In this January 18, 2023, JASA lecture, Einor K. Cervone, PhD, Associate Curator of Asian Art at the Denver Art Museum, reexamines narratives of lacquer development in the East Asian region, as explored in the exhibition The Five Directions: Lacquer through East Asia, which opened December 18, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).
What was it about lacquer that made it into the lifeblood of cross-regional exchange? Works ranging from mysteries like a small Ryūkyūan inrō, previously miscategorized as Japanese, to paintings by the lacquer superstar Shibata Zeshin are discussed. Tracing lacquer’s unexpected and multidirectional journeys, this talk shed light on this elusive material, equally defined by its luster and its wanderlust.
Dr. Cervone previously served as the Mozhai Foundation Curatorial Fellow in the department of Chinese and Korean Art at LACMA. She holds a B.A. from Tel Aviv University (2008) and a Ph.D. in Chinese art and literature from Harvard University (2017). She served as a visiting scholar at Academia Sinica in Taiwan (2014–15) and held an associate position in the Department of Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History, New York (2017–19). Her publications include “Art | Adrift: Curating Selves Aboard Ming-Dynasty Painting-and-Calligraphy Boats,” Archives of Asian Art (October 2019); “The Chameleon Master Adds Snake Legs: The Art and Reception of Qiu Ying” in Where Truth Lies: The Art of Qiu Ying (ca. 1495–1552) (2020), contributions to Ferrell, Ink Dreams: Selections from the Fondation INK Collection (2021), and the forthcoming digital catalogue, Her Brush: New Approaches to Gender and Agency in Japanese Art (2022).
This January lecture was dedicated to the memory of Jacqueline Avant, a collector and philanthropist who died before her time on December 1, 2021. Please see Impressions 43 Part Two, pages 58 to 75, to learn more about Jacqueline Avant.