Masterworks of the traditional fine arts of Japan will be on view during New York’s Asia Week in JADA 2012: An Exhibition by the Japanese Art Dealers Association. 

Held from March 17 to March 21, 2012, JADA 2012 will present exceptional examples of screens, paintings, scrolls, prints, lacquers, fine ceramics, and tea ceremony accoutrements ranging in date from around the 1st century B.C. to the 19th century.  The unique, collaborative event brings together five of New York’s preeminent dealers in a joint exhibition, or mini-fair, with the works of art from the different galleries integrated by material, style, or period.

JADA 2012 will be held at the Ukrainian Institute of America, at 2 East 79th Street and is the association’s fifth collaborative exhibition. 

“Now nearly two decades old, Asia Week is New York’s inspiring and informal gathering of curators, collectors, dealers, and Asian art devotees from around the world who seek out unique and intriguing works of art,” said Leighton Longhi, president of the Japanese Art Dealers Association.  “The members of JADA and its affiliates will showcase some of the best works in the field of Japanese art that the market has to offer.” 

JADA 2012 will present a remarkable selection of 18th and 19th century Japanese prints, including images of Japan’s legendary floating world, which developed as a thriving middle class emerged during the late 18th and 19th centuries.  Among the prints is a bust portrait by Hosoda Eisho (active ca. 1780–1800) of the legendary femme fatale, Kisegawa, a courtesan who enjoyed the company of leaders of the newly wealthy mercantile class.  Also on view will be the iconic Red Fuji, by Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), creator of The Great Wave off Kanagawa. 

Highlights among the paintings on view include the circa 1780 Herb Gatherers in the Mountains by Yosa Buson (1716–1784).  A painter-poet of humble birth, Buson created one of the most lyrical and effecting bodies of work in the Nanga (“Southern painting”) school, whose members shared an admiration of Chinese art during a period when Japan was cut off from international influence.  The painting shows Buson at his full artistic maturity with a range of pointillist and short brush strokes laid over fields of color in certain passages of the painting. 

Among earthenware and ceramic highlights is a clay jar from the Yayoi period (ca. B.C.300 – A.D.300) that presents a remarkably simple, elegant design with distinctly protruding, narrow bands emerging from a smooth surface.  The jar embodies the qualities of most the prosperous years of Yayoi culture in Kyushu region, where the Yayoi culture first emerged.  

JADA 2012 will also feature an unusually large (14-1/2 inch diameter) porcelain dish from the Old Kutani style that dates to the 1650s, the beginning of the enameled porcelain tradition in Japan.  The vibrant blues of peonies are set against lush green leaves and a gold background. 

The exhibition will also present accoutrements of Japanese tea culture, including an extremely rare Ao-Ido type tea bowl – one of a handful known in the West – from the Choson Dynasty (Korea, 16th century) and a bamboo tea scoop by Sugiki Fusai (1628-1708).  In a remarkable pairing, there will also be two items related to Sen no Rikyū one of the most famous tea masters of the 16th century and an innovator in the field of the Japanese tea ceremony, or the Way of Tea.  These are a Ko-Seto tea caddy from the 15th century, inscribed Kakihan on the bottom by Sen no Rikyu, and a 17th century portrait of the tea master in the form of a hanging scroll. 

JADA members who will be holding or hosting Asia Week exhibitions in their galleries, as well as showing at JADA 2012, include Erik Thomsen LLC Asian Art, Koichi Yanagi Oriental Fine Arts, Mika Gallery, and Sebastian Izzard LLC Asian Art. 

Also holding gallery exhibitions in New York during Asia Week will be six galleries affiliated with JADA that specialize in both pre-Modern and Modern Japanese art: Bachmann Eckenstein, of Basel, Switzerland; Carole Davenport, of New York; Hiroshi Yanagi Oriental Art, of Kyoto, Japan; London Gallery, Ltd., of Tokyo, Japan; Scholten Japanese Art, of New York; and The Art of Japan, of Medina, Washington.  Information about the locations, dates, and hours of the exhibitions will be posted on JADA’s website in advance of Asia Week. 

JADA 2012: An Exhibition by the Japanese Art Dealers Association

March 17 to March 21, 2012 at the Ukrainian Institute of America

About JADA: Founded in 2002, the Japanese Art Dealers Association is a not-for-profit group whose members include leading New York galleries and private dealers. JADA’s members are dedicated to the fine arts of pre-Modern Japan and hold individual gallery exhibitions, joint exhibitions, and sponsor lectures and symposia at institutions in the United States.  JADA’s members are based in New York and are Sebastian Izzard LLC Asian Art, Leighton R. Longhi, Inc. Oriental Fine Art, Mika Gallery, Erik Thomsen Asian Art, and Koichi Yanagi Oriental Fine Arts.  For more information, please visit www.jada-ny.org. 

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Exhibition:         JADA 2012: An Exhibition by the Japanese Art Dealers Association

Dates:               March 17 – March 21, 2011

Hours:              March 17, 11 AM – 5 PM

     March 18-21, 11 AM – 6 PM

Location:           Ukrainian Institute of America, 2 E. 79th St., 2nd Fl., New York, NY