KIMBELL ART MUSEUM
Kimbell Art Museum - Buddha, Shiva, Lotus, Dragon
The Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection at Asia Society
Exhibition on Display: June 27, 2021 – September 5, 2021
Buddha, Shiva, Lotus, Dragon: The Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection at Asia
Society presents nearly 70 of the finest examples of Asian art in the United States.
This exhibition showcases the extraordinary range of bronzes, ceramics and metalwork that
John D. Rockefeller 3rd (1906–1978) and his wife, Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller (1909–1992),
thoughtfully assembled between the 1940s and the 1970s. With highlights including spectacular
Chinese vases, dynamic Indian Chola bronzes and exquisite Southeast Asian sculptures, the
exhibition reveals great achievements in Asian art spanning more than two millennia. This
selection of masterpieces drawn from Asia Society’s permanent collection is a visually
stunning presentation that illuminates social and artistic histories from across Asia and
underscores the visual arts’ capacity to encourage cross-cultural dialogue.
This exhibition represents a special opportunity to experience the unparalleled quality
of the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection outside of its home at Asia Society
Museum in New York City. In addition to investigating themes of Buddhist sculpture, Hindu
sculpture and ceramics and metalwork, the show also examines the Rockefellers’
connoisseurship as well as their collecting and exhibition practices in an age when
political and economic circumstances informed the reception and availability of Asian
artworks in the United States. With an emphasis on beauty, ingenuity and tradition, this
exhibition manifests the dynamic ideas and philosophies that animate histories of Asian
art and renews the Rockefellers’ vision of promoting a deep understanding of different
cultures through experiences with astonishing works of art.
This exhibition is co-organized by the American Federation of Arts and Asia Society Museum.
The national tour of the exhibition is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
-- Courtesy of The Kimbell Art Museum
About the Collection
The Kimbell's permanent collection is small in size, comprising fewer than 350
works of art, and is distinguished by an extraordinary level of artistic quality
and importance. The idea of building a choice collection of representative
masterpieces was established by the Board of Directors of the Kimbell Art
Foundation in consultation with Museum's first director, Richard F. (Ric)
Brown, in a Policy Statement of June 1, 1966:
The dominating principle involved in the acquisition process is that the
stature of the Museum depends more upon the quality of the definitive objects
that it contains than on the historical completeness of its collections. A
prospective addition to the collections, therefore, is to be judged from the
standpoint of aesthetic quality and typicality, and whether it defines a master,
period, school, style, or area. The goal shall be definitive excellence, not
size of collection.
Leaving to older and larger institutions the role of collecting broadly and in
depth, the Kimbell has continued to pursue quality over quantity. Its holdings
range from the third millennium B.C. to the mid-20th century and include major
works by Duccio, Fra Angelico, Caravaggio, Poussin, Velázquez, Bernini, Rembrandt,
Goya, Monet, Cézanne, Picasso, Mondrian, and Matisse. The collection comprises
Asian and non-Western as well as European art, and extends only to the mid-20th
century in recognition that this is where the collection of the Modern Art Museum
of Fort Worth begins, and omits American art since this is the focus of another
neighboring institution, the Amon Carter Museum.
Antiquities
The Kimbell's select holdings of antiquities range from the Egyptian Old Kingdom of the third millennium B.C. through ancient Assyria, Greece, and Rome, and to the Early Christian Church in the fifth century.
European Art
The collection of European paintings and sculpture is remarkably rich in works of the Italian Renaissance, although its fullest and most celebrated holdings are in Italian, French, Spanish, Dutch, and Flemish works of the 17th century.
Asian Art
The Asian collection comprises sculptures, paintings, bronzes, ceramics, and works of decorative art from China, Korea, Japan, India, Nepal, Tibet, Cambodia, and Thailand.
Precolumbian Art
Precolumbian art is represented by Maya works in ceramic, stone, shell, and jade; Olmec, Zapotec, and Aztec sculpture; and pieces from the Conte and Wari cultures.
African and Oceanic Art
The African collection consists primarily of bronze, wood, and terracotta sculpture from West and Central Africa, including examples from Nigeria, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Oceanic art is represented by a Maori figure.
About The Kimbell Art Museum
The Kimbell Art Museum, owned and operated by the Kimbell Art Foundation, is
internationally renowned for both its collections and for its architecture.
The Kimbell's collections range in period from antiquity to the 20th century
and include European masterpieces by artists such as Fra Angelico, Michelangelo,
Caravaggio, Poussin, Velázquez, Monet, Picasso and Matisse; important
collections of Egyptian and classical antiquities; and Asian, Mesoamerican
and African art.
The Museum's building, designed by the American architect Louis I. Kahn, is
widely regarded as one of the outstanding architectural achievements of the
modern era. A second building, designed by world-renowned Italian architect
Renzo Piano, is scheduled to open November 27, 2013, and will provide space
for special exhibitions, allowing the Kahn building to showcase the permanent collection.
For additional information please contact:
Jessica Brandrup, Head of Marketing and Public Relations
jbrandrup@kimbellmuseum.org or
Barbara Smith, Public Relations Coordinator
bsmith@kimbellmuseum.org or
call: (817-332-8451) ext. 248 or
log on to http://www.kimbellart.org
Kimbell Art Museum hours
Tuesdays through Thursdays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.;
Fridays, noon - 8 p.m.; Sundays, noon - 5 p.m.; closed Mondays.
For general information, call 817 - 332-8451. Web site:
www.kimbellart.org
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