I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer! It's mid-August now which means there's only 4 weeks left before the Asian art auction season begins again! I'm already hard at work preparing for the autumn season and my next big trip to Asia Week New York in mid-September.
I just wanted to let everyone know that my latest article for Orientations '‘東海道 Tōkaidō: Dreamscapes by Andō Hiroshige’ at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts' has been published and featured on their website!
For those of you who have been following my career over the past few years, I have been writing part-time for Orientations since 2016 with articles on Chinese art auction trends and Asian art exhibition reviews.
Founded in 1969, Orientations is a Hong Kong based magazine that publishes articles on the Asian art world including China, Japan, Korea, the Himalayan region, Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Islamic world. It is catered towards Asian art collectors, academics, institutions, auction house specialists, and all levels of connoisseurs.
This article discusses the ongoing exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts titled ‘東海道 Tōkaidō: Dreamscapes by Andō Hiroshige’. The show is curated by my wonderful colleague Laura Vigo, the MMFA's Asian art curator.
In 'Dreamscapes by Andō Hiroshige', Laura Vigo discusses how the renowned Japanese ukiyo-e (floating world) woodblock print artist Andō Hiroshige (1797-1858) popularized travel prints through his Hōeidō edition of the Tōkaidō Road series that was published between 1833-1834.
This series depicts each station on the Tōkaidō connecting Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to the old imperial capital of Kyoto. These stations all have their own special characteristics that are both real and imagined.
Dreamscapes by Andō Hiroshige was such a wonderful exhibition and one of the few instances where you can see all the views presented simultaneously. If you have time to visit Montreal before its closing on September 8th, it's definitely worth the trip.
Image 1. View of the exhibition 東海道 Tōkaidō: Dreamscapes by Andō Hiroshige at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Photo MMFA, Denis Farley.
Image 2. Shōno, Driving Rain (庄野白雨), no. 46 from the series “Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō,” about 1833-1834
Andō Hiroshige (1797- 1858)
Woodblock print (nishiki-e), publisher: Takenouchi Magohachi (Hoeidō)
MMFA, gift of Mary Fraikin in memory of her father, Maurice van Ysendyck
Photo MMFA, Christine Guest
Image 3. An image of me during the exhibition's opening night in Montreal on April 25, 2024. The MMFA had a big party to celebrate the event with lots of wine and snacks!
Image 4. A digital signboard for the exhibition at the MMFA.
Thank you for reading this blog and I will keep everyone updated about my upcoming Fall travels. You can also see what I have been up to by following my Instagram account @anthonywuart.