The Metropolitan Museum and its Asian collection

Illustration from NYTimes article

NYTimes article on Cambodian objects at the Met

A very interesting article appeared in the New York Times on August 18th (the link is above)  titled, "Cambodia Says it has found its Lost Artifacts: In Gallery 249 at the Met". Well yes, the Asian galleries at the Met are full of pieces from SouthEast Asia, including Cambodia. Given the attitudes of the time these pieces entered the museum, and the political chaos of the region which was then at war, we can be certain that many were were looted by todays standards. At the time, the entire antiquities market operated with little concern for the issue of cultural patrimony. Now a reappraisal is occurring, and the Asian collection at the Met is the focus here. 

The question is, this history happened, and what do we do about it now. The most common answer I read, is that stolen is stolen and to return everything. Unfortunately with ancient art, which is generally found in the ground, and has no ownership history before discovery, all of it could be considered stolen if the nations declare that all cultural property belongs to the state. Which is fine and good if you think we should atomize culture and have everything return to the nation of origin. But what an impoverished world that would be, we could only have American art here, and Western European art? Nothing from ancient cultures, not even from the Mediterranean world, let alone Africa, Asia and the the other Americas?

I wish there was more nuance to the discussion. As someone who loves encyclopedic museums, I don't want to see them disassembled but that seems to be what is happening, bit by bit. And who benefits from this, certainly not the people in New York or the United States, or the many people from around the world that come to see NYC and the Metropolitan Museum. The reason it is such an important museum is the diversity and depth of its collections. You can truly appreciate the range of human expression across time and from all over the world. My life has been dedicated to the appreciation of ancient art, and in more recent years, early Chinese Buddhist sculpture. To understand it, seeing Indian and Southeastern Asian sculpture puts it in perspective, something I could do visiting the Metropolitan Museum. The richness of the collection with the many examples available of these disparate cultures amplifies its educational quality. To strip away significant examples would diminish the museum and the experience. While I may be a rare bird, that is the whole point of an institution such as the Met, which is not catering to the lowest common denominator. 

Nowhere in the public discussion do I read about the value of encyclopedic museums, rather it is all about the provenance of the objects. Standards have changed since these collections were formed, which is something I will write about more fully in the future. But they exist now, and are in the public sector. They may not be owned by the public, but they are on public view and available to the public. In fact it is the visibility to the public that makes these museum collection an easy target for these ideologically driven investigators. 

I would like to have the value of encyclopedic museums acknowledged and balanced against the legitimate concerns about looted art. Maybe a solution could be to transfer ownership to Cambodia in this case and leave the pieces on view in the Metropolitan Museum on long term or permanent loan. In the rare case of a site specific object or one of such importance that it has no parallel in Cambodia, have them returned. The pieces in the museum can serve to promote Cambodia and inspire people to visit as well as educate people about the accomplishments of this amazing culture.

Mangrove swamps at Sayachaltun, an easy outing on the Gulf

 

Alex and I went on an outing, to the Reserva Ecologica Sayachaltun near Telchec Puerto on the Gulf Coast of the Yucatan close to Merida. I heard about it from a post that popped up on my feed on Instagram, no doubt a paid promotion, but it worked. Seductive photos of people in kayaks going into the mangrove swamps. There is a large area of them on the coast, just in from the beach, almost all along the coast around Progreso. One passes over them when driving to the beaches there, but I have not really seen them. Thus this idea of a tour appealed. 

Alex on the boardwalk to the boats

One passes through the restaurant, which is a typical beach place with thatched palapa roofing, and plastic chairs, but in the end, very good food. However that was after our tour. We opted for a gondola tour, which turned out to be wise. Under the thatched roof above is the dock, and there was a fiberglass boat with guide waiting. One good thing, no motors, the water is very shallow, and mostly clear when you get to the mangroves, and the guide stands in the stern of the boat, poling the boat forward. Thus, it was a nearly silent mode of transporting one through the reserve, and while birds and fish still were disturbed by our approach, we still got to see a lot of them. For me, most interesting, were the many puffer fish which I saw, of different sizes. Recognizable by their distinctive patterning and box like body when not inflated, I knew what they were from above but had never seen them in nature, only in books and films, or aquariums. 

not my photo, I could not capture a photo myself, they were too quick

Above is a google images photo, as I could not take a photo myself, the fish were too quick for my iphone. It is not exactly the type I saw, but gives you an idea of how distinctive a pufferfish is, even not blown up. And of course, there were many other fish, of types I didn't know, and different sizes as one would expect. No big ones though, these shallow waters are mostly home to smaller fish.

