Asian Art

North American Art

Chiura Obata: Alien Enemy and Great American Painter

Chiura Obata applied Japanese training and technique to picturesque California landscapes with stunning results. Interned during World War II because...

Theodore Carter 9 July 2026

Art Travels

The Qutub Complex: Architecture of the Early Islamic Period in India

The Qutub Minar complex is a collection of architectural marvels located at the Mehrauli Archaeological Park in New Delhi, India. The complex...

Maya M. Tola 6 July 2026

Asian Art

The Eight Moods of Love: Exploring the Aṣṭa-Nāyikā in Pahari Painting

Love, longing, jealousy, anticipation, and devotion are among the most universal human emotions, and few artistic traditions have explored them as...

Shivani Gupta 22 June 2026

Herstory

Masterpiece Story: The Portrait of Empress Dowager Cixi by Katharine Augusta Carl

Art and politics have been closely intertwined throughout global history. This article studies the case of The Empress Dowager Cixi of China by...

Iolanda Munck 22 June 2026

Wang Ximeng, One Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, Song dynasty, 1113, ink and color on silk scroll, Palace Museum, Beijing, China. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: One Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains by Wang Ximeng

Wang Ximeng’s One Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains is a masterpiece of the Northern Song dynasty and of the larger history of traditional...

James W Singer 16 June 2026

Quiz

QUIZ: Indigenous Art Around the World!

Carlotta Mazzoli, 6 June 2026

Cats

Maneki Neko—Those Lucky Cats

We’ve all seen those jovial, happy cat figurines in Asian restaurants and shops. Sitting upright with their raised paw, smiling face, and trademark...

Nadine Waldmann 4 June 2026

Utagawa Hiroshige, Wind-tossed Waves at Seven-Mile Beach in Sagami Province, View No. 13 from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, 1852, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji by Hiroshige

Hokusai and his Wave have practically become symbols of Japan. It was first published in 1831 as a part of a larger series focusing on Mount Fuji, or...

Ledys Chemin 24 May 2026

Utagawa Hiroshige maple trees: Utagawa Hiroshige, Maple Trees at Mama, Tekona Shrine and Tsugi Bridge, One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, 1857, ink on paper, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Maple Trees at Mama by Utagawa Hiroshige

Utagawa Hiroshige’s prints were exported to Europe and became very popular with Western artists. Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh owned...

James W Singer 24 May 2026

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Pine Trees by Hasegawa Tōhaku

Japan is a country of distinctive traditional arts such as tea ceremonies, calligraphy, and bonsai. A rich history of artists fills their museums...

James W Singer 24 May 2026

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Courtesan Hinaaya of the Chōji House by Kikukawa Eizan

The Courtesan Hinaaya of the Chōji House by Kikukawa Eizan, is one of the woodblock prints from Vincent and Theo van Gogh’s collection in the Van...

Urvi Chheda 24 May 2026

Asian Art

The Story of the Churning of the Ocean of Milk and Why Is Shiva Blue?

The churning of the ocean of milk is a momentous event in Hindu mythology that appears in the Bhagwat Purana, Vishnu Purana, and the Mahabharata. It...

Maya M. Tola 20 May 2026