Nassau County Museum of Art launches 'China Then and Now'

It's a long stretch from then to now in the first-ever Asian exhibition at the Nassau County Museum of Art. "China Then and Now" takes us back to the first millennium, when the country now known as the People's Republic was an unruly polyglot of fiefdoms, all the way up to today -- or at least 2013.

The show's middle ground, however, is both exotic and hyperlocal. Blue-and-white porcelains from the Ming (1368-1644) to Qing (1644-1911) dynasties were once displayed in the room where you can see them, starting Saturday. The porcelain fine china is from Childs and Frances Frick, who lived in the Clayton Mansion, which now houses the Nassau museum.

"We have archival photos of these very same pieces," says curator Amy G. Poster. "Some of the objects are displayed just as they were in the Fricks' home."

LONG ISLAND COLLECTS

The Long Island connection is the show's subtheme. The first thing you'll notice -- you can't miss them -- are stone sculptures on loan from Columbia University's Arthur M. Sackler Collection. Sackler, who lived in Manhattan and Manhasset, collected Buddhist sculptures from 525-618 -- feudal periods and the early Sui dynasty.

"China was one of his great passions," says Poster, adding that antiquities in the exhibit rival the massive Chinese Buddhist sculptures at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Included are a standing marble Buddha and a bodhisattva, an "enlightenment being." A bodhisattva head, possibly from a temple cave, appears to smile subtly -- an Asian "Mona Lisa" in stone.

Sackler was one of many 20th century industrialists and bankers who collected Asian art. J.P. Morgan dispersed much of his collection to museums. But many works were acquired by Long Islanders who brought their trove home to the Gold Coast.

CHINA FROM CHINA

Porcelains like those in the Frick Collection were prized "China wares" brought by 17th century Dutch settlers of Brooklyn. The dishware term china, says Poster, comes from China's earliest exports to the West: tea and fine tea-serving pieces. The blue-and-white finish of these Chinese originals predates that of Holland's Delft "china" and England's Wedgwood. A Ming dynasty octagonal saucer depicting ducks and aquatic fauna is among the earliest such porcelains in the Nassau show.

"Now" pieces of the exhibit showcase ink-on-paper paintings by contemporary Beijing artist Liu Dan. "Winter Landscape (After Wang Wei)," is a 2002 homage to the eighth century Chinese poet and painter. Liu's 2007 monumental "Scholar's Rock," combining meditative traditions with contemporary sensibilities, is loaned by a private New York collector. The most recent painting, "Mingsha Dialolo," 2013, inspired by Silk Road Buddhist caves, on closer inspection offers hints of anthropomorphism.

"He paints mindscapes," Poster says of Liu Dan. "They're landscapes, but part of them comes from out of his head as he combines the China of then with now."