Recently we sat down with arts and design writer and blogger, Courtney Barnes of Style Court, to talk about our whirlwind visit to a major exhibition of Chinese treasures at the Met. Here is her special report.   —PR

Portrait of the Qianlong Emperor, Ink and colors on silk, Courtesy of the Palace Museum

When the wisteria symbolizing growth and longevity blooms this year in the Chinese scholars’ garden created for her Winnetka gallery, Betsy Nathan, Pagoda Red’s owner, will probably think of China’s art-and-design-loving emperor, Qianlong.

Juanquin theater room stage, Courtesy of World Monuments Fund, copyright the Palace Musuem, Beijing.

One of the 18^th century’s most influential global figures, Qianlong constructed a secluded garden compound within his vast imperial Beijing complex in 1771. (Vast meaning more than 8,000 rooms.) His personal realm included an intimate theater decorated quite unexpectedly with a Western-influenced trompe-l’oeil-covered ceiling that offered the illusion of summery wisteria-laden bamboo latticework overhead. This surprising penchant for European painting was just one aspect of Qianlong’s complexity as a connoisseur—a hard-to-pigeonhole collecting style that fascinates Nathan and beckoned her to New York City to see The Emperor’s Private Paradise: Treasures from the Forbidden City, a landmark exhibition on view through May 1, 2011 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Shrine and statue of Jingang, Calcite or lapis lazuli, gilt copper, silver, and glass, Courtesy of the Palace Museum

“Energizing… and validating,” is how Nathan describes her visit. As a student in the 1990s, she lived in Beijing and immersed herself in the city’s antique markets and back alleys, fast becoming a gatherer of old curiosities. But her first glimpse of this part of Qianlong’s rarefied private collection came fifteen years later at the Met where ninety carefully conserved pieces may now be appreciated by the public thanks to the joint efforts of the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, the Palace Museum in Beijing, and the World Monuments Fund.

Panel with Flowering Tree, Sandalwood, jade, lapis lazuli, malachite, zitan, and glass, Courtesy of the Palace Museum

Like other Met visitors walking through the galleries, Nathan was awed by the craftsmanship and visual splendor of the double-sided embroideries, hand-painted silks, lacquered furniture, jades and other myriad decorative objects acquired by the emperor.  Equally inspiring to her, though, was the emperor’s spirited approach to collecting.

“To me, he seemed voracious and wildly open—open to a variety of ideas, art forms and mediums from rustic to very refined. And he seemed intrigued by things that aren’t necessarily what they appear to be at first glance,” says Nathan. A devout Buddhist, he brought in Giuseppe Castiglione (aka Lang Shih-ning), the Italian missionary artist versed in European techniques such as linear perspective, trompe-l’oeil, and naturalistic shadowing.  Cross-cultural pollination between Chinese court painters and Castiglione led to a fresh style of art that combined Chinese brushwork, materials, and subject matter with traditional Western shading and perspective.

Interior scene, Ink and colors on silk, Courtesy of the Palace Museum

A look frequently described in contemporary shelter magazines, “the eclectic global mix,” might apply to Qianlong’s 18^th-century interiors, too. In addition to being an ardent patron of the most skilled Chinese artists, the exhibition’s organizers note that Qianlong’s willingness to embrace certain foreign elements can be seen throughout his private compound: glass windows, mirrors, mechanical clocks, and Japanese-style lacquer are some of the non-native design components he integrated into a Chinese setting.  

Chair, Rootwood, Courtesy of the Palace Museum

For Nathan, the ruler’s openness also encompasses his appreciation for the unusual.  She was instantly drawn to a dramatic rootwood chair that The New York Times critic Holland Cotter likened to “some version of rustic Victoriana.” Initially, the piece appears completely wild and organic but it is actually the result of meticulous craftsmanship. As someone who has always gravitated to offbeat or underappreciated things, she was thrilled to see that Qianlong was an aficionado of the unconventional.

Panel with niches, Zitan, painted and gilt clay and colors on silk, Courtesy of the Palace Museum

Through a long-range conservation project spearheaded by the World Monuments Fund in partnership with the Palace Museum, Beijing, the entire garden complex, encompassing twenty-seven buildings and pavilions, is slated to be restored. The first structure that has been transformed back to its original state—the site of the emperor’s private theater—is known as Juan’qin’zhai, or Studio of Exhaustion from Diligent Service. Nathan, a mother of four young boys, still can’t help smiling when she thinks about the English translation. 

After its run at the Met, The Emperor’s Private Paradise travels to the Milwaukee Art Museum.

The sight of little ones at play—running, laughing, and tumbling in a garden setting—has long had cross-cultural appeal.  In decorative arts, the ancient 100 Boys motif, seen on this 19th-century hand-woven silk brocade panel from Pagoda Red’s collection, charms Westerners and Easterners alike. But for the Chinese, the design has particular significance.

