March 2011

JADA 2011: An Exhibition by the Japanese Art Dealers Association

March 19—23, 2011

Sebastian Izzard LLC Asian Art participated in the fourth Japanese Art Dealers Association (JADA) exhibition at the Ukrainian Institute at 79th Street and Fifth Avenue during Asia Week, March 19–23, 2011. JADA 2011: An Exhibition by the Japanese Art Dealers Association presented works of art of the highest quality in keeping with JADA’s mission to promote high standards of scholarship and connoisseurship in the field of pre-modern Japanese art.

Sebastian Izzard LLC exhibited an important portrait of a young beauty with her pet kitten by Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) dating from circa 1805. The painting, in ink and color on silk, is signed Gakyo rojin Hokusai ga (Painted by Hokusai, the old man mad about painting), and is sealed Kimo dasoku (Hair on the turtle, legs on the snake). In style, especially in the painting of the face, the work is comparable to the well-known Woman Looking at Herself in a Mirror, in the Bigelow Collection held by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, of the same date. A new discovery, the painting is an important addition to the artist’s oeuvre.

An attractive Kakiemon porcelain figure of a seated beauty leaning against an arm-rest provided a second highlight. These figures, rendered in a style that mimics Kambun (1661–1682) era paintings and book illustrations, are thought to date from the 1670s and 80s. The complex model was obviously hard to manufacture and these figures, only twelve of which are extant, are much rarer than the simpler standing model.
For more information on this exhibition, please see www.jada-ny.org

Forms Unbound: A Selection of Japanese Ceramics from the Jomon to Momoyama Periods

March 19—26, 2011

London Gallery, Ltd.,Tokyo mounted their Asia Week exhibition of Japanese ceramics at Sebastian Izzard LLC Asian Art featuring works that span well over one thousand years of history.  Forms Unbound: A Selection of Japanese Ceramics from the Jomon to Momoyama Periods welcomed viewers to explore a variety of ceramic types that, while representative of the periods they were created in, continue to resonate with and speak to contemporary audiences.

Pottery and dogu heads of the Jomon period, Heian and Kamakura period vessels shaped by elemental forces in the kiln, and consciously crafted designs of the Momoyama comprised the show. The selection of works invites reflection on the unlimited potential of ceramic art, and showcases the innovation of Japanese artisans and their adaptation of traditions from the continent to create their own unique forms of expression. The exhibition ran from March 19–26, 11AM to 5PM.