The Society for Asian Art invites you on a tour to Boston, Cambridge and Salem in October to enjoy not only the fall foliage but also an astounding line-up of art collections.  New England’s enthusiasm for the Far East was ignited early on, with the establishment of the East India Marine Society in 1799, which brought together mariners from Salem who had navigated beyond the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn for exploration and trade.  In the late 19th century, two ‘orientalists’ with Boston and Salem ties – Edward S. Morse (d. 1925) and Ernest Fenollosa (d. 1908) – taught and traveled widely in Japan and beyond, and later gave their considerable art collections to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.  We will have in-depth, curator-led tours at both the MFA and the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem to discover renowned collections from China, Japan, Korea, South Asia and the Islamic world – including the opportunity at PEM to see a major retrospective exhibition about Isamu Noguchi and to marvel at the Yin Yu Tang House, an 18th-century Chinese house re-erected inside the museum.  We will also see archaic Chinese jades and other important Asian art at Harvard’s Sackler Museum and, for a detour to Egypt’s past, an exquisite mummy case and other artifacts at the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East.  Rounding out our Boston sojourn will be guided tours at art lovers’ favorites, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and Institute of Contemporary Art. 

TOUR HIGHLIGHTS

• Curator-led tours at three extraordinary museums:

  • Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), whose Arts of Asia includes a collection of nearly 200,000 works—spanning some 6,000 years—from Japan, Korea, China, South and Southeast Asia, India, and the Islamic world.  Highlights will include:

  • Chinese collections of imperial ceramics, ancient bronzes, monumental Buddhist sculptures, and 20th-century and contemporary work; of particular note is the collection of Chinese paintings, with many masterpieces from the Song and Yuan dynasties as well as the famed Thirteen Emperors scroll from the Tang dynasty (618–907), considered the oldest court painting in existence.

  • Korean collections -- one of the finest in the U.S. -- containing more than 1,000 works ranging from the Bronze Age to newly acquired contemporary ceramics. It is particularly rich in decorative arts—metalwork, celadon, and lacquers—from the Goryeo dynasty (918–1392) and Buddhist paintings from both the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties (1392–1910).

  • South Asian and Southeast Asian sculptures and decorative arts that emphasize the cultural exchange between these two geographic regions over the course of two millennia.

  • Islamic art collections -- one of the most important in the U.S. -- which explore art forms that are integral to all Islamic cultures, like Arabic calligraphy, while others focus on unique visual traditions such as that of Ottoman Turkey or Mughal India.

  • A contemplative Japanese garden, Tenshin-en, or the “Garden of the Heart of Heaven,” which represents a unique merging of two cultures: the profound symbolism of a Japanese garden with a feeling that evokes the rocky coastline and deep forests of New England.

  • Japanese prints from the largest collection outside Japan, with over 50,000 sheets from the 8th century to the present.  Note: Other Japanese galleries will be closed due to renovation work.

• Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, which holds more than 840,000 works of historical and cultural art covering maritime, American, Asian, Oceanic and African art, Asian export art, and two large libraries with over 400,000 books and manuscripts. 

  • Our visit will include a series of curator-led tours focusing on the Chinese, Japanese, Korean and South Asian art collections.

  • A highlight will be the opportunity to see the special exhibition, Isamu Noguchi: “I am not a designer”, a major retrospective that offers a new perspective on the design work of Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988) -- encompassing sculpture, lighting, furniture, ceramics and designs for public spaces such as gardens, playgrounds and plazas.

  • Another particular delight will be the Yin Yu Tang House, a late 18th-century Chinese house from Anhui province that had been removed from its original village and re-erected inside the museum. 

• Harvard Art Museums in Cambridge, where our visit to what was formerly known as the Arthur M. Sackler Museum at Harvard University will focus on its impressive collection of archaic Chinese jades (the widest collection outside of China) and Japanese surimono, a genre of woodblock prints.  The collections also include outstanding Chinese bronzes, ceremonial weapons, Buddhist cave-temple sculptures, ceramics from China and Korea, Japanese works on paper, and lacquer boxes.

• Private guided tours at:

  • Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East with Director Peter Manuelian focusing on the exhibition, Egypt Eternal: 4,000 Years of Fascination. 

  • Free time to also visit other Harvard University museums on your own, including the Fogg Museum, renowned for its holdings of Western paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, photographs, prints, and drawings from the Middle Ages to the present; the Busch-Reisinger, which has significant works of Austrian Secession art, German expressionism, and 1920s abstraction; and the Harvard Museum of Natural History, which is renowned for its models in glass of flowers.

  • Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), located in the South Boston Seaport District, which has been completely redeveloped with new and re-purposed buildings, and is housed in a stunning building on Fan Pier.

  • Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (ISGM), founded by Gardner and opened in 1903 in her home styled after an Italian villa, to showcase her collection of European, Asian and American paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and decorative arts.

• Possible visit to a private collection or artist studio (TBC)

• Stay five nights at the four-star Fairmont Copley Plaza, located on Copley Square in the heart of Boston’s Back Bay.  Dating back to 1912, this grand, iconic hotel has the most opulent lobby in the city, with 21-foot-high gilded coffered ceilings, restored mosaic tile flooring, and plenty of gold and bronze accents.  It is in walking distance to restaurants, shopping and other architectural gems including Trinity Church and the Boston Public Library.  Check-in time is 4 p.m.

 IMAGES ON FIRST PAGE:

The MFA’s larger-than-life painted wood sculpture, Guanyin, Bodhisattva of Compassion, underwent a year-and-a-half conservation project before being put back on view in 2016, and is the centerpiece of the MFA’s contemplative Chinese gallery space that evokes the restrained elegance of Song period aesthetics. Chinese, Jin dynasty, early 12th century, Wood (Paulownia tomentosa) with polychrome and gilding, 141 x 88 x 88 cm (55 1/2 x 34 5/8 x 34 5/8 in.).  Hervey Edward Wetzel Fund. Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Dish with phoenixes and peonies, Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, China. Qing dynasty, Kangxi period, 1662– 1722. Porcelain with transparent glaze and overglaze polychrome enamels. Gift of Sarah B. Jewell, the Conger Collection, 1991. E76737. Photo courtesy of the Peabody Essex Museum.

Hwarot (bridal robe), Korea. 1700s or 1800s. Silk, paper, and cotton. Gift of Yamanaka and Company, 1927. #20190.F. Peabody Essex Museum. Photo courtesy of the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation and the Peabody Essex Museum.

Noguchi’s Akari Lamp. Photo courtesy of the Peabody Essex Museum.

A final, updated Itinerary will be sent to you two weeks prior to the tour. 

Fitness Level:  EASY

This trip involves a stay in just one hotel.  There will be standing and walking for extended periods during museum visits or tours.  Walking is typically on flat terrain with elevators often available.  While we encourage participation in all group activities, a tour participant can opt-out when necessary.  We will be walking to restaurants in the evening, which will take 5 to 10 minutes.  Travel insurance is recommended for this tour if there is any chance of a health event for you or a family member prior to or during the tour dates.

Health Requirements:

Participants should be in good health and with overall good mobility and should be comfortable participating in at least three to five hours of activity per day.  Any condition that may require any individual accommodation or special medical attention must be reported at the time you make your reservation.