"100 Boys" Silk Brocade Textile, 19th century. 58.5" w x 87" h

Dating back to the Song dynasty (960-1279), 100 Boys (baizi  百子) depicts kids—symbols of longevity, prosperity, and well-being—engaged in sports and outdoor games, and in some cases fishing or bearing fruit and auspicious objects. As the British Museum notes, the reason only boys are seen in these scenes is because in old China sons were preferred over daughters. An abundance of male descendants represented continuation of the family line. First found on paintings, the design became a popular choice for the decoration of ceramics and textiles. So popular, in fact, that the theme was included in a 17th-century manual of embroidery designs.

Children appear in Chinese art in many contexts, often serving as paragons of Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist virtue, and as embodiments of adult aspirations. The 100 Boys motif is frequently thought to symbolize the sons of the founder of the Zhou Dynasty (1027-256 BC), Zhou Wenwang ( 周文王). He was blessed with 99 sons from his 24 wives and adopted an orphaned baby boy to make an even auspicious 100.

The silk panel shown here also possesses some design details that point to Buddhist roots, most prominently the ancient and auspicious Chinese wan (or swastika–make this clickable to our other article) woven into the border.  In this religious context, the theme of baby boys is derived from depictions of Buddhist souls reborn in a process known as transformation (huasheng 花生), which can also be read phonetically as “flower-birth,” meaning a baby from the lotus. 

The fact that this textile is silk is relevant, too. Silk has an incredibly rich and storied past in China, as evidenced by the 1997 exhibition, When Silk Was Gold: Central Asian and Chinese Textiles, organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Art. At one time China’s most precious commodity and valuable enough to be used as currency, silk played a key role in economics, politics, arts and culture.

During Mongol rule, artisans were exempted from labor and taxes so that they could concentrate on producing luxury silk textiles. Durable and easy to transport and exchange, both painted and embroidered silks afforded the artisan considerable freedom of expression. Within China, to this day, silk is used for peace negotiations, dowries and other rich offerings of friendship.  Antique luxury silks are valued for their complex technology and iconography and, at times, thought to embody special powers and elements of magic.

photos by Grant Gibson, www.grantkgibson.com

Praised for his design work by House Beautiful and The New York Times, and most recently lauded in Elle Décor’s June 2010 issue as one of five outstanding interior designers to watch, the young San Francisco-based Grant K. Gibson is becoming known not only for his handsome, well-edited rooms but also for his global adventures. Whether he is walking the verdant grounds of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Virginia or sitting comfortably in Dodie Rosekrans’s sensational Venetian drawing room, Gibson’s camera is always in hand to document aesthetic details of interest—an elaborate silk tassel, a segment of Chinese fretwork, or a panel of eighteenth-century hand-painted Chinese wallpaper.

In anticipation of author and designer Hutton Wilkinson’s visit to Pagoda Red on Saturday, November 6th, we wanted to learn more about Gibson’s private Wilkinson-led tour of  Dodie Rosekrans’s vast apartment in the Palazzo Brandolini on the Grand Canal.  To decorate the already opulent twelfth-century space, Rosekrans chose the exuberant and legendary American designer, Tony Duquette. Accompanied by his long-time collaborator and business partner, Hutton Wilkinson, Duquette completed the project shortly before his death in 1999.

Duquette and Wilkinson are famous in the arts and design communities for many reasons, one of which is a passion for chinoiserie–a typically fanciful style inspired by the decorative arts of China, Japan and other Asian countries.  Enamored with Chinese furnishings and artifacts encompassing salvaged beams, pagodas, ceramics, lanterns, trunks, rugs and myriad other pieces, the duo mixed Far Eastern styles with European baroque designs to achieve a highly creative, one-of-a-kind, unmistakably Duquette look. 

Of note at Palazzo Brandolini is the use of Chinese carpets and lush eighteenth-century hand-painted Chinese wallpaper taken from Pickfair, the Beverly Hills home of actors Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. With Venice’s history as a magnate for diverse cultures and its position as a centuries-old link between East and West, it seems fitting that Duquette’s last professional project was finished on the Grand Canal.

Gibson describes his encounter with Wilkinson at Palazzo Brandolini as one of the highlights of his career to date. When it comes to incorporating Asian pieces into his own more pared-down contemporary-yet-timeless projects, Gibson says enthusiastically, “I love Asian designs. The lines are clean and simple and can blend with any interior style.”

Because he usually favors an eclectic mix, Gibson is apt to take just a few Chinese or Japanese pieces and combine them with European furnishings. He adds,  “I think that I’m most fond of Asian tables—pieces I can use at the sides of sofas or chairs, as well as versatile coffee tables and consoles.”

A 19th century Chinese square table, Pagoda Red

Your chance to meet Hutton Wilkinson!

Join us early evening Saturday, November 6th for cocktails and a book signing with Hutton Wilkinson.  Browse favorites from Tony Duquette’s collections for Baker Furniture and Remains Lighting.  Hutton will also be signing luxury limited edition copies of his books.   

Save room for dessert too…Hutton is bringing his delicious one-of-a-kind jewelry collection.

