More
than 400 guests celebrated the Asian Art Museum's new exhibition,Emerald
Cities: Arts of Siam & Burma, at an opening reception on Wednesday
October 21st. In addition to viewing the beautiful exhibition and enjoying
a sumptuous buffet by McCall Associates, guests had the opportunity to
see "Orchids at the Asian Art Museum," a special one-week show featuring
29 orchid displays by top Bay Area floral designers. The orchid show
was inspired as an homage to Doris Duke, a passionate orchid enthusiast
and collector of many of the artworks presented in the exhibition.
From October 23, 2009 through
January 10, 2010, the Asian Art Museum showcases Emerald
Cities: Arts of Siam & Burma, 1775-1950, the first
exhibition of its kind to use a systematic approach to present artworks
from this region and period. The exhibition features more than 140 artworks
drawn exclusively from the museum’s collection, which is one of
the largest and most important collections of nineteenth-century Siamese
and Burmese art outside of Southeast Asia. On view are ornately carved
furniture, lavishly decorated miniature shrines, gilded statues, elaborately
illustrated manuscripts, colorfully detailed paintings, and mirrored
and bejeweled ritual objects. The Asian Art Museum organized Emerald
Cities and serves as the exhibition’s
exclusive venue.
The museum’s holdings in Southeast Asian art increased
dramatically in 2002 from a generous donation of artworks – including
many rare sculptures, paintings, and decorative arts – from Doris
Duke’s Southeast Asian Art Collection. Before being distributed
to organizations such as the Asian Art Museum, Doris Duke’s Southeast
Asian Art Collection included more than 400 museum-quality objects and
1,800 other items. Together, these objects have represented one of the
most important collections of later Southeast Asian art outside Asia.
Jay Xu, Asian Art Museum director; Ed Henry, president of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; Forrest McGill, Asian Art Museum Chief Curator.