Going into the mangrove swamps

Going from the lagoon into the swamp itself is to go into another world. With the help of the guide we saw small crabs which lurk in the trees themselves and colorful larger crabs on the edges. And of course lots of small fishes. The highlight was the Ojo de Agua, where we docked and walked along a short boardwalk to a clear pool with a strong upwelling of fresh water, the key to the Yucatan and the mangrove swamps. The geography of the Yucatan does not permit for rivers, all the water is underground and here in these cenotes and ojos de aqua, the water runs into the swamps, keeping them brackish. In fact, the abundance of fresh water allows some mangrove trees to grow taller, and one can see from a distance where a likely source of fresh water is by finding what appears to be a hill, but is rather a clump of tall trees in the midst of otherwise very low mangroves. From the guide I learned to identify the three types of mangroves, there are red mangrove, black mangrove and white mangrove. Each can be identified by their root structure. Otherwise, they appear the same, all have glossy green leaves, and look much alike. The white mangroves appear to be the ones capable of growing the tallest, but I only deduce that because they were tall around the Ojo de Agua that we visited. 

My feet dangling in the Ojo de Agua with the fish

A very worthwhile and instructive outing about an hour outside of Merida.  I was impressed by the guide's interest and commitment to the preservation and protection of the mangroves, as he spoke about it during the tour. 

In the photo above you see two types of mangroves, on the right the red, which has root buttresses going down into the swamp around it, and on the left the black, whose auxiliary roots rise up out of the ground around the main plant. These auxiliary roots are the key's to the mangroves ability to survive in the salty water along the oceans edges. And they provide the structure that protects the fish, birds and animals that are abundant there, and protect the coast from storm surges and erosion. 

The murals in the Palacio de Gobierno de Yucatan

After two years of being closed due to the pandemic, the Palacio de Gobierno on the Plaza Grande in Merida is now open. I have missed seeing the series of murals by Fernando Castro Pacheco painted in the 1970’s, and being able to share them with newcomers to Merida. These murals and the grandeur of the Palacio de Gobierno were pivotal in helping me understand Mexico and in making the decision to move here.

 

I grew up in the Southwestern US, in Arizona and New Mexico, and I spent much of my childhood on the Navajo and Hopi Indian reservations. We moved a lot when I was a child. I identified with the Indians, and aspired to be a Hopi Katchina dancer, memorizing their songs and dances when I was about 5 years old. I also wanted to be a medicine man. As a family, we made outings to natural and historic sites in the area, and one of the most memorable for me as that of Canyon De Chelly, a beautiful deep canyon with a level sandy bottom flanked by high sheer sandstone walls that has caves intermittently in the walls. These were used by the Navajos as places to hide from the white men who were at war with them, but they didn’t provide the refuge hoped for, the white men shot their guns into the openings of the caves and the bullets ricocheted off the walls, killing everyone inside the caves. This image was indelibly burned into my mind, that of the white men persecuting and killing the Indians. Therefore, when we were studying the history of the Americas in high school and read the story of the conquest by Bernal Diaz, I was smitten with a fascination and admiration for the Aztecs and the other Mesoamerican cultures of Mexico.  Bernal Diaz writes that when the Spanish first crested the pass leading into the Valley of Mexico, they were awestruck by the vista before them. They saw the lush valley surrounded by mountains, and a large lake, surrounded by ordered cities. In the center of the lake they saw the splendor of Tenochtitlan, with enormous causeways leading to it across the waters of the lake. They had never seen anything like it and he wrote that it surpassed his ability to describe it, it appeared like a fairy tale to the Spaniards. I read everything I could about the Aztecs and Mayans, and regaled anyone who would listen to me, about the glories of these civilizations and reveled in the gory details of their sacrificial rites. 

