Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art

ICYMI, some highlights from #Chuseok, when we welcomed 7K visitors to the museum. Thanks to your support, we made important Korean cultural traditions--performances, workshops, demos, and more--free and accessible to all! Learn how you can support here: https://lnkd.in/gBSQHh6z

Get an exclusive curator's tour of "An Epic of Kings: The Great Mongol Shahnama" and delve into the pages of a massive, boldly illustrated manuscript as you journey through Iran's history: https://s.si.edu/4ddWUlB Image: Taynush before Iskandar and the visit to the Brahmans, folio from the Great Mongol Shahnama (Book of kings) by Firdawsi (d.1020), National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Arthur M. Sackler Collection, Purchase —Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, S1986.105.1

What do you suppose she’s thinking? This scene in “Caprice in Purple and Gold: The Golden Screen” overflows with works from American artist James McNeill Whistler’s personal collection of Japanese and Chinese art, from porcelain and lacquer to the painted Japanese screen referenced in the work’s title that, like the walls of our famed Peacock Room, shimmers with applied gold leaf. Whistler poses his model, Joanna Hiffernan (d. 1886), as an active viewer by having her hold a print from the series “Views of the Sixty-odd Provinces” by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858). Her rapt attention transforms her into a proxy for both the viewer and the artist as discerning connoisseurs who were creating imagined views of East Asia through collected objects. Explore this work’s connection to our most famous work of art in “Ruffled Feathers: Creating Whistler’s Peacock Room,” now on view in Gallery 11. https://s.si.edu/4cjw8I1 Part of our #AmericanArt collection. #SmithsonianAsianArt Image: Caprice in Purple and Gold: The Golden Screen, James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), 1864, United States, Oil on wood panel, 50.1 × 68.5 cm (19 3/4 × 27 in), National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1904.75a

Can you imagine a map that takes up your entire living room? That's about the size of this 19th century map of Korea you can access on our website. Learn about this piece's extraordinary history and craftsmanship: https://s.si.edu/3XNIF1x #CuriosityWelcomed

On October 4, join us to celebrate Vietnam Week with an evening of food, music, crafts, and a screening of "Three Seasons" with director Tony Bui in person: https://s.si.edu/3BabnRj

Long before the Rings of Power and the fantasy world created by J. R. R. Tolkien, supernatural trees already populated the earth in medieval literature. In Firdawsi’s Shahnama (Book of kings), Iran’s national epic completed in 1010, Alexander the Great comes upon a wondrous and oracular tree with two trunks, the male speaking in the daytime, the female talking at night. The latter warns Alexander of his imminent death despite his immeasurable power and wealth. In this painting, from one the most celebrated copies of the Shahnama made for the Mongol Ilkhanid ruler of Iran in the 1330s, the artist departs from Firdawsi’s description by adding human and animal heads, making the tree even more marvelous. These hanging fruits in the shape of men, jackals, or birds, all seem to talk, bark, and sing in a surreal cacophony in front of the mighty ruler. Come see this artwork in person in special exhibition “An Epic of Kings: The Great Mongol Shahnama” opening on September 21, 2024 in galleries 23-24. Part of our #PersianArt collection. #SmithsonianAsianArt Image: Iskandar and the Talking Tree, Folio from the Great Mongol Shahnama, Iran, probably Tabriz, Ilkhanid dynasty, ca. 1330, Ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase – Charles Lang Freer Endowment Fund, F1935.23

“Is an image of North Korea independent of all ideologies, politics, and war possible? In a powerful Cold War society, ordinary daily life, pure nature, lazy behavior, and naive judgment in a hostile country are all taboo. When I was young, my mother told me she was surprised once seeing a soldier from the North Korean People's Army. He seemed so gentle and child-like.” The role of media in shaping perceptions of North and South Korea is a recurring theme in Park Chan-kyong's practice. Echoing the style of popular images from the 1950s to the 1970s, Park takes his mother’s anecdote as a point of departure in reimagining a solitary North Korean soldier wandering aimlessly through a forest. The gentle sounds of water and rustling leaves, a harmonica, and the static of a radio broadcast are his companions. Occasionally shown with bloodied head and bent rifle, the young man appears to hover between cruel reality and sun-dappled dream. The juxtaposition of isolated photographs with the stop-motion quality of the audiovisual work enhances the sense of revivifying fragments of a distant memory. Experience the powerful imagery in “Child Soldier” on a curator-led tour September 21 at 3 p.m. as part of our Chuseok Family Festival. https://s.si.edu/3YWCER8 Images: “Child Soldier,” Park Chan-kyong, 2017–2018, Digitized 35mm color photographs, light boxes, Courtesy of the artist and Tina Kim Gallery, New York, ELS2023.7.2.1–6

Meet curator Simon Rettig online September 17 for an overview of the upcoming exhibition, "An Epic of Kings" and learn about the intricate text-image relationship in this copy of Iran’s national epic! Free and open to the public: https://s.si.edu/3yXBaeD #SmithsonianAsianArt Image: Iskandar and the talking tree (detail), folio from the Great Mongol Shahnama (Book of kings), Iran, probably Tabriz, Ilkhanid dynasty, ca. 1330, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1935.23

Share the future. Shape the future. 🌎 Join us in driving curiosity and innovation as part of the Smithsonian Campaign for Our Shared Future. Learn more about how you can support our work to build a better future for all. https://s.si.edu/4e1oItM

Do you celebrate #Chuseok, or Korean Thanksgiving Day, one of the biggest holidays in Korea? Nicole Dowd, our Head of Public Programs, explains why this holiday is personally meaningful: https://s.si.edu/3Th5tUC