The newspaper for collectors, dealers, museums and galleries • june 2005 • £5.00/US$8/€10 The newspaper for collecTors, dealers, museums and galleries • march 2026 • £5.00/us$10/€10 BRONZES RETURN TO INDIA T


he Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art announced its plans to return


three sculptures to the Government of India, following rigorous provenance research that documented that the sculptures had been removed illegally from temple settings. Te Government of India has agreed to place one of the sculptures on long-term loan. Tis arrangement will allow the museum to publicly share the full story of the object’s origins, removal, and return, and to underscore the museum’s commitment to provenance research. Te two Chola period (circa 850-


1250) sculptures Shiva Nataraja, circa 990, and Somaskanda, 12th century, exemplify the rich artistry of South Indian bronze casting. Te sculptures were


originally sacred objects


traditionally carried in temple processions. Te Shiva Nataraja, which is to be placed on long-term loan, will be on view as part of the exhibition Te Art of Knowing in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayas, which opens later this month in Washington, DC. Chola bronzes were produced in Tamil


Nadu, India, from the 9th to 13th centuries, and represent a pinnacle of Indian metal casting, characterised by elegant, slender, and vibrant depictions of Hindu deities. Crafted mainly for temples using the lost-wax method, the copper alloy sculptures served as portable, sacred icons for religious processions. Te 16th-century work Saint


Sundarar with Paravai comes from the Vijayanagar Empire (1336-1646), a dominant South Indian kingdom in Karnataka known for its immense wealth, art and cosmopolitan culture, with its capital at Hampi, and a highly successful trading power. As part of a systematic review of its


South Asian collections, the National Museum of Asian Art undertook a detailed investigation into the provenance of the three sculptures, scrutinising each work’s transaction history. In 2023, in collaboration with the Photo Archives of the French Institute of Pondicherry, museum researchers confirmed that the bronzes had been photographed in temples in Tamil Nadu, India, between 1956 and


1959. Te Archaeological Survey of India subsequently reviewed these findings and affirmed that the sculptures had been removed in violation of Indian laws. Te Shiva Nataraja belonged to the Sri Bhava Aushadesvara


Temple in


Tirutturaippundi Taluk, Tanjavur District, Tamil Nadu, India, where it was photographed in 1957. In addition to photographic evidence confirming the sculpture’s presence in the temple in 1957, a provenance researcher at the museum determined that a New York gallery


had provided falsified


documentation to facilitate the sale to the museum. Te Somaskanda and Saint Sundarar


with Paravai entered the collection of the museum as part of a gift of 1,000 objects from Arthur M Sackler in 1987. Research led by the museum’s team at the Photo Archives of the French Institute of Pondicherry confirmed that the Somaskanda was photographed at the Visvanatha Temple in Alattur village, Mannarkudi taluk, Tamil Nadu in 1959, and the Saint Sundarar with Paravai at the Shiva Temple in


Shiva Nataraja, Lord of Dance, India, Tamil Nadu state, Chola dynasty, circa 990, bronze. On loan from the Government of India. Photo: National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution


Veerasolapuram village, Tamil Nadu, in 1956. Provenance research involves close


examination of an object’s physical characteristics alongside documentary evidence that together inform an understanding of an object’s ownership


NEWS IN BRIEF


ASIA SOCIETY, NEW YORK In January, the Board of Trustees of Asia Society announced that the Honourable Kevin Rudd, Australia’s Ambassador to the US, will return to lead the Asia Society from its global headquarters in New York on 31 March 2026. Dr Rudd will also serve as President of the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) and will assume a leading role with ASPI’s Center for China Analysis, which he established in 2022. He succeeds Kyung-wha Kang, who stepped down as Asia Society President and CEO in October to serve as the Republic of Korea’s top diplomat in the US. He will also be actively engaged in ASPI’s Washington office, particularly through the Center for China Analysis, in his ongoing engagement across the US system on China policy. Dr Rudd served as Asia Society’s President and


CEO (2021-23) and the inaugural President of ASPI (2015-23). A distinguished diplomat, China scholar, and leading voice on Indo-Pacific and Asia-Pacific affairs, he led Asia Society and ASPI in aggressively pursuing its mission to navigate common futures on major policy challenges confronting the Asia-Pacific in security, prosperity, sustainability, and the development of common norms and values in the region. During his tenure, Dr Rudd developed the world-class Center for China Analysis within ASPI. From the Institute’s beginning, he established ASPI as a leading global think-and-do tank, ranking in the top one percent of think tanks worldwide, with a distinctive voice and position in the global dialogue. During his Asia Society presidency, he also led the


establishment of two new locations, in Paris (Asia Society’s first in the European Union) and Seattle (focused on AI and technology). Given the current challenges facing the Asia-Pacific and world, in his upcoming tenure, he will expand the Policy Institute’s presence in Washington, DC, and deepen


Continued on page 2 asianartnewspaper.com #AsianArtPaper | asianartnewspaper | asianartnewspaper | Asian Art Newspaper


and movement over time. Researchers identify and inspect information from sources as varied as export licenses, dealer records, inventories, curatorial files,


records,


ship manifests, historical


as robust


correspondence and many more to construct


an ownership Smithsonian’s


history as possible. Tis research aims to uncover and tell the complex histories of individual objects and the networks of people who have interacted with them over time. In December 2025, under the Shared


Stewardship


and Ethical Returns Policy, the museum announced its first ethical return of three sculptures to the Kingdom of Cambodia, with one of those cultural treasures to remain on display in the museum on long-term loan. Te National Museum of Asian Art has been active in the field of Asian art provenance research since the early 2000s, refining methodologies, advancing scholarship, whilst building global partnerships and making research findings publicly accessible.


Inside 2


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genealogical photographs,


ASIAN ART CHOLA AND VIJAYANAGAR


Profile: the artist Wael Shawky Making Waves, Japanese prints in York, UK Indigo-dyed fisherman’s coats from Awaji Island in Japan


Sculpted celadons from the Goryeo dynasty in Korea Here Be Dragons: the history of the Asian dragon in myth and the decorative arts The Ahom culture in Assam, northeast India Our guide to gallery shows during Asia Week New York, in March 2026 Asia Week New York auction previews


Asia Week New York museum and institution exhibitions Divine Colour: Hindu Prints from Modern Bengal, in Boston; Painting from the Pahari Kingdom of the Northwest Himalayas, in Cincinnati; In Bloom: How plants changed our world, in Oxford


23 Islamic Arts Diary


Next issue April 2026


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