FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media contact: Margi Caplan | mcaplan@smith.edu | 413 244 3150 Page 1 of 2 SMITH COLLEGE MUSEUM OF ART ANNOUNCES SPRING 2013 FOUR-­‐PART ASIAN ART EXHIBITION + TWO RELATED MAJOR GIFTS Northampton, MA; January 28, 2013––Smith College Museum of Art (SCMA) announces the major spring 2013 exhibition, Collecting Art of Asia, on view February 1–May 26, 2013. One hundred years ago, in 1913, the noted collector Charles Lang Freer made gifts of the first Asian artworks to enter the collection of Smith College Museum of Art. Collecting Art of Asia commemorates this centennial by highlighting the Museum’s holdings of Asian art. Freer’s close association with painter and Smith professor Dwight William Tryon is examined in the exhibition and in the accompanying illustrated collections catalogue highlighting SCMA’s Asian holdings. The exhibition includes Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and South and Southeast Asian art from the Museum’s permanent collection––from traditional to contemporary––as well as promised gifts of art. Work by more than 80 artists is on view in the exhibition. Collecting Art of Asia also looks to the future: “Collecting Art of Asia announces SCMA’s renewed commitment to developing its collection of Asian art, recognizing Smith College’s increasingly international scope and its growing strength in Asian studies.” ––Jessica Nicoll, Director and Louise Ines Doyle ’34 Chief Curator The collection of Asian art that has taken shape over the past century reflects the evolving aspirations for SCMA, as well as the engagement of Smith and its alumnae and friends with Asia’s diverse countries and their rich cultures and history. Built largely through gifts, it is in many ways a collection of collections, telling the stories of the passion and experience of numerous collectors and their commitment to providing Smith students with the opportunity to study and learn directly from original works of art. In conjunction with this special four-­‐part exhibition, SCMA announces two major gifts: one to establish the Jane Chace Carroll ’53 Curatorship of Asian Art; and the other, from Peggy Block Danziger (class of 1962), to create a gallery within the Museum that will be dedicated to the display of Asian art. SCMA’s director, curators, and educators, in conjunction with a team of Smith faculty and staff advisors, developed the exhibition, catalogue, and related programs collaboratively. (Related Programming, attached.) 
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Page 2 of 2 EXHIBITION SECTIONS TRADITIONAL ART Historical works from the permanent collection and promised gifts, including painting, sculpture, prints, ceramics, lacquer, and metalwork. CONTEMPORARY ART Paintings, photographs, sculpture, and the large-­‐scale installation Movement by Korean-­‐American artist Yong Soon Min, acquired through the initiative of the Korean American Students of Smith (KASS). PRINTS: 1950–2013 Prints by artists from Japan, China, Korea, and Pakistan created between 1950 and the present day. This selection of works represents major moments, collectors, and practitioners in the recent history of printmaking, charting the changing aesthetic of contemporary graphics. VIDEO ART Videos by Cao Fei, Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, and other Asian artists (shown in rotation; schedule posted in gallery). The Birth of RMB City, by Cao Fei, was the first purchase of the Museum’s recently established Contemporary Associates group, whose membership dues are used to acquire new media works and contemporary photographs for the permanent collection.   
SUMMARY | RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Collecting Art of Asia at Smith College Museum of Art displays a sampling of art from the Museum’s permanent collection produced across a broad span of time by more than 80 artists born in areas currently within the borders of the following regions and countries: East Asia China, Japan, and South Korea Southeast Asia Cambodia and Thailand South Asia India and Pakistan The exhibition includes 120+ objects installed in four sections spanning three floors of the Museum. For comprehensive information about the exhibition and related programs, and to see images, visit: smith.edu/artmuseum/On-­‐View. Learn more about the arts and history of Asia––recommended websites:  Asia Society Museum asiasocietymuseum.org 
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution asia.si.edu
 The Metropolitan Museum of Art Timeline of Art History metmuseum.org/toah  Online Museum Resources on Asian Art/Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University afemuseums.easia.columbia.edu Collecting Art of Asia is made possible by the generous support of the Louisa Stude Sarofim 1995 Charitable Trust and The Brown Foundation, Inc., of Houston, both through the initiative of Louisa Stude Sarofim ’58, and the General Art Fund. Additional support for educational programming is provided by the Carlyn Steiner ’67 and George Steiner Endowed Fund, in honor of Joan Smith Koch. # # #