The Department of Asian Art of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Asia Week New York will co-host the annual reception in the Asian art galleries of The Museum on Monday, March 19 to celebrate Asia Week.

This private by-invitation only reception has become a must attend event on the calendars of curators, auction house experts, and collectors who descend upon New York for the ten-day non-stop extravaganza of exhibitions, auctions, and cultural events.

“We are delighted to join with the Department of Asian Art of the Met as co- hosts of this wonderful evening,” says Christina Prescott-Walker, chairman of Asia Week New York. “There isn’t a more spectacular setting in which to herald the treasures of Asia.”

Maxwell K. (Mike) Hearn, Douglas Dillon Chairman of the Metropolitan’s Department of Asian Art, commented: “This event, which brings together dealers, collectors, curators and scholars from around the globe, underscores the relevance and importance of Asian art as a vital component of The Met’s encyclopedic holdings.”

As they have in preceding years, guests can avail themselves of special curatorial tours of The Met’s entire Asian Wing, including the seven special exhibitions currently on view there. They include:

Diamond Mountains: Travel and Nostalgia in Korean Art (through May 20, 2018); The Poetry of Nature: Edo Paintings from the Fishbein- Bender Collection (through January 21, 2019); Crowns of the Vajra Masters: Ritual Art of Nepal (through December 16, 2018); Streams and Mountains without End: Landscape Traditions of China (through January 6, 2019); Spirited Creatures: Animal Representations in Chinese Silk and Lacquer (through July 22, 2018); A Passion for Jade: Heber Bishop and His Collection (through July 22, 2018); and Celebrating the Year of the Dog (through July 4, 2018).

Many of the Asia Week New York dealers will launch their exhibitions on Thursday March 15. The exhibitions will open to the public the next day and throughout the designated Open House Weekend, and continue through March 24.

About Asia Week New York

45 top-tier international Asian art specialists, five major auction houses, and 19 museums and Asian cultural institutions unite for a ten-day celebration of Asian art marked by gallery open houses auctions at Bonhams, Christie’s, Doyle, iGavel, and Sotheby’s, and numerous museum exhibitions, lectures and special events.

Participants from Belgium, England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, and the United States unveil an extraordinary array of treasures from China, India, Southeast Asia, Tibet, Nepal, Japan, and Korea.

Asia Week New York Association, Inc. is a 501 (c ) 6 non-profit trade membership organization registered with the state of New York. For more information visit www.asiaweekny.com

About The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Founded on April 13, 1870, The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a living encyclopedia of world art. Every culture from every part of the world—from Florence to Thebes to Papua New Guinea—from the earliest times to the present and in every medium is represented, frequently at the highest levels of quality and invention. The Museum’s more than two million square feet house what is in fact a collection of collections; several of its departments could be major independent museums almost anywhere else, including the Department of Asian Art, whose collection is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the West. As impressive as its collections is the Museum’s diverse audience, which last year numbered over 7 million visitors.

For a comprehensive listing of the Metropolitan’s current and forthcoming exhibitions, please visit the Museum’s website www.metmuseum.org.
About Aman

This year marks the return of Aman as Presenting Sponsor for Asia Week New York. Aman was founded in 1988 with the vision of building a collection of intimate resorts with the unassuming, warm hospitality of a gracious private residence. The first, Amanpuri (“place of peace”) in Phuket, Thailand introduced the concept, and since then Aman has grown to encompass 31 hotels and resorts located in Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Dominican Republic, France, Greece, Indonesia, India, Italy, Japan, Laos, Montenegro, Morocco, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, the Turks & Caicos Islands, the United States, and Vietnam.