The Peabody Essex Museum presents art and culture from New England and around the world. The museum's collections are among the finest of their kind, showcasing an unrivaled spectrum of American art and architecture (including four National Historic Landmark buildings) and outstanding Asian, Asian Export, Native American, African, Oceanic, Maritime and Photography collections. In addition to its vast collections, the museum offers a vibrant schedule of changing exhibitions and a hands-on education center. The museum campus features numerous parks, period gardens and 22 historic properties, including Yin Yu Tang, a 200-year-old house that is the only example of Chinese domestic architecture on display in the United States.
Hours of work
Open Tuesday-Sunday and holiday Mondays, 10 am - 5 pm.
Directions
The museum is approximately 16 miles north of Boston, at 161 Essex St. in historic Salem, Massachusetts (corner of Essex and New Liberty Streets). For recorded directions, call 978-745-9500, ext. 4145.
Over 90 works, many never before seen, offer exciting new insights into Maya culture that focus on the sea as a defining feature of the spiritual realm and the inspiration for the finest works of art. Fiery Pool was organized by Daniel Finamore.
“They say the world is just floating with us, like foam floats…We are just floating,
rippling on the water.” –– Ch’Orti’ Maya Account
FIERY POOL: THE MAYA AND THE MYTHIC SEA
Based on bold new scholarship, exhibition of ancient Maya artworks on view at the Peabody Essex Museum, 27 March 2010 – 18 July 2010
SALEM, MA –– Rarely does an exhibition offer an entirely new way of viewing the art of a great civilization. Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea does exactly that by revealing and interpreting the importance of water to the ancient Maya. Shark teeth, stingray spines, sea creatures and waterfowl appear in form and image in works of stone and clay. Supernatural crocodiles breathe forth rain, and cosmic battles between mythic beasts and deities shape this radical new conception of the Maya worldview.
Over 90 works, many recently excavated and never before seen in the United States, offer exciting new insights into the culture of the ancient Maya focusing on the sea as a defining feature of the spiritual realm and the inspiration for powerful works of art. Surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, denizens of hundreds of Maya cities throughout the Yucatan Peninsula and Central America responded to the proximity of the ocean, and the power and omnipresence of inland and atmospheric water that shaped their existence.
Fiery Pool was organized by Daniel Finamore, The Russell W. Knight Curator of Maritime Art and History at the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) and Stephen D. Houston, The Dupee Family Professor of Social Science and Professor of Archaeology at Brown University. The exhibition is scheduled to travel to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, and the St. Louis Art Museum.
“Fiery Pool is revelatory on two important levels. Its new interpretation moves us far beyond traditional views of the Maya as a land-based civilization. The show also reminds us that we are connected with an ancient, and yet still existing, civilization through the essential element of water,” said Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, The James B. and Mary Lou Hawkes Chief Curator at PEM.
At the height of its achievement between 300 and 900 AD, the Maya civilization spanned hundreds of cities across Mexico and Central America. Their culture highly-advanced in mathematics, astronomy, architecture and art, the Maya practiced a complex religion and used a refined pictorial writing system composed of more than 800 glyphs. Interpretation of this language had a role in understanding of Maya culture to that point. While today 90% of glyphs are now understood, it was only in the late 1980s that a glyph for the sea had been identified. Until this key glyph had been unlocked, the importance of the sea in Maya culture had not been fully studied or appreciated. Translated literally as Fiery Pool, identification of this glyph was part of a growing awareness of the centrality of the sea in Maya life that culminates in this exhibition and the companion book of the same title.
“Everywhere we went in Mexico and Central America, we consulted with Maya specialists, sharing with them our theory that the sea and water were actually central to the Maya, even those who lived far inland. Many artistic motifs actually called this out but no one recognized it before,” said Daniel Finamore. “These conversations inspired people to show us things that they otherwise wouldn’t have, objects recently excavated and never published that might fit the theme.”
