2017-03-07

12503 - 20170722 - Chinese ceramics from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on view at the Vincent Price Art Museum - Los Angeles - 24.01.2017-22.07.2017

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Tea Bowl (Chawan) with Hare's Fur Pattern, Southern Song dynasty, 1127-1279, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Mr. and Mrs. Allan C. Balch Collection (M.51.2.1). Photo © Museum Associates/LACMA
 
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art announced today that works from the museum's Chinese art collection will be on view at the Vincent Price Art Museum in a special exhibition. Chinese Ceramics from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, on view January 24–July 22, 2017, will present 50 ceramic masterpieces with examples from the Neolithic period to the 19th century that exhibit a variety of styles and techniques, including works made of low-fired earthenware and high-fired stoneware and porcelain. This exhibition is part of a new LACMA initiative that launched in summer 2016 called On-Site: Neighborhood Partnerships with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Supported by a grant from The James Irvine Foundation, On-Site is an example of LACMA’s commitment to making its collection and programs accessible to the communities of Los Angeles County, in the hopes of broadening participation in cultural experiences. By building on existing partnerships, establishing new relationships, and seeking community input, LACMA aims to create educational and shared experiences that resonate with community members.

"This collaboration with the Vincent Price Art Museum and East Los Angeles College is the first time LACMA has presented an exhibition dedicated to Chinese ceramics from its permanent collection in another part of Los Angeles,” said Michael Govan, LACMA CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director. “This is an important component of our On-Site program—sharing the transformational power of art with the local community.”

Pilar Tompkins Rivas, director of the Vincent Price Art Museum, said, "We are thrilled to partner with LACMA to showcase these important works of Chinese ceramics at the Vincent Price Art Museum. We are embedded within an important and thriving Asian American cultural center in Los Angeles County, and we believe this exhibition will have deep resonance for our local community and for the diverse student populations that we serve at East Los Angeles College. This is an exciting opportunity to share these masterworks through the exhibition and its related educational programs.”

"This is the first opportunity in over a decade to view a superb selection of LACMA’s Chinese ceramics ranging in date from the Neolithic period (c. 2500 BC) to the late Qing dynasty (1644–1911),” said exhibition curator Stephen Little, Florence and Harry Sloan Curator of Chinese Art and Department Head, Chinese & Korean Art at LACMA. “The ceramics on show include some of the first examples of Chinese art to enter LACMA’s collection in the 1920s and ’30s, presenting a chance to view some of the most important styles and techniques in Chinese ceramic history, a wide range of symbols commonly found in Chinese art, and a fine selection of ceramics designed to be exported to countries outside of China.”

This exhibition, comprising works from LACMA’s permanent collection, presents an introduction to Chinese ceramics, with examples from c. 2500 BC (Neolithic period) to the 19th century, and is curated by Stephen Little, Florence and Harry Sloan Curator of Chinese Art and Department Head, Chinese & Korean Art.

Chinese Ceramics from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is divided into three sections: The first provides a survey of the technical development of Chinese ceramics, including the three basic types of clay—earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain—and decorative techniques, such as glazing. The second section focuses on some of the symbols and narratives embedded in the decoration of Chinese ceramics, including designs key to understanding Chinese cosmology, religion, history, and society. The exportation of Chinese ceramics to other parts of Asia began as early as the seventh and eighth centuries, and to Europe in the 16th century. The third section presents ceramics exported to Japan, Southeast Asia, the Near East, Europe, and the Americas between the 14th and 19th centuries.