EMERALD CITIES: ARTS OF SIAM & BURMA, 1775

Emerald Cities: Arts of Siam & Burma, 1775-1950, is the first exhibition of its kind to use a systematic approach to present artworks from this region and period. The exhibition features more than 140 artworks drawn exclusively from the museum’s collection, which is one of the largest and most important collections of nineteenth century Siamese and Burmese art outside of Southeast Asia. About two-thirds of the works on view were donated from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation’s Southeast Asian Art Collection, though other donors have also been generous. The exhibition displays ornately carved furniture, lavishly decorated miniature shrines, gilded statues, elaborately illustrated manuscripts, colorfully detailed paintings, and mirrored and bejeweled ritual objects. The Asian Art Museum organized Emerald Cities and serves as the exhibition’s exclusive venue.