Harvard's Arthur M. Sackler Museum Presents the Largest and Finest Private Collection of Cold-Painted Chinese Tomb Sculptures in the West

From Court to Caravan: Chinese Tomb Sculptures from the Collection of Anthony M. Solomon Offers a Closely Defined View into these Tomb Sculptures Presented Through a Scholarly Exhibition and Catalogue

Selections from the Exhibition Travel to The Asia Society and Museum, New York
(October 9, 2002 -February 9, 2003)

CAMBRIDGE, MA (July 25, 2002) - Made exclusively for burial, tomb sculptures representing both humans and animals were placed in tombs to protect and serve the spirit of the deceased. Including approximately 75 objects, From Court to Caravan: Chinese Tomb Sculptures from the Collection of Anthony M. Solomon will be on view at the Arthur M. Sackler Museum from July 27 through September 15, 2002. The Solomon collection is rich in materials not previously sought out by other collectors-Han-dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) and sixth-century pieces, along with unglazed, cold-painted sculptures.

The exhibition's title, From Court to Caravan, reflects its broad array of subjects, from courtly to humble to foreign. Rich in sculptures of humans, horses and guardian figures, with some resembling Buddhist temple guardians, the Solomon collection is also notable for its large number of pieces from the sixth century, a period of intense artistic fervor in China. First represented during the Eastern Han period (25-220), camels soared to popularity in the funerary sculptures of the late Northern Wei period (386-534) and then were depicted in the funerary sculptures of all succeeding periods. The exhibition includes Standing, Braying Camel with Brushed Mane, Its Back Laden with Goods from the Northern Qi period (550-577), a medium gray sculpture with cold-painted pigments. This magnificent camel is celebrated for its well-brushed mane and wonderfully textured tufts of fur at the tops of its front legs, not to mention for its very distinctive personality; it is also notable for its extensive use of ocher pigment, which lends a naturalistic note to the animal's coloration.

"We are extremely grateful for the many years of support Anthony M. Solomon has provided to the Art Museums," said James Cuno, Elizabeth and John Moors Cabot Director of the Harvard University Art Museums. "His comprehensive collection of tomb sculptures, with its emphasis on unglazed pieces, has allowed our talented curatorial staff, one of the most active Asian departments in any U.S. or European museum, to explore an important but previously neglected topic, presenting beautiful works of art and shedding new scholarly light on them."

There were four principal reasons for supplying tombs with burial goods: to provide food, water, and wine to sustain the spirit of the deceased in the next life; to provide a variety of humans and animals to serve, entertain, and amuse the deceased; to provide guardians to protect the corpse and the spirit of the deceased on its journey to the next world, including protection of the tomb itself from invasion, desecration, and robbery; and to provide a sufficiently great quantity of food, sculptures, and luxury and other burial goods to establish the wealth, importance, and elevated status of the deceased.

"This exhibition will allow us to present a superb group of Chinese funerary sculptures, an area in which our own holdings are relatively weak, thus giving our students and public a chance to see, enjoy, and study pieces that are not regularly displayed in our galleries -indeed not regularly displayed in New England in any quantity," said Robert D. Mowry, Alan J. Dworsky Curator of Chinese Art, Arthur M. Sackler Museum. "Because Dr. Solomon's collection is rich in materials not previously sought out by other collectors -Han-dynasty and sixth-century pieces, for example, not to mention unglazed, cold-painted sculptures-this exhibition breaks new scholarly ground while presenting works of great beauty and power."

Collector Anthony M. Solomon
Dr. Solomon has had a relationship with Harvard for several decades, completing graduate work in economics in 1948, teaching at the Harvard Business School from 1961 to 1963, and currently serving as a member of the Harvard University Art Museums Collections Committee, in addition to serving on committees of other prestigious arts organizations outside of Harvard. After completing an undergraduate degree at the University of Chicago, Anthony Solomon was director-general of finance of Southwest Iran from 1942 to 1946, having been appointed to the American financial mission to Iran by President Roosevelt on the recommendation of Winston Churchill. From 1953 to 1961, he served in Mexico City as president of the Rosa Blanca Products Corporation. In 1963, he chaired the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) mission to Bolivia and also served as a special consultant to President Kennedy as chairman of the mission to the U.S. Trust Territory, Pacific Islands. From 1963 to 1965, he was deputy assistant secretary of state for Latin America and deputy assistant administrator for USAID for Latin America; then, from 1965 to 1969, he was assistant secretary of state for economic affairs. From 1969 to 1972, he headed the International Investment Corporation for Yugoslavia, in London. He returned to U.S. government service in 1972, as an advisor to the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee (1972-1973). In 1977 he was appointed undersecretary of the Treasury for monetary affairs, a post he held until 1980, when he was named president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he served until 1985. He was chairman of S.G. Warburg (U.S.A.) between 1986 and 1989. Since then he has served as member, director, or chairman of various financial and advisory boards, including his current service as chairman of the executive committee of the Institute for International Economics, Washington, D.C.

Catalogue Information
A fully illustrated, color-printed catalogue accompanies the exhibition. The 160 page catalogue features an essay on the history of Chinese tomb sculptures by Virginia L. Bower (an independent scholar specializing in Chinese tomb sculptures). The catalogue also includes a Curatorial Preface and checklist of the works in the exhibition by Robert D. Mowry, Alan J. Dworsky Curator of Chinese Art at the Harvard University Art Museums. Information about the catalogue, which can be purchased for $30, may be found at: http://www.artmuseums.harvard.edu/publications/index.html; a hardcover trade edition is distributed through Yale University Press, at yalebooks.com.

About the Harvard University Art Museums
The Harvard University Art Museums are one of the world's leading arts institutions, with the Arthur M. Sackler, Busch-Reisinger, and Fogg art museums, the Straus Center for Conservation, and the U.S. headquarters for the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, an excavation project in western Turkey.

The Harvard University Art Museums are distinguished by the range and depth of their collections, their groundbreaking exhibitions, and the original research of their staff. As an integral part of the Harvard community, the three art museums serve as a resource for all students, adding a special dimension to their areas of study. The public is welcome to experience the collections and exhibitions as well as to enjoy lectures, symposia, and other programs.

For more than a century, the Harvard University Art Museums have been the nation's premier training ground for museum professionals and scholars and are renowned for their role in the development of the discipline of art history in this country.

Location and Hours
The Fogg Art Museum and the Busch-Reisinger Museum are located at 32 Quincy Street in Cambridge. The Arthur M. Sackler Museum is located next door at 485 Broadway. Each Museum is a short walk from the Harvard Square MBTA station.

Hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sunday 1 - 5 p.m.; the Museums are closed on national holidays. Admission is $6.50; $5 for seniors; $5 for students; and free for those under 18 years of age. The Museums are free to everyone Saturday mornings, 10 a.m. until noon. The Harvard University Art Museums receive support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. More detailed information is available at 617-495-9400 or on the Internet at www.artmuseums.harvard.edu.

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For more information on this project or the Harvard University Art Museums, please contact:

Matthew Barone
Harvard University Art Museums
tel 617-495-2397; fax 617-496-9762
mbarone@fas.harvard.edu

or

Kim Gilbert/Allison Derusha
Resnicow Schroeder Associates
tel 212-671-5157; fax 212-595-8354
kgilbert@resnicowschroeder.com
aderusha@resnicowschroeder.com