EXHIBITION THEMES
This exhibition is organized in four thematic sections.
Water and Cosmos
Surrounded by the sea in all directions, the ancient Maya viewed their world as inextricably tied to water. More than a necessity to sustain life, water was the vital medium from which the world emerged, gods arose and ancestors communicated.
The panel shown (left) is an exceptional example of Maya sculpture depicting a ruler known as Tajchanahk, “Torch-Sky-Turtle,” seated on a water lily throne in the royal court, while simultaneously inhabiting the subtle, watery realm. A bubbling stream delineates the space with stylized foliage anchoring the corners. This work suggests that for the Maya, the realms of earth, sea, sky and cosmos may have been perceived as flowing into each other, rather than as distinct territories of being.
Creatures of the Fiery Pool
The world of the Maya brims with animal life, animated, realistic and supernatural all at once. Objects in this section portray a wide array of fish, frogs, birds and mythic beasts inhabiting the sea and conveying spiritual concepts. This effigy of an actual Caribbean spiny lobster (shown here) is the only known Maya representation of the creature. The object was excavated in 2007 from one of the oldest sites in Belize, populated for over three thousand years. It dates from the turbulent early colonial period when traditional Maya life was besieged by incursions of Spanish soldiers and missionaries. A plugged cavity bearing a stingray spine, three shark teeth and two blades of microcrystalline quartz hint at blood sacrifice. The head emerging from the mouth may be the face of a Maya deity.
Navigating the Cosmos
For the Maya, water was a source of material wealth and spiritual power. All bodies of water ─ rivers, cenotes (deep, inland pools) and the sea ─were united, and all could be traversed to a cosmic realm. This magnificent head is a Belize national treasure, and one of the most exquisite works discovered in the Maya world. Weighing nearly ten pounds, it was created from a single piece of jadeite, the color of which was directly associated with the sea. Likely carved in Guatemala and transported by canoe to Belize, this sculpture is a complex depiction of a deity with the eyes of a sun god. It was found in the tomb of an elderly man, likely cradled in his arm upon burial at the sacred site, Altun Ha.
Birth to Rebirth
The final section of the exhibition addresses the cyclical motion of the cosmos as the Maya experienced it. The sun rose in the morning from the Caribbean in the east, bearing the features of a shark as it began to traverse the sky (it only had these features in the early morning). Cosmic crocodiles exhaled storms and battled with gods of the underworld. This elaborate censer (shown right) portrays a deity central to a creation myth from Palenque, Mexico. Water curls on his cheeks and shell ear ornaments linking him to the rain god, Chahk, speak of his connection to the watery world. A shark serves as his headdress topped by a toothy crocodile. From this censer, ritual smoke curled through the city of Palenque, suffusing it with scent and mystery.
PRESS PREVIEW
TUESDAY | MARCH 23, 2010 | 9:30 - 11:30 AM
Breakfast, preview and exhibition tour with Daniel Finamore, The Russell W. Knight Curator of Maritime Art and History at PEM and Stephen Houston, The Dupee Family Professor of Social Science and Professor Archaeology at Brown University. Please respond to Whitney Riepe, whitney_riepe@pem.org or 978 745 9500 x3228.
For interviews with curator Daniel Finamore, please contact April Swieconek at april_swieconek@pem.org or 978 745 9500 x3109
Press images are available upon request by contacting Whitney Riepe at whitney_riepe@pem.org or 978 745 9500 x3228.
EXHIBITION CATALOGUE
Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea by Daniel Finamore and Stephen D. Houston is available for purchase in the PEM Shop or online at www.pemshop.com. For a reviewer copy, please contact Whitney Riepe at whitney_riepe@pem.org.
