a duck, and pear-shaped ewers decorated with openwork medallions. Her textiles range from a bold and colourful Central Asian horse trapping to a delicately embroidered 18th century Sino-Tibetan thangka.

Corinne Van der Kindere is similarly enthusiastic about the opening up of the once-protected French art environment, and believes that `the idea of keeping the French market for the French auction houses and dealers belongs to the past since the arrival of Christie's and Sotheby's and the reopening of the Guimet.' She believes that Paris now needs its own international Asian art fair, and its success will be based on its ability to appeal to international collectors and dealers. She will be returning to Paris for the Salon with a broader selection of early Chinese pottery wares, jades and bronzes. Highlights include a pair of tall straw-glazed and painted pottery horses of the Sui period and four impressive Tang period male polo players. She compares her two Eastern Zhou bronze bells to a smaller example currently on view at the Guimet.

Among the many participating dealers from London are S. Marchant & Son. Seeing this as an opportunity to find new clients and re-establish contact with their collectors in France, they will have a selection representative of their areas of expertise - imperial Chinese porcelain, famille-rose and famille-verte wares, and export ceramic wares, as well as some jades, ivories and cloisonn‚. Of note are two porcelain wares with excellent provenance. A pair of Kangxi period potiches and covers, finely enamelled in famille verte with panels depicting antiques, precious objects and phoenixes in flight, were formerly in the collection of Sir Henry Price, who acquired them from the well-known London dealer Frank Partridge in 1939. Sir Henry had begun collecting when the restoration of his home, Wakehurst Place, was completed in 1938, and continued until his death in 1963, when the property passed to the National Trust. Marchant notes that a very similar pair belonged to Leonard Gow and is illustrated by R.L. Hobson et al. in Chinese Ceramics in Private Collections (London, 1931). Of equal importance is a Jiaqing period coral-ground gourd-shaped vase decorated in gold with various flowers and foliage and with a six-character mark in iron red on the base. It was formerly in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

John Berwald follows his mentor Richard Marchant with a selection of Qing enamels and early pottery. Highlights include an elegantly potted Kangxi period vase decorated in famille-verte enamels with a continuous scene of the Yang family ladies practising equestrian skills, apparently preparing for battle. Berwald compares the exceptional modelling of his Tang period court lady, with hands outstretched as if in a gesture of offering, to similarly large examples found in the tombs around the Tang capital of Chang'an. In his view they may have been exclusively produced for members of the imperial family. Among his selection of works of art is a Qianlong period cloisonn‚ enamel tripod censer and cover. The lobed globular body is decorated with a ground of florets within a cell pattern and the dome-shaped cover has a gilt finial in the form of a dragon among clouds and waves.

Jules Speelman of A&J Speelman considers the timing of this new fair an appropriate opportunity to develop their French clients as it does not conflict with the Asian Art Fair in New York and also gives them an opportunity to show their areas of expertise, such as Chinese export art, which appeals more to European tastes. They will also be showing some South Asian sculpture, including an impressive 14th century Nepalese gilt-copper figure of Vajradhara. The image is seated in a meditative pose with hands in the prajna gesture embracing a bell and a vajra.

Michael Goedhuis considers Paris to be `surprisingly receptive to Chinese culture in all its interesting current manifestations - film, literature, art and fashion', so he anticipates that his cutting-edge show of works by Chinese contemporary artists, such as Li Chen's bronze Buddha images, reminiscent of classical Tang and Song sculpture, will be well received. To mark the 100th anniversary of the Paris World Exposition of 1900, Brian Harkins will be exhibiting a bronze and shibuichi statue titled `Peasant Woman on Horse' by Unno Bisei. The sculpture is illustrated in the catalogue for the Exposition, and given the importance of Unno, Harkins believes that it would have been one of the highlights of the event. He will also be introducing some new areas he has been researching, particularly the influence of the Art Deco movement on Japan during the 1930s. As this movement had itself drawn on certain themes in Japanese art, to demonstrate this full circle, he will be showing some examples of Japanese Art Deco.

Impressed by the quality of dealers taking part as well as the sensible fees, Antonia Tozer and Jonathan Tucker will be taking a selection of Indian and Southeast Asian bronzes and stone sculptures as well as Chinese ceramics and textiles, in the hope of finding new clients in France and northern Europe. Robert Burawoy reports that there is a growing interest in his field of Japanese arms and armour, and despite limited sources, he has made some important acquisitions which he will debut at the show, hoping to develop the field even further. Japanese armour will also be displayed by Tony Cammaert of Kyoto Gallery, Brussels. Highlights are a late Edo period suit of armour, decorated with the guardian king Fudo seated on a lion and with calligraphy on the back and sides; and an early Edo period helmet embellished with dragons and phoenixes. Other works include a 19th century bronze vase imitating pottery and a selection of netsuke.

