April 09th, 2024

Asia Week New York

Last Thursday marked the opening of Asia Week New York's nine-day extravaganza when twenty-eight international galleries, six prestigious auction houses—Bonhams, Christie’s, Doyle, Heritage, iGavel, and Sotheby’s—plus museums all threw open their doors to welcome Asian art collectors, curators and enthusiasts who have waited all year to come to New York to see remarkable Far Eastern treasures,from China, India, the Himalayas, Tibet, Japan and Korea, dating from the second millennium BCE to the present. This unparalleled annual event in New York–the only one of its kind in the U.S.–has become an essentialdestination for anyone with a passion for Asian art.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of Asia Week New York which made the gala reception co-hosted byThe Asian Art Department of Metropolitan Museum of Art and Asia Week New York even more joyous. Andrea Bayer, Deputy Director for Collections and Administration, Brendan Lynch, the chairman of Asia Week New York and Mike D. Hearn, the Douglas Dillon Chairman of the Department of Asian Art welcomed the crowd of over 600 attendees comprised of international collectors, curators, gallery owners, and scholars who are in town for the exhibitions, auctions, and museum shows.

Guests were also treated to curatorial tours of The Met Museum’s major exhibitions now on view including Indian Skies: The Howard Hodgkin Collection of Indian Court Painting; Lineages: Korean Art at The Met; Celebrating the Year of the Dragon Vision and Verse: The Poetry of Chinese Painting; Embracing Color: Enamel in Chinese Decorative Arts, 1300-1900; A Passion for Jade: The Bishop Collection; Ganesha: Lord of New Beginnings; Perfect Imperfection in Ceramic Art; and Anxiety and Hope in Japanese Art.

Among those seen in the crowd were: Mike Hearn, Andrea Bayer, Brendan Lynch, Oliver Forge, Margaret and Jeffrey Tao, Diane and Arthur Abbey, Joan Mirviss and Robert Levine, Takahiro Kondo, Carlton Rochell, Seth Bright, Daphne King, Daniel Chen, Carol Conover, Mary Ann Rogers, John Carpenter, Peter Yeoh, John and Berthe Ford, Beatrice Chang, Erik and Cornelia Thomsen, James Breece, Francesca Galloway, Florence Li, Alice North, Mee-Seen Loong, Kelly Wang,Chip and Margaret Ziering, Ren LightPan, Craig Yee, Heakyum Kim, Shawn Ghassemi, Sanjay Kapoor, Rebecca Humphreys, Einor Cervone, Gabriel Eckenstein, Thomas Bachmann, Dr.Sarah Laursen, Wendy Moonan, Shoko Aono, Ken Matsubara, Sebastian Izzard, Henry Howard-Sneyd, Margi Gristina, Eric Zetterquist, Nana Onishi, Stacey Lambrow, Miyako Yoshinaga, Margo Thoma, Thomas Murray, Kristal Hale, Fu Qiumeng, Michael Cherney, Arnold Chang, David Stanley Hewett, Lark and Erica Mason, Doug Frazer, Jeff Olson, Andrew Chait, John Guy, Joe Earle, John Weber, Alice Teng, and Marilyn White.

Asia Week New York's continuing sponsor for the past five years, Songtsam (“Paradise”) stands as an award-winning luxury collection comprising sixteen hotels, resorts, and tours nestled in Tibet and Yunnan Provinces, China. Founded in 2000 by Mr. Baima Duoji, a former Tibetan documentary filmmaker, Songtsam is the only collection of luxury Tibetan-style retreats that uniquely combines physical and spiritual healing through the lens of Tibetan meditation within the wellness space. Its sustainable properties offer guests an authentic experience amidst refined design, modern amenities, and discreet service, all set against thebackdrop of pristine natural beauty and cultural interest.

Asia Week New York runs through March 22nd

Photo credits: Annie Watt