EXHIBITION EVENTS
SATURDAY | MARCH 27, 2010 | 1:30 PM
FILM SCREENING | LOST KINGDOM OF THE MAYA
SATURDAY | MARCH 27, 2010 | 3:00 PM
PRESENTATION | DR. GEORGE STUART, FAMED ARCHEOLOGIST AND MAYA EXPERT
Join renowned Maya expert Dr. George Stuart as he reflects upon the role of the sea in the Maya world. Dr. Stuart was a major figure at the National Geographic magazine for nearly forty years and participated directly in a number of the most pivital archaeological investigations of the past fifty years, including field work in the Maya ruins at Dzibilchaltun, Balankanche Cave, and Cobá. He has produced a series of outstanding works that have become classic descriptions of the ancient Maya including The Mysterious Maya, Lost Kingdoms of the Maya, and most recently Palenque: Eternal City of the Maya.
Sculpture of the Jester God; AD 550-650; Altun Ha, Belize; Jadeite; 5 7/8 x 4 3/8 x 5 ¾ (14.9 x 11.2 x 14.8 cm); National Institute of Culture and History, Belize; Photograph courtesy National Institute of Culture and History, Belize.
Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea is organized by the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA, and has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Because democracy demands wisdom.
Additional support was provided by ECHO (Education through Cultural and Historical Organizations), a program of the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Innovation and Improvement.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this exhibition do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or the U.S. Department of Education.
ABOUT THE PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM
The Peabody Essex Museum presents art and culture from New England and around the world. The museum's collections are among the finest of their kind, showcasing an unrivaled spectrum of American art and architecture (including four National Historic Landmark buildings) and outstanding Asian, Asian Export, Native American, African, Oceanic, Maritime and Photography collections. In addition to its vast collections, the museum offers a vibrant schedule of changing exhibitions and a hands-on education center. The museum campus features numerous parks, period gardens and 22 historic properties, including Yin Yu Tang, a 200-year-old house that is the only example of Chinese domestic architecture on display in the United States.
HOURS: Open Tuesday-Sunday and holiday Mondays, 10 am-5 pm. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
ADMISSION: Adults $15; seniors $13; students $11. Additional admission to Yin Yu Tang: $5. Members, youth 16 and under and residents of Salem enjoy free general admission and free admission to Yin Yu Tang.
INFO: Call 866-745-1876 or visit our Web site at www.pem.org.
An intimate, behind-the-scenes look at the legendary first family through the lens of acclaimed photographer Richard Avedon. This exhibition unveils a selection of portraits taken of president-elect John F. Kennedy and his family in January 1961.
The Kennedys | Portrait of a Family: Photographs by Richard Avedon
On view at the Peabody Essex Museum April 17, 2010 through July 18, 2010
The sitter was a young president on the verge of taking office. The photographer was an internationally-celebrated fashion and portrait photographer at the top of his game. The Peabody Essex Museum presents the striking results of this historic meeting with The Kennedys| Portrait of a Family: Photographs by Richard Avedon — an exhibition of photographs taken of president-elect John F. Kennedy and his young family weeks before moving into the White House. Iconic images are presented with the contact sheets from which they were selected to reveal the editorial choices made to influence public perception.
On January 3, 1961, Richard Avedon arrived at the Kennedy home in Palm Beach, Florida, to photograph the family for Harper’s Bazaar and Look magazines. Filled with promise and portent, these were the only formal pictures taken of Kennedy between his election and inauguration. While the images are expertly shot and the Kennedys themselves radiated personal power and charisma, it was the selection of photographs for publication that was key in crafting the public personas of America’s first media-friendly power couple.
Created by the National Museum of American History and organized for travel by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), this exhibition was prepared for PEM by Curator of Photography, Phillip Prodger. “We are delighted to be the exclusive New England venue for this important exhibition,” said Prodger, “It is rare to be able to see a group of pictures that helps us understand the way a photographer’s mind works the way this show does. It tells the incredible story of how one of America’s favorite, most influential photographers crossed paths with the Kennedys for one magical day in the winter of 1961.”
