The Agha Khan's Art, Hadyn's Quartets, Japan's Ports, Eiffel's Tower & Serge's Dancers

IN THE NEWS-

- The Aga Khan's Islamic Arts Collection Goes on Dislpay : "The Agha Khan, the spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, is a generous man. He heads a network of nonprofit development agencies and plans to open a museum for his collection of Islamic art in Toronto in 2013. Until then, he is loaning the art to museums worldwide. The current beneficiary is Berlin’s Martin-Gropius-Bau, where “Treasures of the Aga Khan Museum’’ is showing through June 6. The 73-year-old philanthropist, in an introduction to the catalog, says he believes that tensions between Islam and the Western world are less about a “clash of civilizations’’ than “a battle of mutual ignorance.’’ Exhibiting his collection, which spans a vast area from Spain to China, is a way to fight that ignorance"... The Story in the Boston Globe


ARTS ALMANAC-

March 31, 1732: Joseph Haydn, Austrian composer, was born. "One of the most prolific and prominent composers of the classical period, Haydn is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these genres. He was also instrumental in the development of the piano trio and in the evolution of sonata form.

March 31, 1835: John La Farge, American painter, illustrator, & stained glass window designer, is born.

March 31, 1854: Commodore Matthew Perry signs the Treaty of Kanagawa with the Japanese government, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade and ending Japan's 200 year policy of seclusion.

March 31, 1872: Serge Diaghilev, Russian ballet impresario, was born. Diaghileve was a prominent Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario who is most famous for founding the Ballets Russes from which many famous dancers and choreographers would later arise.

March 31, 1889: The Eiffel Tower officially opens. "An iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris, the Eiffel Tower has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The tallest building in Paris, it is the single most visited paid monument in the world. Named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel, the tower was built as the entrance arch for the 1889 World's Fair.


IN OUR STORE-

“Islamic Art. The Past and Modern”

By Nuzhat Kazmi.

Published by the Lustre Press / Roli Books in 2009.

“This book looks at the artistic output of the Islamic civilization from its origins to the modern day in painting, calligraphy, textiles, decorative arts, and architecture. Among more than 100 color illustrations are a 16th-century Safavid painting (in which an elephant is actually made up of dozens of men and other creatures), a gorgeously penned monogram of Sultan Murat III, a lush 18th-century carpet with a sunburst of paisley, an elegantly filigreed wooden beggar's bowl from the 19th-century, and the mosaicked Nasir ul molk mosque in Iran. ”

$20.00

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