Carved white jade Buddha
Avalokiteshvara (Bodhisattva of Compassion, Guanyin)
Unknown. Chinese
Qing dynasty (1644-1911), 17-18th century
Porcelain with clear glaze, Dehua ware | Gift of Florence Brooks Cobb, class of 1900
Vertical multi colored woodcut print of young child wrestling with a huge fish.
Sakata Kaidomaru, 1830s
Utagawa Kuniyoshi. Japanese, 1798-1861
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper | Purchased with the Winthrop Hillyer Fund
Two hanging scrolls side by side.
Still Life, 19th–20th century
Ahn Jung-sik. Korean, 1861-1919
Two hanging scrolls, ink and color on paper | Purchased with the Carroll and Nolen Asian Art Acquisition Fund
Abstract painting in earth tone colors.
Advent of Autumn, 1960
Krishen Khanna. Indian, born 1925 in present-day Pakistan
Oil on canvas | Anonymous gift
Oval mirror with faded image inside.
Trapped-3, 2013
Tayeba Begum Lipi. Bangladeshi, born 1969
Stainless steel razor blades and exposed drawing on polished mirror | Purchased with the gift of Cecilia Lee, class of 1987, and the Carroll and Nolen Asian Art Acquisition Fund

Figuration and Abstraction: Asian Art at SCMA

July 28, 2023 through Summer 2025
Overview

In art, “figuration” refers to the depiction of shapes found in reality--such as animals, plants, and human bodies– whereas “abstraction” simplifies subjects into form, color, and line. In modern western art, these two concepts are often understood as contrasting, but throughout history and in places such as Asia, these categories were not separate.

For the works on view in this exhibition, realistic representation may not have always been the goal. The exhibition also includes Asian artists who have engaged with the modernist discourse of figuration versus abstraction.

Through generous gifts and strategic purchases over more than a century, SCMA now holds over 2,000 works of art made in Asia or by Asian artists. SCMA’s Asian art gallery was dedicated in honor of Smith’s tenth president Carol T. Christ in 2015, when the museum also established endowments to support the acquisition, programming and curatorship of Asian art.

This installation is supported by the Nolen Endowed Fund for Asian Art Initiatives.

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