Making the Myth
In Portrait of a Family, the combination of individual prints with enlarged contact sheets made for exhibition enables visitors to experience firsthand the decisions Avedon made in preparing his pictures for Harper’s Bazaar. Together they reveal the decisions Avedon made when editing his pictures, showing the frames the artist decided to use and the ones he set aside, as well as the cropping, retouching, and other alterations that went into finalizing the images. Each choice was very consciously made to project a particular mood, meaning, or manner of being.
In the mid-1990s Avedon donated the photographs and their negatives to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. This priceless gift chronicles the intersection of two American icons at a formative time in history, and helps us understand the working methods of one of the masters of photography in the twentieth century.
SPECIAL PRESS EVENT
Members of the press are invited to an evening of Cocktails & Conversation on Tuesday, April 13th from 6:30 - 8 pm. Join PEM's Curator of Photography, Phillip Prodger, for an advance preview and private tour of
The Kennedys| Portrait of a Family: Photographs by Richard Avedon and learn more about PEM's photography initiatives. Please RSVP by April 5th to Whitney Riepe at whitney_riepe@pem.org or 978-745-9500 x3228.
EXHIBITION CATALOGUE
The Kennedys: Portrait of a Family by Shannon Thomas Perich (Collins Design, 2007) is available for sale in the PEM Shop and online at www.pemshop.com.
EXHIBITION CREDIT
Created by the National Museum of American History and organized for travel by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), The Kennedys | Portrait of a Family is supported by the Rudolf Eickemeyer, Jr. Fund and Collins Design, An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. The exhibition and national tour are sponsored by The History Channel.
IMAGE CREDITS
All images courtesy National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. Photographs by Richard Avedon, 1961.
UPCOMING PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITIONS AT PEM
Imprints: Photographs by Mark Ruwedel
Marianne Mueller: Archive
Ansel Adams: At the Water's Edge Helen Levitt: In a New York Minute
The Mind’s Eye: Fifty Years of Photography by Jerry Uelsmann Walker Evans/Samuel Chamberlain
Masahisa Fukase: The Solitude of Ravens
Jo Ractliffe: Document
ABOUT THE PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM
The Peabody Essex Museum presents art and culture from New England and around the world. The museum's collections are among the finest of their kind, showcasing an unrivaled spectrum of American art and architecture (including four National Historic Landmark buildings) and outstanding Asian, Asian Export, Native American, African, Oceanic, Maritime and Photography collections. In addition to its vast collections, the museum offers a vibrant schedule of changing exhibitions and a hands-on education center. The museum campus features numerous parks, period gardens and 22 historic properties, including Yin Yu Tang, a 200-year-old house that is the only example of Chinese domestic architecture on display in the United States.
HOURS: Open Tuesday-Sunday and holiday Mondays, 10 am-5 pm. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
ADMISSION: Adults $15; seniors $13; students $11. Additional admission to Yin Yu Tang: $5. Members, youth 16 and under and residents of Salem enjoy free general admission and free admission to Yin Yu Tang.
INFO: Call 866-745-1876 or visit our Web site at www.pem.org.
Never before seen by the public, the contents of an Emperor’s private retreat deep within the Forbidden City will be revealed for the first time at the Peabody Essex Museum.
“An emperor or king should have extensive grounds to stroll in and lovely vistas to enjoy.
If he has such a place, he will be able to cultivate his mind and refine his emotions.” —The Qianlong emperor
MAJOR INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION YIELDS
NEVER BEFORE SEEN FORBIDDEN CITY TREASURES
The Emperor’s Private Paradise: Treasures from the Forbidden City
On view at PEM September 14, 2010 – January 9, 2011
SALEM,
MA –– When the last emperor of China, Puyi, left the Forbidden City in 1924, the doors closed on a secluded compound of pavilions and gardens deep within the palace. Filled with exquisite objects personally commissioned by the 18th-century Qianlong (pronounced chee’en lohng) emperor for his personal enjoyment, the complex of lavish buildings and exquisite landscaping lay dormant for decades. Now for the first time, 90 objects of ceremony and leisure — murals, paintings, furniture, architectural and garden components, jades and cloisonné — will be on view at the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts. The Emperor’s Private Paradise: Treasures from the Forbidden City will reveal the contemplative life and refined vision of one of history’s most influential rulers with artworks from one of the most magnificent places in the world.