 

But because of my love for the pre-Columbian civilizations, in my mind I could not embrace modern Mexico, or forgive the Spanish the destruction of these great cultures. It is one reason I didn’t travel to Mexico when I did begin to travel, going to Europe where lay the Roman Empire. However, friends and former neighbors of mine had moved to Mexico, to a city I had only dimly heard of and knew nothing about, Merida. I decided I should finally go see a Mayan ruin, and never imagined that I would fall in love with Merida and move here, as I now have. I stayed that first trip, in a hotel close to the Zocalo, the Mansion in Merida, and that first afternoon walked around the Plaza Grande. The Palacio de Gobierno was open until late into the evening so I visited it and saw the murals. They completely changed my mind about modern Mexico. They depict the pre-Hispanic Mayans with such pride, and describe the horrors of the conquest and subjugation of the indigenous people with brutal honesty. The murals are unapologetically socialist and political, which for me was refreshing to see. I can think of nothing comparable in the US, where in contrast we have denied the horrors of slavery and its role in our history. I realized I had misjudged Mexico, that while the conquest was one of humanities great crimes, the Mexicans recognized that, and efforts were made to acknowledge and atone for it. Mexico is a mixed nation where the Spanish interbred with the native peoples and the culture is a mix of both. Far from perfect, but at least they are seemingly honest about it. 

 

I do think these murals are important to understanding the history of the Yucatan and that of Mexico, and missed being able to visit them and share them with friends who are visiting or new to Merida. I am happy they are open, and highly recommend going to see the murals to those who have not yet done so.

 

To learn more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Castro_Pacheco

 

Afghanistan in the news and the danger to cultural patrimony.

 I have not posted in a long time. Much has happened since then, some of which in my own life I will relate in another post. For this, I want to focus on one thing, the wisdom of returning pieces to unstable countries. 

During Asia Week in New York of 2016, US marshalls raided several prominent dealers and confiscated sculptures they claim were looted. https://tomswope.blogspot.com/2016/03/asia-week-2016.html

US marshals taking away a sculpture purportedly from Afghanistan during Asia Week New York, 2019

One of the most prominent raid was on the Italian dealer, Dalton Somare, who was exhibiting at Valois Gallery. During that raid a large sculpture was seized under the claim that it had been looted from Afghanistan, supposedly to be returned to it. While we cannot and do not know the ultimate fate of the sculpture, the news of the past few days confirm my worst fears about this ham handed approach to cultural patrimony issues.

Front page of the New York Times August 16, 2021

The worst has happened, the moment US troops withdrew, the Taliban retook the entire country without a fight. Being hard line Islamists, the Taliban are the enemies of all the arts, and will seek to destroy every trace of a pre-Islamic past, much as ISIS did in Iraq. Nothing in Afghanistan is safe, not the people, certainly not women, and any ancient art and sites are likely under threat. 

The current approach to cultural patrimony issues is completely wrong, and no regard is given to the importance to our common human past. For the objects tell of a larger story than just the history of a particular country, they tell us about the exchanges between peoples and cultures over the centuries. Afghanistan was always a major meeting point between West and East, and the art from there tells the story of those exchanges. As such, it is of importance to more than just the people of Afghanistan, who today are of a completely different makeup from what they were centuries ago through the extensive migrations that have happened in the intervening years. 

So what will the Taliban destroy next, and when? It isn't a question as to wether they will, but what and when. I am sure they will not be content with having already destroyed the largest Buddhist sculptures to have ever been created, those of Bamiyan. They now have the entire country to ravage.

The larger of the two Bamiyan Buddhas before their destruction by the Taliban in 2001

Palmyra in the news again

Earlier this December, various media outlets reported that ISIS had retaken Palmyra. Other than a general expression of concern, no details were reported.  Clearly this is a terrible thing for those who care about art, and our common cultural history.  Here is a link to the article from the 12th of December:
The Art Newspaper December 12, 2016

The New York Times reported this as well, and a few days later, a strange small piece relating how the US destroyed 14 tanks left behind by the Syrian army when the ISIS retook Palmyra:

NY Times, US destroys tanks near Palmyra

So the brief hope kindled when Palmyra was liberated from ISIS, has been crushed.  Not only did the Syrian army lose Palmyra in the first place, they couldn't hold it, and their weapons were taken.  The incompetence and impotence of the Syrian army has been proven once again.  The U.S. bombed the tanks to keep them from being used against our allies in the area. 


