Date: Fri 24-Apr-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: LAURAB

Quick Words:

Pacific

Full Text:

Arts Of Pacific Asia

w/ cuts

BY LAURA BEACH

NEW YORK CITY -- Anchoring the four corners of Asia Week, the marketing

invention that has turned New York in late March into a powerhouse of Far

Eastern art and antiques, are two major fairs and auctions at two major

houses, Christie's and Sotheby's.

Unlike most conventional tailgating arrangements, where one show is clearly

the magnet for other events, the two fairs in this equation represent a

pleasing yin and yang, two approaches to one subject.

Uptown in every way is Brian and Anna Haughton's International Asian Art Fair,

the extraordinarily posh presentation at the Seventh Regiment Armory. Arts of

Pacific Asia, both literally and figuratively, is the downtown alternative.

The Caskey-Lees/Shador joint venture set up at the Lexington Avenue Armory

from March 26-29. Though it too includes an international cast of highly

respected dealers, its overall ambience is decidedly less traditional. Clouds

of incense wafted through the hall on opening day, suggesting both ancient

temple and hippie caravansary. Finches suspended in bamboo cages in a central

garden court were an exotic touch. What with the incense, however, they

brought to some irreverent minds the old story of the canary in the coal mine.

Still, California-based promoters Bill Caskey and Liz Lees and their partner,

Frank Farbenbloom of ShaDor, deserve credit for assembling a high-quality

event with many imaginative details, from a compelling lecture series to a

handsome color catalogue.

The team's experience shows. ShaDor manages, among others, the Washington,

D.C., antiques show, a long-running success. Caskey-Lees promotes Arts of

Pacific Asia several times a year, on both coasts.

Textiles were the undisputed stars of Asia Week. Ancient Chinese and Central

Asian silk tapestries dazzled visitors at the Metropolitan Museum of Art,

where "When Silk Was Gold" recently unfurled. The Textile Gallery of London

set up a Chinese silk display in the New York gallery of M.D. Flacks, and

talks at Arts of Pacific Asia emphasized the textiles of Bhutan, nomadic

weavings of Central Asia, Korean rank badges, and Ming Dynasty textiles.

Widely considered one of the world's leading specialists in imperial Chinese

costume and rank badges, Linda Wrigglesworth had one of four oversized stands

in the center of the floor. Fresh from the European Fine Art Fair in

Maastricht, the London dealer provided a sneak preview of her forthcoming

gallery display, "The Purse." Finely embroidered silk handbags, everyday

articles in the imperial court a century ago, are now appreciated as sumptuous

works of art. By fair's end, Wrigglesworth had sold several major pieces,

including an important Daoist priest's robe.

Another of the four central stands was occupied by Myrna Myers. Highlights of

the Parisian textiles dealer's display included a Seventeenth Century Chinese

silk tapestry depicting "The Immortals in Their Heavenly Abode." A Chinese

dragon robe of gold brocade also dated to the late Seventeenth Century.

Liza Hyde, a New York dealer better known for exquisite Japanese screens,

brought silk kimonos to the fair. Hyde maximized her visibility during Asia

Week by setting up at the International Asian Art Fair as well.

Colorful Uzbek suzanis, silk ikat panels dating to the Nineteenth Century,

ranged from $18,000 to $74,000 at Blackmon Antique Textile Art of San

Francisco.

Along with costumes and traditional weavings, carpet filled an important spot

at Arts of Pacific Asia. Chu's of Hong Kong displayed a pair of late

Nineteenth Century Ningxia Lama rugs, $12,000. They flanked a third Ningxia

rug, $15,000. The most stunning antique Chinese rugs and carpets in the fair

belonged to Sandra Whitman, a dealer from San Francisco, Calif.

Colonial furniture from India, Burma, and Indonesia is the specialty of

Asiattic. "I've been doing a lot of Burmese colonial," said New York dealer

Dianne Donadio, who also displayed Chinese vernacular furniture. A Nineteenth

Century black-lacquered, hand-painted table was $1,795.

It was impossible to miss Polly Barton's exquisite paintings on silk, on offer

at Louis Lawrence of New York. Barton, who lives in Santa Fe, N.M., studied

with a master weaver in Japan and now creates ecclesiastical vestments and

silk wall hangings. Her shimmering, semi-abstract panels start at $1,800.

Lawrence sold nine Barton works and had several more transactions pending.

One of the pleasures of Arts of Pacific Asia was its stylish combination of

old and new. Contemporary paintings from Asia were stimulating reminders that

thriving art scenes exist elsewhere in the world. Represented in New York by

Judith Hughes Day, Hanoi-based Vietnam Fine Art Consultants featured

contemporary abstractions by Nguyen Cam, who lives in Paris. Ethan Cohen Fine

Art of New York departed from the traditional show structure by hosting

private receptions for their artists, among them Xu Bing, Gu Wenda, Zhang Hong

Tu and Chen Dan Quing.

Nothing surpasses the opulent splendor of traditional Indian jewelry, much of

it gold set with glistening rubies, diamonds, and other precious and

semi-precious stones. Jewel of the Lotus of Scottsdale, Ariz., attracted

shoppers with mahogany cases of Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century adornments,

bronzes, and artifacts.

Ethnographic art was another category in ready supply at the most recent

installation of Arts of Pacific Asia. Chinalai Tribal Antiques of Shoreham,

N.Y., dedicated its display to primitive masks and other artifacts of the Yao

minority people of southern China, Laos, and Thailand. Eighteen masks ranged

from $1,500 to $2,500 each.

At Jeff Hsu Oriental Art, Tapei, a Sancai glazed earthenware horse and camel

dating to the Tang Dynasty was $90,000; and a pair of massive Chinese

cloisonne vases from the first quarter of the Nineteenth Century were $185,000

at Nicholas Vandekar Antiques, Paoli, Penn.

Antique photography, a burgeoning collecting area, was represented by Dennis

G. Crow of Los Angeles. His walls were lined with prints of Hong Kong, Canton,

and Macao. "I sold 300 photographs in four days. That is without precedent,

and I was not alone. Everyone around me was extremely busy," Crow said.

Attendance at the spring installment of New York Arts of Pacific Asia reached

new heights. "We had the largest number of visitors ever," Bill Caskey said.

"We broke the September show's attendance record of 10,000 by the third day.

Visitors included leading museum curators and trustees from Manhattan,

Brooklyn, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, and Australia; auction house

specialists; and collectors from Europe, Asia an the Middle East."

Arts of Pacific Asia will return to New York City at the Armory at Gramercy

Park October 17-19. A gala benefit on Friday, October 16, will support Victim

Services of New York. Arts of Pacific Asia will conclude its 1998 season at

the Santa Monica Civic Center in Los Angeles on November 28-29.