Archive for “Nasser D. Khalili”

A Japanese bronze on display at the Royal Academy of Arts of London

Published on 31 August 2012.

London, 30 August 2012, Art Media Agency (AMA).

The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Japanese Art will loan a major work of the Meiji era to the Royal Academy of Arts of London for the “Bronze” exhibition from 15 September to 9 December 2012.

The work loaned by the Khalili Collection is an incense burner (koro) by Suzuki Chokichi (1848-1919) who signed the finished work with Kako, his artist name. This bronze is one of Chokichi’s favourite shapes, the koro, a word which, during the 1870s, meant the shape of an object rather than its function. As a result, it is unlikely that this work has ever been used to burn incense.

Although it has been in Europe since 1886 at least, when it was displayed at the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin, it is impossible to determine precisely when this work was carried out or displayed for the first time. In 1881, the South Kensington Museum of London (now the Victoria and Albert Museum) bought another large Chokichi bronze which was displayed at the important exhibition of Paris three years earlier.

The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Japanese Art includes two thousand works making it the largest collection of Meiji decorative art in the world.

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Panoramic Painting of Mecca exhibited at The British Museum

Published on 19 January 2012.

London, 19 January 2012, Art Media Agency (AMA).

As part of the “Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam” exhibition, The British Museum is exhibiting a panoramic painting of Mecca. The exhibition will consist of 45 works from Dr D.Khalili’s Collection of Islamic Art.

Painted in 1845, the ink and watercolour work is celebrated for its remarkable precision and clarity. The painting depicts the city as viewed from a 60o angle and was created by Mohamed Abdullah, a cartographer from Delhi, who had been commissioned by the Sharif of Mecca to paint the sacred monuments in his kingdom.

This exhibition is dedicated to the Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, displaying views of the city’s sites as well as of those found in Medina and Jerusalem. Manuscripts and armour along with silver, calligraphy and embroidered pieces will also be on display.

Nassser D. Khalili, sometimes referred to as “Islam’s Cultural Ambassador” is an academic, collector and philanthropist. Born in Iran, he moved to the US in 1967 before settling in the UK in 1978.

“Hajj: a journey to the heart of Islam” will be open from 26 January to 15 April 2012.

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