Why does this matter, and why am I writing about this?

There has been a great deal of talk from the U.S. government blaming the antiquities trade for funding ISIS. This position dovetails nicely with the cultural balkanists, archeologists and scholars in the field, who feel that source nations should retain every scrap of antiquity found in their borders, irregardless of their ability to preserve or study them.  As I have reported in an earlier blog post here:

Conflict Antiquity symposium at the Metropolitan Museum

Not only were the government officials from Homeland security blaming the antiquity market for funding ISIS, but pieces they claimed to have come from there were being repatriated to Syria and Iraq. So states that have failed to protect their citizens and cannot even maintain their territorial integrity are somehow to be trusted with ancient works of art that their own inability to govern had permitted to be stolen in the first place?  If one is concerned about the fate of these works of art, this seems wrong headed, if noble in intent. 

I am not going to rehash what I said in the earlier blog post, but clearly ISIS is a new kind of threat to culture, one that the West is unable to deal with, both militarily and policy wise.  We have no effective strategy to stop ISIS and its cultural destruction.  Rather than admit how powerless we are, the U.S. seems to feel that condemning the market and seizing objects is going to show they are doing something to protect Syria's cultural patrimony. Instead, the U.S. is endangering it again, by showing a complete lack of concern for the objects they do seize. 

Clearly the cultural legacy of this part of the world, at least in Syria and Iraq are in danger.  We need a different attitude and a more realistic nuanced approach to the market and the pieces that make it out. During the cultural destruction in Tibet by the Chinese in the 1950's, the Dalai Lama said we should treat the art objects as refugees and give them safe shelter. Why aren't we thinking the same way about art from other conflict regions?

I do not condone the illegal trade in antiquities but the alternative is not to condemn that art market completely. The rational and right thing to do would be for nations to allow for a legal trade in antiquities that can be controlled. However, we are talking about a war zone with a dysfunctional government with Syria and Iraq. Perhaps we should encourage the trade, as at least those pieces that make it out have a better chance of surviving than those left behind! I lump Iraq in with Syria as it seems to be only marginally better off at the moment. I expect Iraq to fall to ISIS or another form of extremism or schismatic civil war before too long.

I don't know what the answer is, but I do know the danger to the cultural patrimony in this area is not the antiquity market, it is war, chaos, poverty, and ISIS.

Stela re-appears in Paris

Limestone Stela of a Buddha, China, Eastern Wei 534 - 550 A.D.

This stela was in a Stotheby's New York sale titled, "Images of Enlightenment: Devotional works of Art & Paintings", held September 16, 2015, lot 422.  It failed to sell, which was shocking to me as I posted here: http://tomswope.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-power-of-negativity.html

It has reappeared on the market however. I was just in Paris, for a tribal and Asian art fair held in early September the Parcours des Mondes, Paris.  One of the best dealers in Asian art in Paris, participated in the fair, Jacques Barrere, who was featuring some very good early Chinese Buddhist sculptures. Later that same week, his gallery was also exhibiting in the huge Paris Biennale . The star of his offering at the Biennale was the same stela that failed to sell at Sotheby's.   Sources who were at the Sotheby's sale in New York where the stela had failed to sell, told me that the Chinese dealers were telling anyone who was willing to listen that the sculptures in the sale were fake, and now the star piece reappears at one of the best dealers of the material in the world.  If I were the consignor to the Sotheby's sale I would be very upset that a conspiracy of dealers had sabotaged the sale of the piece, only to have it reappear as a featured object at the worlds top antiques fair.  I feel vindicated in that the market has confirmed what I always knew, that the piece is authentic, but it illustrates the power of rumor and innuendo to damage the reputation of a piece.  As my mentor Matthias Komor said, "believe your eyes, not your ears" when judging an object.  In this case, those who listened to the naysayers would have been misdirected.  Perhaps Jacques Barrere was smart enough to buy the stela after the sale from Sotheby's when it failed to sell at auction.  I doubt, or don't want to believe, that he conspired to undermine the auction to scoop up the piece at a discount.  However it ended up in his hands, it is being treated with the respect that it deserves, which makes me happy.

