Blogs

Asian art

Curator's Corner

Self-Taught Artists

Monday, April 23, 2018 | Karl Cole

I was recently studying the insanely wonderful art of contemporary artist Carmen Cartiness Johnson, and I noticed that her artist’s statement said right off the bat that she is “self-taugh ...

Read Article
Curator's Corner

Women's (Art) History Month: Kajiwara Aya

Monday, March 26, 2018 | Karl Cole

I like to feature pioneering women during National Women’s (Art) History Month. The arts are obviously no exception to the fields in which women have pioneered and excelled. This is as true in J ...

Read Article
Curator's Corner

Temple on Active Volcano's Slopes! Pura Besakih

Monday, December 4, 2017 | Karl Cole

I’m naturally concerned for Pura Besakih (Mother Temple). It is situated on the slopes of Mount Agung, which is currently causing havoc with its eruption in Bali. It survived a major eruption of ...

Read Article
Curator's Corner

The Iconoclast (?): Zhan Wang

Monday, September 18, 2017 | Karl Cole

It would probably take me forever to be able to say that I had “seen it all” in the world of art. You know the old expression, “just when you thought you’d seen it all,” ...

Read Article
Curator's Corner

An Art Ode to Labor Day Week: Kim Deuk-sin

Thursday, September 7, 2017 | Karl Cole

I often marvel at how hard producers of the TV show M*A*S*H tried to faithfully depict everyday life in Korea. Of course, looking at this scene from the turn of the 1800s is an unfair comparison to 19 ...

Read Article
Curator's Corner

An Art Ode to Labor Day Week: Okumura Masanobu

Wednesday, September 6, 2017 | Karl Cole

My Labor Day Week series continues with this ukiyo-e woodcut. ...

Read Article
Curator's Corner

An Art Ode to Labor Day Week: Majapahit Empire

Tuesday, September 5, 2017 | Karl Cole

I know that Labor Day is past, but we can keep it going throughout this week with a few works of art that represent the working class. The subject of labor has been a trend in art going all the way ba ...

Read Article
Curator's Corner

Hanami in Spring: Terasaki Kōgyō, Katsushika Hokusai, Shibata Zeshin

Tuesday, April 11, 2017 | Karl Cole

With warm weather finally starting to return, I’m going to continue to celebrate spring with ART. Hanami is Japanese for “blossom viewing,” and is the name given to the annual spring ...

Read Article
Curator's Corner

It's All in the Details: Hoysala Dynasty and Safavid Dynasty

Thursday, March 9, 2017 | Karl Cole

The sculptural decoration of Hoysala dynasty (ca. 1050–ca. 1346) architecture is particularly ornate and worth scoping out. In the West, we are so inundated with data about the “sculpture ...

Read Article
Curator's Corner

What's in a Snake 2: Deccan Painting

Tuesday, February 7, 2017 | Karl Cole

Yesterday I introduced the snake as a subject in art. Here’s an example of a sinister serpent/person in Hindu tradition. Aghasura was a demon follower of the evil (pseudo-demon) king Kamsa (of M ...

Read Article
Curator's Corner

Vietnam Part 3: Dinh Q. Lê

Wednesday, January 18, 2017 | Karl Cole

Yesterday I told you about Vietnamese art from the 1500s. For today’s final installment in my series about Vietnamese art, let’s take a look at some contemporary art.  ...

Read Article
Curator's Corner

Vietnam Part 2: Ceramics

Tuesday, January 17, 2017 | Karl Cole

Yesterday I told you about the Champa kingdom that flourished in Vietnam. For the second post in my series on Vietnamese art, I will introduce you to the development of ceramics in Vietnam.   ...

Read Article
Curator's Corner

Vietnam Part 1: Champa Kingdom

Monday, January 16, 2017 | Karl Cole

And speaking of political disasters this past week, I’m pretty sure most folks would agree that the Vietnam War (1955–1975) was one of them in the past. My problem with that—aside fr ...

Read Article
Curator's Corner

The "Things" of Art: Lee Ufan

Monday, November 21, 2016 | Karl Cole

I really like introducing you to artists I’ve just begun to appreciate, especially if their work is a breath of fresh air on an otherwise dreary day. That certainly applies to the work of Ufan L ...

Read Article
Curator's Corner

An Autumn Idyll from Japan

Monday, October 31, 2016 | Karl Cole

One of the most fascinating things I learned (among many fascinating things) while studying Japanese culture and art when in college, was that Japanese scholars would routinely debate the virtues of a ...

Read Article
Curator's Corner

Artist Selfies

Monday, September 26, 2016 | Karl Cole

Selfies are actually nothing new. Artists have been making selfies for centuries. It just happens to be easier for everyday folks nowadays to produce self-portraits. I’m presenting you with thes ...

Read Article

Always Stay in the Loop

Want to know what’s new from Davis? Subscribe to our mailing list for periodic updates on new products, contests, free stuff, and great content.

Back to top