Bowers Museum Presents "Treasures from Shanghai"

In Celebration of New Dorothy and Donald Kennedy Wing Bowers Museum Presents “Treasures From Shanghai: 5000 Years of Chinese Art and Culture” And “Ansel Adams: Classic Images”

Bowers Museum of Orange County celebrates its new state-of-the-art Dorothy and Donald Kennedy Wing with a grand opening on Sunday, February 18 and two spectacular new exhibitions – “Treasures from Shanghai:  5000 Years of Chinese Art and Culture” and “Ansel Adams: Classic Images.”

The Dorothy and Donald Kennedy Wing, also known as the new North Wing, is the Bowers’ second major development in 15 years. The $14.6 million, 30,000 square-foot expansion enables the Bowers to better serve its community with historically significant exhibitions and provide enhanced public programming events.

 “Treasures From Shanghai: 5000 Years of Chinese Art & Culture,” features 77 sets of objects from the Neolithic Period (circa 3000 B.C.) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 A.D.). This incredible collection, on loan from the acclaimed Shanghai Museum, portrays the evolution of Chinese technology, art and culture, utilizing rare examples of bronze vessels, oracle bones, polychrome potteries, sculptures, porcelains, paintings, jade/bamboo carvings and lacquer works.

“Treasures From Shanghai” premieres on an auspicious date: Chinese New Year, February 18, 2007, the year of the Pig (a sign of wealth and affluence). It will remain through August 19. The exhibit has been curated by Chen Kelun, well respected authority of Chinese history and culture and deputy director of the Shanghai Museum.                      

Selected objects include examples of Neolithic pottery jars and jade ornaments, bronze and ancient oracle bones from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, porcelains and other ceramics from the Tang through Ming Dynasties, to a myriad of some of Shanghai Museum’s most exquisite and historically relevant lacquer boxes, paintings and calligraphy in Ming and Qing Dynasties.

The focus of this dynamic exhibit is the ancient Chinese bronzes, from late Xia to early Han dynasty, and the exquisite Chinese porcelains from the Song dynasty to the prime time of the Qing dynasty. This exhibit displays nearly 20 pieces of ancient bronze vessels, cookware and music instruments, which demonstrate the ancient Chinese court dining cultures and rules of ceremonies. The porcelain works illustrate the most delicate and tasteful Chinese ceramic craftsmanship, including Yue ware, Xing ware, Cizhou ware, Jun ware, Longquan ware, and Jingdezhen ware.

The Shanghai Museum is one of the truly great museums of our time. Its spectacular architecture and world-class exhibits make it the cultural centerpiece of modern Shanghai. Most importantly, however, its collection represents some of the finest examples of China’s rich heritage found anywhere. With over 120,000 artifacts in its collection, the Shanghai Museum is acclaimed as the biggest and best museum in China.  

Founded in 1952, the Shanghai Museum has consistently expanded its collections and thus preserved Chinese culture. It is one of the world’s leading repositories of ancient Chinese civilizations. The current museum has 11 galleries, which cover the major categories of Chinese arts, such as ancient bronze, ceramics, paintings, calligraphy, jade carvings, coins, Ming and Qing furniture, seals, and minority nationalities art. Its extensive collection, emphasizing the artistry and utility of Chinese relics, provides a comprehensive view of the Chinese civilization, which has produced some of the most breathtaking works of art since the dawn of mankind. In similar fashion, the “Treasures From Shanghai” draws upon this incredible collection to portray the evolution of Chinese technology, art, and culture.

Bowers Museum also presents “Ansel Adams: Classic Images,” as part of the grand opening of the new Dorothy and Donald Kennedy Wing. The 75 images chosen by Adams as the finest examples of the quality and range of his photographic achievements come to Orange County for the first time. It too premieres on an auspicious date: Chinese New Year, February 18, 2007, the year of the Pig (a sign of wealth and affluence) and will remain through May 13.

In a career that spanned more than five decades, Ansel Adams is one of America’s most beloved landscape photographers and one of its more respected environmentalists. “Ansel Adams: Classic Images” features awe inspiring images—many of Adams’ most famous photographs. These works predominantly note elegant details of nature and magnificent landscapes for which he is so revered, but also feature dynamic portraits of the celebrated and the common man. The exhibit portrays the artist’s power and mastery over the medium of photography, his feeling for light, passion for beauty and his concept of visualization. These are black and white images of genius that evoke a range of feelings in the audience.

Many of his photographs record the national parks before an influx of human travel and intervention. An ardent member of the Sierra Club, many of his works promoted their goals and helped to bring environmental issues to light.

Adams named this collection “The Museum Set,” an aggressive claim for the artistic dignity of his photography. He, with Beaumont Newhall and David McAlpin founded the department of photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Adams was a relentless and articulate spokesman for photography, and the struggle for its artistic recognition was another significant part of his life.

Created during the later years of his life, the prints of “Ansel Adams: Classic Images” show, are what the artist referred to as, “maximum impact.”  They are stronger in contrast, much larger and more technically perfected to bring about a brilliance that resonates tonally. According to Adams, “The more recent prints are less timid.” He goes on to say that his earlier works are “softer, some think more subtle. I have sharply different vision now. The results are, perhaps, more dramatic.”  He contributes this to becoming more confident and better at getting what he wanted.

“Classic Images” includes several from Yosemite and Sequoia national parks, including his famous landscape “Monolith, the Face of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California, 1927,” and the details of nature found in “Juniper Tree Detail, Sequoia National Park, California, c. 1927.” It also includes images on the Pacific Coast, the Southwest, Alaska, Hawaii and the Northwest. Among them is the portrait “Georgia O’Keeffe and Orville Cox, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona, 1937,” the writhing “Sand Dunes, Oceano, California, c. 1950,” and the intriguing shadow of the artist in “Self Portrait, Monument Valley, Utah, 1958.”

“Ansel Adams:  Classic Images” illustrates the breadth of how the artist wanted to capture America and it is a collection of how he represented the best of his own life’s work.

About the Bowers

The Charles W. Bowers Memorial Museum first opened its doors in 1936 as a city-run museum devoted primarily to the history of Orange County. In the mid-1980s, the city of Santa Ana closed the museum and totally transformed it with a new vision for the 21st Century. When it reopened in October of 1992 as Bowers Museum, it was six times larger than the original. Today, one of Southern California’s finest museums and Orange County’s largest, Bowers Museum continues to promote human understanding through its six permanent collections and more than 50 special exhibitions from the greatest museums in the world. It is accredited by the American Association of Museums. With the addition of the Dorothy and Donald Kennedy Wing, the museum and its grounds cover 3.62 acres, house six permanent exhibits, three special exhibits, an auditorium, restaurant, and eight special events venues that have a total capacity of 2000.

Bowers has organized some of the most culturally significant exhibits in history, including “Secret World of Forbidden City,” “The Dead Sea Scrolls,” “Egyptian Treasures of The British Museum,” “Tibet: Treasures from the Roof of the World,” “Mummies: Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt” and now “Treasures From Shanghai: 5000 Years of Chinese Art and Culture.”

Bowers is located at 2002 N. Main Street in historic Santa Ana. The Bowers' children museum, Kidseum, is located next to the main Museum at 1802 N. Main Street. For additional information, please call 714.567.3600 or visit www.bowers.org