A Sui Dynasty Buddha Head

Head of a Buddha, China, late 6th Century A.D.

3/4 side view of the head above

Side view of the head above

I just acquired a large head of a Buddha, and wanted to share with my readers how I looked at it and came up the with dating through comparisons to established parallels. Pictured above, it is a life sized head at 12 1/2 inches high, carved of a dark grey limestone shot through with white veins, and retains traces of its original gold leaf and some paint, particularly the red on the lips.  It has a great archeological surface that has not been over cleaned.

While at first glance it looks like all the other Buddha heads that one sees, this has certain stylistic features that help to date it rather precisely.  Let us start with the ushnisha, the cranial lump that is a mark of the Buddha. Here the ushnisha is distinctly marked as a separate cranial node but it is a low and wide unlike the high narrow high ushnisha seen in the earlier Wei Dynasty, or the merging cone head of the immediately preceding Northern Qi Dynasty.  The hair itself is rendered as a dense series of finely carved snail shell curls covering the hair area and ushnisha evenly.

It is in the eyes that we get the clearest dating criteria however.  The eyebrows are even clear and incised arches, and the eyelids are quite protuberant and form an even elongated narrow D shape on its side. Again, the preceding Northern Qi style had very curvy shaped eyes, more reflective of the Gupta prototypes the Buddha image came from.  The nose is rather wide and flat, and the mouth has curved lips in a slight smile, but not quite the cupid bow of the Northern Qi period.  The overall proportions of the head are rather squat and heavy, strong and wide.  Overall, however the face is not so Chinese in look, as it becomes in the later Tang dynasty, it is more classical like the preceding period.

When I first saw this head, I was immediately reminded strongly of a head that I admired when I went to the Rhode Island School of Design's Museum of Art, see below.

Head of a Buddha, Rhode Island School of Design Museum

Side view of RISD Museum Buddha head

This Buddha head is also life size or just a little over life size, carved of an even dark grey limestone, with a clear but not high ushnisha, very similar to the one above, and the same long narrow D shaped eyes and wide flattish nose and slightly smiling mouth.  On this head the hair is rendered as a series of small bumps a common variation in Chinese art from the snail shell curls of the Gupta prototype.

Another piece that came to mind is a large standing Bodhisattva in the Baltimore Museum of Art, see below:

Statue of a Bodhisattva, Baltimore Museum of Art

The statue of a Bodhisattva above is actually quite large, over life sized, standing at 8 feet tall or so, and displayed on a high base so I could not get a photo at eye level of the head.  The body's proportions have the slender elegant form of early Chinese Buddhist sculptures, and the head has features that place it at the end of this period, just before the transformation that occurs in  the Tang Dynasty.

Detail of head of Bodhisattva in Baltimore

Side view of the head of Bodhisattva in Baltimore

 Another very good parallel is found closer to home though, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a standing Bodhisattva, dated to the Sui Dynasty, late 6th to early 7th Century A.D.

Standing Bodhisattva, Metropolitan Museum of Art New York

Detail of head of Met Museum Bodhisattva

view from 3/4 side of Met Museum Bodhisattva

This parallel is quite close to my new Buddha head. The nose is wide and relatively flat, the eyes are simple elongated D shapes with strong projecting upper eyelids, and clear arched eyebrows.  The proportions of the head are also quite close to my head.

Another parallel is a large spectacular standing Bodhisattva in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, which I have known for many years.

Standing Bodhisattva, Museum of Fine Arts Boston

This statue, complete with its lotus base guarded by lions, stands over 8 feet tall, it is quite large.  Very hard to photograph again, at least to get a detail of the head, which is what we are focused on today.

Head of the Bodhisattva in the MFA Boston

Side view of the head of the Bodhisattva in the MFA Boston

Stylistically, the head of this large Bodhisattva in Boston shares many similarities with my new Buddha head.  The same wide proportions, flat wide nose, projecting eyelids and arched brows, and similar mouth.  This statue is dated on the label to the Sui Dynasty.

While not every piece has such readily found comparables to use as parallels, this is how one dates a piece.  With this Buddha head, we can be confident of its dating within a decade, which is remarkable given its great age.  However this was a period of great creative and political flux in China, and styles advanced and changed rapidly allowing for a fairly precise dating.