A model of international cooperation, the exhibition was organized by the Peabody Essex Museum in partnership with the Palace Museum, Beijing, and in cooperation with World Monuments Fund (WMF). The Emperor’s Private Paradise willtravel to The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Milwaukee Art Museum in 2011. “This is a very exciting, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our visitors to see the contents of this extraordinary Forbidden City complex before it opens to the public at large in 2019. Our collaboration with the Palace Museum and World Monuments Fund underscores PEM’s commitment to showing ambitious, world-class exhibitions and to our ongoing cultural exchange with China,” said Dan Monroe, Executive Director and CEO of the Peabody Essex Museum.
A garden of elegant repose
A jewel in the immense Forbidden City complex, the Qianlong Garden had remained untouched for more than 230 years when in 2001 the Palace Museum and WMF began the restoration of the 27 buildings, pavilions and outdoor elements including ancient trees and rockeries. Built when China was the largest and most prosperous nation in the world, the garden complex was part of the emperor's ambitious commission undertaken in anticipation of his retirement. Buddhist shrines, open-air gazebos, sitting rooms, libraries, theaters and gardens were interspersed with bamboo groves and other natural arrangements. In the garden’s worlds within worlds, the Qianlong emperor would retreat from affairs of state and meditate in closeted niches, write poetry, study the classics and delight in his collection and artistic creations.
“The Qianlong Garden project is the centerpiece of our conservation work in China. World Monuments Fund is honored to be part of both the history and the future of this important site, and delighted to be working with the Peabody Essex Museum and bringing the Qianlong Garden to a public audience,” said Bonnie Burnham, President of World Monuments Fund.
The Emperor’s Private Paradise includes a film and other interactive elements highlighting the conservation process undertaken by the Palace Museum and WMF, as well as the gifted artisans who restored the objects and architecture to their original condition. A computerized walk-through will offer visitors a vicarious experience of one of the principal structures, the Juanqinzhai building, conservation of which has just been completed. Museum-goers will be able to try their hand at calligraphy with a touch station that will lead them through the brush strokes.
An emperor of exceptional influence
Reigning from 1736 to 1796, the Qianlong emperor led China to sweeping administrative, military and cultural achievements while far surpassing European monarchs of his day in wealth and power. As the fourth emperor of the Qing (pronounced ching) dynasty to rule China, his 60-year reign spanned the American and French Revolutions, and the reigns of a veritable parade of Georges, Fredericks and Catherines of Europe. The Qianlong emperor was a multi-faceted monarch — an aggressive military conqueror of vast territories and a passionate patron of the arts. Many of our impressions of imperial China’s splendor date from the 18th-century, and owe much to the tastes, fashions and style of the Qianlong court. While incorporating classic Chinese design features such as elements of nature and expressions of Confucian morality, the Qianlong emperor also added new concepts from European painting styles. His desire to innovate within the Chinese aesthetic touched the objects, architecture and landscapes that he commissioned, transforming what we recognize as Chinese art.
Objects of imperial contemplation
The artworks crafted for the Qianlong emperor echoed and supported his dedication to Buddhist spiritual pursuits, Confucian morals, love of literature and reverence for nature. “Visitors to this exhibition will be invited to walk through our galleries the way the Qianlong emperor would have strolled through his rooms and gardens. Around each corner are opportunities to encounter objects of beauty and exceptional craftsmanship,” said Nancy Berliner, exhibition curator and curator of Chinese art at the Peabody Essex Museum.