RSVP to info@pagodared.com

Detail of Sakura 15, 109" wide x 16" high

The blooming of Japanese Sakura (cherry blossom) marks the change of the seasons from winter to spring.  However they also symbolize the transience of life (mujo) and play a tremendous role in Japanese culture and ritual.

In April 2009 Doug Fogelson traveled to Japan with the express purpose of photographing Sakura during the blooming process.  His journey began in Tokyo then on to Yoshino Mountain, historically the most revered area of the country for Hanami (or cherry blossom viewing), and finished in Kyoto as the last petals fell.  At Yoshino native Sakura trees climb far up a winding mountain valley.  As altitude increases the temperature difference affects the bloom so that flowers open successively to the highest grove near the top (where the poet Saigyo [1118-1190] lived for years lovingly admiring the trees)

The series of images shown exclusively at Pagoda Red lead the viewer through the seasons and metaphorically through the changes in life–from winter to spring; from early budding to full bloom, to mature leaf.

Artist Bio:

Doug Fogelson uses an iconoclastic multiple exposure technique in order to depict our collective surroundings, producing imagery that reflects our own alien experience of nature, as well as the distanced perspective of the viewer.  His images are the result of overlapping multiple exposures along the film within the camera at the time of shooting.  Fogelson’s art depicts a measured study of time, complexitiy, and space to be found when scenes correspond and multiply.  The viewer becomes enmeshed in the variegated forms captured by the photographer’s eye and via the machine of the camera.

Fogelson’s process takes a stance between motion picture and still photography as his images are often shot with changing vantage points of the scenes depicted and overlapped along the film.  Movement is  displayed-both of photographer and subject-yet a cognitive sense of the subject in consideration is rooted in time and perhaps personal reflection or memory.

Born in Chicago in 1970, Doug Fogelson studied at Columbia College and the Art Institute of Chicago,  receiving his BFA in 1994.  He has been recognized by numerous publications including Art News, Focus, and Photo District News, and his work is included in prominent museum, corporate, and private collections.  Fogelson exhibits in galleries, museums, and public spaces around the world.

More from the collection:

Sakura 3, 30" wide x 20" high

Sakura 17, 30" wide x 18" high

Sakura 6, 70" wide x 20" high

Sakura 8, 80" wide x 15.5" high

Sakura installation at Pagoda Red

Show season is here in Chicago. I recently attended the openings of the Merchandise Mart Dream Home and the Infant Welfare Society’s Lake Forest Showhouse and Gardens and was truly inspired by how some of Pagoda Red’s favorite designers transformed their spaces.

Marshall Erb and Michael Del Piero both created amazing rooms in Lake Forest. Among the many pieces Michael borrowed from Pagoda Red, she was most excited about a pair of hand-thrown primitive 19th century urns and a free-form Chinese footrest. She paired these with volumes of antique leather bound books and weathered pottery from around the world to accesorize the bookshelves in the library of the historic Lansdowne Estate. It was an incredible combination of textures, shapes and provenance. Her knack for accessorizing is like no one’s. She told me that’s why she wanted the library—shelves and more shelves to let her talent shine!!!

Marshall borrowed more than 25 different shaped oversized blue and white porcelain urns from Pagoda Red. He used them on the front steps of his space, the pool house, to lure people in. Most were planted with bright yellow daffodils, which were spring perfect in combination with the deep violet crocus he planted in a giant clamshell, also from Pagoda Red. Flowering forsythia branches drew the eye to and cast natures light on the dramatic two-story drapery panels framing the pool house. The long panels were basic white outdoor sheers that Marshall ingeniously striped with hand applied canary yellow grosgrain ribbon—so preppy chic and clever.

Back in the city, Laurel Feldman designed the foyer of the DreamHome at the Merchandise Mart. A marble tub hand-carved with peoniesfrom Pagoda Red was the focal point. Laurel transformed it into a koi pond with help from a friend at Heffernan Morgan. Three rock crystal spheres“floated” in the water –they were actually mounted on custom lucite stands. Laurel repeated the peony motif from the trough on a gorgeous hand-painted finish behind an oversized mirror. I loved this finery juxtaposed with the organic Pagoda Red Chinese monumental root pedestalholding an over-the-top porcelain vase with seasonal flowering branches.

Mick De Giulio incorporated a live edge Nakashima style dining table with stainless legs in his clean kitchen at the DreamHome. Mick is a master of details-from the perfect pick chandelier over the table to the repeated chevron detail on the marble shelf.

Definitely not to be missed!

P.R.
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For more information about the showhouses and the designers mentioned above:

The Lake Forest Showhouse runs thru May 17th 2009. For more information, click here.

The Merchandise Mart’s DreamHome runs thru December 18th, 2009. For more information, click here.

Michael Del Piero Good Design: www.michaeldelpiero.com

Marshall Morgan Erb Design, Inc.: www.marshallerb.com

Laurel Feldman Interiors: www.laurelfeldmaninteriors.com

Mick De Giulio, de Giulio kitchen design: www.degiulio.org