A rare fifteenth-century imperial gilt-bronze portrait of a master of the Karmapa lineage achieved €2.683 million on June 10 at Christie's, leading the June Asian Art sales in Paris. The sculpture, commissioned during the Ming dynasty and formerly in the collection of Nancy Astor, reflects the close relationship between the Ming court and the Karmapa lineage. Its strong result is a reminder that collectors continue to compete most vigorously for Himalayan works distinguished by rarity, historical importance, and exceptional provenance.
India's Great Mughals includes 200 sumptuous objects—intricate paintings and manuscripts, lavish textiles, architectural elements, metalwork, furniture, arms and armor, dazzling precious stones, and more. Opulent works of art—many made in the imperial workshops—convey the power and tastes of the three most celebrated Mughal emperors: Akbar (r. 1556–1605), Jahangir (r. 1605–27), and Shah Jahan (r. 1628–58). From the tiniest jeweled objects to the monumental wonder of the Taj Mahal, this highly sophisticated and globally connected empire produced treasures of unparalleled splendor and magnificence.
Forty paintings are reunited from a widely dispersed pictorial series that presents the story of the Hindu divine hero Rama. The timeless tale, more than 2,000 years old, remains a cultural force across southern Asia. Potent themes of righteousness, vengeance, and loyalty are explored through dramatic episodes in which demons are vanquished, lovers are separated, and monkeys, bears, and a man-eagle save the day. Magic abounds, and emotions fly with warriors’ arrows.
Created with blazing colors for a royal collection around 1700, the “Shangri” Ramayana has been a beloved and enigmatic series among scholars and collectors for the past century. New evidence from previously unpublished paintings reveals many more artistic styles and triple the number of total folios than have been previously recognized. It argues in favor of a collaborative model of production involving artists from across the alpine region of Pahari India, which straddles the present-day state of Himachal Pradesh and that of Jammu and Kashmir.
Edited by Sonya Rhie Mace, Sarang Sharma and Vijay Sharma
Contributions by Catherine Glynn Benkaim, Ainsley M. Cameron, Debra Diamond and Vrinda Agrawal
An in-depth study of the innovation and range of Pahari painting that draws from one of the greatest collections ever assembled.
Displaying seventy of the finest examples of Asian art in the United States drawn from Asia Society’s permanent collection, the exhibition showcases the extraordinary range of bronzes, ceramics, and metalwork thoughtfully assembled between the 1950s and the 1970s by John D. Rockefeller 3rd (1906-1978) and his wife Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller (1909-1992). John D. Rockefeller 3rd founded Asia Society in 1956 with the mission to promote greater knowledge of Asia in the United States; the bequest of the collection to Asia Society in 1979 underscores the Rockefellers’ conviction that an aesthetic encounter with great works of art promotes deep cross-cultural understanding.
Vishnu’s Cosmic Ocean presents this monumental masterpiece of Cambodian artistry and explores its rich context. Delve into the sculpture’s original island-like temple, the deep blue waters of the surrounding reservoir, and the ancient city of Angkor. Learn about water’s cultural importance as a mirror of the ocean of creation, and admire the exceptional bronze-casting and engineering skills of artists who lived a thousand years ago.
In the far north of India, the Himalayan mountain ranges rise abruptly from the Punjab plains to form the alpine region known as Pahari, defined by a shared language (Pahari) and script (Takri). From the 1600s to 1900s, the Hindu nobility of the Pahari kingdoms commissioned paintings for their royal collections. Known as “Pahari paintings,” they were made by painters who were born into hereditary artist communities located in villages throughout the region. By the end of the 1900s, many descendants of royal families dispersed them, and they became some of the most popular and widely collected genres of Indian painting in the world. This installation celebrates the CMA’s 2018 acquisition and 2026 publication of the Pahari paintings from the renowned Catherine Glynn Benkaim and Ralph Benkaim Collection.
Since its debut in 2015, the Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room has been one of the Rubin Museum’s most popular installations, providing an immersive experience inspired by a traditional shrine. Now the Shrine Room travels to Brooklyn, where it will be on view for six years in the Brooklyn Museum’s Arts of Asia galleries as part of a multiyear collaboration.