A spectacular hanging Buddhist shrine painted on silk (shown left) evokes a paradisiacal realm, radiant with color and glittering with gold. The work is a mandala, a Buddhist cosmogram depicting a portion of the universe with deities and other supernatural beings arranged in a ritually auspicious design that can aid the meditation of initiated worshippers. In an innovative combination of two and three-dimensional formats, painted figures sit nestled in glass-covered insets, dotting the piece like set gemstones. The emperor, a devotee of a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Mongolia, is depicted in gold as the Bodhisattva Manjusri at the center.
The magnificent throne (shown right) exemplifies the exceptional craftsmanship of artisans engaged by the emperor to furnish his private world. This piece was carved from zitan, a wood so hard and dense that it sinks in water. Techniques including gold painting on lacquer, bamboo thread marquetry, fine wood carving, and jade and hardstone inlay contributed to the elegant solidity of the piece, which likely took well over a year to complete.
An impressive sight for Buddhist devotees or art connoisseurs is the monumental jade-and- lacquer screen (shown left) of 16 luohan, or enlightened beings –– the celebrated, quasi-legendary disciples of the Buddha. Each character is depicted in a surprisingly grotesque manner after an earlier painting by a master who saw them appear this way in a dream. Visually arresting in black and white, the reverse side of the screen is equally striking, with glorious botanical images painted in gold. Long hidden from view due to its orientation flush with a chamber wall, the reverse images were a great discovery for Palace Museum and WMF conservators working on the project.
Also included in the exhibition is one of the rare extant examples of imperial trompe-l'oeil mural painting, a fifteen-foot-wide work depicting women and children in a palace hall celebrating the New Year. The mural is one of only six such surviving 18th-century works. Painted by Chinese court artists who had been trained by a European artist, the mural reflects a successful blending of European and Chinese traditions.
Other objects range from the quietly personal to the flamboyantly crafted and hued. Calligraphy written in the emperor’s own hand conveys a sense of his refined thinking and brush technique. Panels carved in semiprecious gemstone or rendered in brilliantly pigmented cloisonné are as vibrant and pleasing as the day they were created.
China and the Peabody Essex Museum
PEM’s relationship with China extends nearly to the Qianlong emperor's reign, and is the longest of any museum in North America. Dating to the close of the 18th-century, PEM’s holdings in Chinese art and Asian export art represent some of this country's first efforts to reach outward and establish mutually enriching, lasting exchanges with other nations.
The Emperor's Private Paradise is the next step in PEM’s ongoing commitment to bringing new discoveries in Chinese art and architecture to the public. Yin Yu Tang, an 18th-century merchant’s house acquired by the museum in 2003, is the jewel of the museum’s collection and the only example of historic vernacular Chinese architecture in North America. The building was meticulously dismantled at its original site in southeastern Anhui province, and re-constructed piece by piece at the museum in Salem. Yin Yu Tang remains a great source of pride for the museum, a deep and abiding connection to China and a rare trove of living scholarship.
PRESS PREVIEW
WEDNESDAY | SEPTEMBER 8, 2010 | 9:30 - 11:30 AM
Breakfast, preview and exhibition tour with Nancy Berliner, curator of Chinese art at the Peabody Essex Museum. RSVP to Whitney Riepe, whitney_riepe@pem.org or 978 745 9500 x3228.
IMAGE CREDITS (TOP TO BOTTOM)
Juanquin theater room stage, Palace Museum; Courtesy of WMF and Palace Museum.
Hanging panel with niches; zitan, painted and gilt clay, colors on silk; 65 ½ x 36 ½ x 1 ½ inches; Courtesy of the Palace Museum, Beijing.
Throne; zitan, bamboo, jade, semi-precious stones, and lacquer; 38 ½ x 46 ¼ x 33 inches; Courtesy of the Palace Museum, Beijing.