For Urs Frech, the timing and easy commute from Zurich makes the Paris show an ideal venue for him to show some good examples of gilt Buddhist sculpture and other important works seldom seen in Paris, other than in museums. Among the latter is a pair of chairs veneered with bamboo and decorated with carved bamboo and jade, which Frech considers to have been made for imperial use.

Other dealers taking part include Robert Kleiner, Gregg Baker, Gerard Hawthorn, Jacqueline Simcox, Leslie Kehoe and Robert Fleischel of Yabane, Tokyo.

Some of the Paris galleries will open their Automne Asiatique … Paris exhibitions particularly early to benefit from the international exposure the Salon is expected to bring to Paris. Forty-seven Chinese, Tibetan and Nepalese gilt bronzes will be on view in Jacques BarrŠre's show `Images Bouddhiques en Bronze Dor‚' from 2 October to 20 November. Primarily from three old European collections, the pieces date from the 14th to the 18th century. They include images of the Buddha, bodhisattvas and Tantric deities, such as one of Guhyapati with his consort. This 15th century gilt-bronze sculpture, with its complex composition of three heads, six arms, a ritual instrument in each hand and turquoise inlay, is a true testimony to the exceptional skill of Tibetan metal-casters. The detailed pattern of the robes are intricately cast and etched. Another remarkable figure is that of an 18th century gilt bronze of Damca depicted in his fierce aspect with six arms and three heads. Seated sideways on a chimera, he wears a Mongolian-style hat. One of BarrŠre's earliest pieces is a 14th century gilt-bronze Shakyamuni, which retains much of its original pigment. Seated on a lotus throne, Shakyamuni's right hand is in bhumisparsha mudra. Christian Deydier will present a group of archaic bronzes in his show `Rituels pour l'Eternit‚' from 3 October to 30 November. Of rare quality are two wine vessels in the shape of animals from the Western Zhou and Warring States periods. The Warring States zun is in the form of a tapir with a decorative pattern suggestive of fur on the well-rounded body. The snout functions as a spout. From the mid-Warring States period are a vase and cover, both richly inlaid with a geometrical design in gold and silver. Set on a small foot, the vase has a round body with two taotie handles on either side and a short, straight neck. The decorative motifs resemble those of contemporaneous lacquer painting. During the Han period, birds were associated with the sun and were therefore popular subjects for tomb lamps, forming a link to the world after death. Deydier's Western Han example is in the rare form of a peacock. It is depicted with its head turned backwards and its body entirely covered with an incised pattern simulating plumage.

Myrna Myers's show of Korean art from 6 October to 17 November was inspired by the rediscovery of an extensive collection of Korean art now on show at the Guimet. A group of Silla period stoneware introduces the indigenous ceramic tradition, leading on to a 12th century celadon meiping inlaid with iron-brown peony scrolls, which blends Chinese and Korean characteristics. Indigenous taste is evident among the selection of Yi or Choson dynasty blue-and-white wares, particularly a sturdy jar painted with a phoenix gliding among clouds in underglaze blue and copper red. The familiar auspicious symbol is naturally depicted, with a touch of humour. Among the 18th and 19th century inlaid black lacquers is a pair of stacked cabinets decorated in mother-of-pearl with landscapes inhabited by deer, cranes and turtles.

Other Parisian dealers will open their shows on 7 November. Works in Compagnie de la Chine et des Indes' exhibition will trace the different aspects of artistic and religious influence from India to China via the Silk Route by comparing the faces of various sculptural traditions. One example which illustrates this well is a stucco head of a bodhisattva, which also shows the level of perfection achieved.

For over ten years, Antoine Lebel's gallery in the Carr‚ Rive Gauche district of Paris has specialized in Chinese export porcelain. His show, `Teapots in Chinese Export Porcelain: 17th and 18th Centuries', gives an overview of the development of shapes and decoration of teapots ordered from China by Europeans when tea drinking became fashionable among English and French high society in the late 17th century. Genre scenes in fashion at the time, or family crests, were common subjects for decoration, as were typically Chinese famille-verte enamels and copies of Meissen models. Tamio Ikeda of Tanakaya will be showing approximately fifty recently acquired 18th to 20th century Japanese prints, including works by Utamaro, Eizan, Eisen, Kuniyoshi, Kunisada and Hiroshige. There will also be works by Hasui and Koitsu. From 7 November to 1 December, the gallery will show a complete series of 36 okubi-e depicting kabuki actors, created between 1925 and 1929 by Natori Shunsen. Only 150 copies were published, and they are considered to be one of the finest technical achievements of 20th century Japanese printmaking. They represent the last important series dedicated to kabuki actors, and are admired for their revealing depiction of character. Valerie Levesque, Kokoro, Loft, Luohan and Bertrand Lavergne will also be part of Automne Asiatique.