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An authoritative overview of the varied arts of Mewar; including 170 full-color illustrations

Chang Dai-chien (1899-1983), one of the most celebrated Chinese painters of the twentieth century, is renowned for his stylistic variety and unparalleled productivity. This book explores three key artistic dimensions—Chang's early ink paintings emulating ancient Chinese styles, his lively portrayals of nature made while residing in Brazil and California, and the transcendent splashed-ink art of his later years.Stunning reproductions of masterworks and insightful texts come together to commemorate the 120th anniversary of Chang's birth and his lasting connection to the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.See the Chang Dai-chien exhibit at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco: November 26, 2019—April 26, 2020

* * Winner of the 2017 Silver Medal for Fine Art (National Level) from the Independent Publisher Book Awards * *Featuring dozens of stunning Japanese woodblock prints, textiles, serving vessels and thoughtful essays, Seduction paints a vibrant and provocative picture of Japan's Uikoyo-e or 'floating world.' 'The Floating World' was catch phrase that defined the pleasure quarters of Edo-period Japan's (1615—1868) and conveyed a fantasy realm where men were led to believe they could drift aimlessly in the pursuit of pleasure. Brothels were a prominent feature, but other entertainments, such as theater, music, and wrestling were also offered. Pursuit of such pleasures prompted a revolution in fashion, literature, and the visual arts, as the pleasure district was marketed not just through the offer of sex but rather through the elaboration of the seductive image of a sophisticated demimonde that beckoned visitors. Seduction show how images of courtesans were constructed as objects of desire, and it considers how the artistic version aligned with or departed from the reality of women's lives. It traces the ways that art was used to transport viewers to a constructed realm of sensory delights to stimulate desires and gratify fantasies of carefree pleasure. Editor Laura W. Allen offers an overview of the seductive spell cast by the floating world and provides helpful entries on each of the featured objects. Essays by Melinda Takeuchi, Eric C. Rath, and Julia Meech introduce the floating world, consider the role of food in the pleasure quarter, and explore the feminine gaze in the Japanese print. A translation of the texts on the Hishikawa Moronobu scroll is included. The result is a fascinating study of the way that visual objects were used to convey insider knowledge about the latest fashions in clothing, hairstyles, accessories, and even games. Armed with such knowledge, a visitor to the pleasure quarters would be prepared for the pursuit of love and other objects of desire.

In 1967, the phrase "flower power" transformed the commonplace flower into a Buddhist-inspired symbol of peace. In honor of the fiftieth anniversary of San Francisco''s "Summer of Love," this art and design book showcases the expressive powers of flowers in Asian arts and cultures. Beginning in ancient times, a language of flowers, where certain blooms suggest specific themes, was communicated in art throughout Asia. Here forty artworks, all drawn from the Asian Art Museum''s renowned collection, focus on six celebrated flowers—lotus, plum blossom, cherry blossom, chrysanthemum, tulip, and rose—and the messages they convey.

This stunning Chinese art book presents almost a hundred recently unearthed objects that offer a glimpse into the extraordinary wealth and artistic accomplishments of elite society during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BCE - 9 CE). These exquisite treasures are from newly discovered sites in the Jiangsu region of China and are made of gold, silver, jade, bronze, pottery, lacquer, and other refined materials. Masterworks include a full-length jade suit sewn with gold threads, an oversized coffin shrouded in jade, and a complete set of functional bronze bells. The book's texts explore a number of ideas about the lives and deaths of Western Han royalty.

As a 50th anniversary gift to the museum, the Society for Asian Art has commissioned a major work by Liu Jianhua, one of China''s best-known contemporary installation artists. The work comprises approximately 2,500 pieces of white porcelain formed into letters of the English alphabet and components of Chinese characters, suspended from the ceiling of the second-floor loggia. The artist provides only the building blocks of words, leaving it to viewers to create meaning. The artwork''s location is especially apropos: the space offers an opportunity for dialogue with the original engraved literary quotations on the loggia''s walls, dating to the building''s previous incarnation as San Francisco''s Main Library.

* * Winner of the 2017 Silver Medal for Fine Art (National Level) from the Independent Publisher Book Awards * *Featuring dozens of stunning Japanese woodblock prints, textiles, serving vessels and thoughtful essays, Seduction paints a vibrant and provocative picture of Japan''s Uikoyo-e or ''floating world.''''The Floating World'' was catch phrase that defined the pleasure quarters of Edo-period Japan''s (1615—1868) and conveyed a fantasy realm where men were led to believe they could drift aimlessly in the pursuit of pleasure. Brothels were a prominent feature, but other entertainments, such as theater, music, and wrestling were also offered. Pursuit of such pleasures prompted a revolution in fashion, literature, and the visual arts, as the pleasure district was marketed not just through the offer of sex but rather through the elaboration of the seductive image of a sophisticated demimonde that beckoned visitors. Seduction show how images of courtesans were constructed as objects of desire, and it considers how the artistic version aligned with or departed from the reality of women''s lives. It traces the ways that art was used to transport viewers to a constructed realm of sensory delights to stimulate desires and gratify fantasies of carefree pleasure. Editor Laura W. Allen offers an overview of the seductive spell cast by the floating world and provides helpful entries on each of the featured objects. Essays by Melinda Takeuchi, Eric C. Rath, and Julia Meech introduce the floating world, consider the role of food in the pleasure quarter, and explore the feminine gaze in the Japanese print. A translation of the texts on the Hishikawa Moronobu scroll is included. The result is a fascinating study of the way that visual objects were used to convey insider knowledge about the latest fashions in clothing, hairstyles, accessories, and even games. Armed with such knowledge, a visitor to the pleasure quarters would be prepared for the pursuit of love and other objects of desire.

Featuring over 100 rare Japanese woodblock prints and thoughtful commentary, The Printer's eye paints a vibrant and fascinating picture of Japan's Uikoyo-e or "floating world." Edwin Grabhorn (1889—1968), co-founder of the Grabhorn Press, Northern California's premier letterpress printer, was a pioneer American collector of Japanese prints. The Grabhorn prints in the collection of the Asian Art Museum comprise the upper echelons of the original collection. The collection includes a superb selection of early monochrome and hand-colored ukiyo-e prints by Sugimura Jihei, Torii Kiyonobu, Okumura Masanobu and others, from the seminal decades of the woodblock print production in the late 1600s and early 1700s.Japanese Prints from the Grabhorn Collection marks the first time these prints are being published in quantity for a wide audience. Leading scholars David Waterhouse and Julia Meech provide in-depth looks at the prints in their Japanese contexts and at Grabhorn's role as a print collector. Large full-color reproductions all 140 of the Grabhorn prints in the Asian Art Museum's collection are accompanied by entries by Laura Allen and Melissa Rinne.