Screen (sixteen panels); Zitan, lacquer, jade, and gold paint; Each panel 84 x 28 x 2 ½ inches; Courtesy of the Palace Museum, Beiji
EXHIBITION CREDIT
Organized by PEM in partnership with the Palace Museum, Beijing, and in cooperation with World Monuments Fund. The exhibition travels to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Milwaukee Art Museum. The exhibition and national tour are made possible in part by generous support from the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and American Express. Additional support has been provided by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, ECHO (Education through Cultural and Historical Organizations) and the East India Marine Associates (EIMA) of the Peabody Essex Museum.
Media Partner: The Boston Globe
ABOUT THE PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM
The Peabody Essex Museum presents art and culture from New England and around the world. The museum's collections are among the finest of their kind, showcasing an unrivaled spectrum of American art and architecture (including four National Historic Landmark buildings) and outstanding Asian, Asian Export, Native American, African, Oceanic, Maritime and Photography collections. In addition to its vast collections, the museum offers a vibrant schedule of changing exhibitions and a hands-on education center. The museum campus features numerous parks, period gardens and 22 historic properties, including Yin Yu Tang, a 200-year-old house that is the only example of Chinese domestic architecture on display in the United States.
HOURS: Open Tuesday-Sunday and holiday Mondays, 10 am-5 pm. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
ADMISSION: Adults $15; seniors $13; students $11. Additional admission to Yin Yu Tang: $5. Members, youth 16 and under and residents of Salem enjoy free general admission and free admission to Yin Yu Tang.
INFO: Call 866-745-1876 or visit our Web site at www.pem.org.
Water and Cosmos
this section portray a wide array of fish, frogs, birds and mythic beasts inhabiting the sea and conveying spiritual concepts. This effigy of an actual Caribbean spiny lobster (shown here) is the only known Maya representation of the creature. The object was excavated in 2007 from one of the oldest sites in Belize, populated for over three thousand years. It dates from the turbulent early colonial period when traditional Maya life was besieged by incursions of Spanish soldiers and missionaries. A plugged cavity bearing a stingray spine, three shark teeth and two blades of microcrystalline quartz hint at blood sacrifice. The head emerging from the mouth may be the face of a Maya deity.
Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea is organized by the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA, and has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Because democracy demands wisdom.
In Portrait of a Family, the combination of individual prints with enlarged contact sheets made for exhibition enables visitors to experience firsthand the decisions Avedon made in preparing his pictures for Harper’s Bazaar. Together they reveal the decisions Avedon made when editing his pictures, showing the frames the artist decided to use and the ones he set aside, as well as the cropping, retouching, and other alterations that went into finalizing the images. Each choice was very consciously made to project a particular mood, meaning, or manner of being.
The artworks crafted for the Qianlong emperor echoed and supported his dedication to Buddhist spiritual pursuits, Confucian morals, love of literature and reverence for nature. “Visitors to this exhibition will be invited to walk through our galleries the way the Qianlong emperor would have strolled through his rooms and gardens. Around each corner are opportunities to encounter objects of beauty and exceptional craftsmanship,” said Nancy Berliner, exhibition curator and curator of Chinese art at the Peabody Essex Museum. 
The magnificent throne (shown right) exemplifies the exceptional craftsmanship of artisans engaged by the emperor to furnish his private world. This piece was carved from zitan, a wood so hard and dense that it sinks in water. Techniques including 
An impressive sight for Buddhist devotees or art connoisseurs is the monumental jade-and- lacquer screen (shown left) of 16 luohan, or enlightened beings –– the celebrated, quasi-legendary disciples of the Buddha. Each character is depicted in a surprisingly grotesque manner after an earlier painting by a master who saw them appear this way in a dream. Visually arresting in black and white, the reverse side of the screen is equally striking, with glorious botanical images painted in gold. Long hidden from view due to its orientation flush with a chamber wall, the reverse images were a great discovery for Palace Museum and WMF conservators working on the project.
