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Connections: Gesture

Curator of Asian art Denise Leidy uses gesture as the key to unlocking narratives in works of art.
Denise Patry Leidy
4 min. watch

"It's what I see first and how I begin to understand almost everything I see."

Curator of Asian art Denise Leidy uses gesture as the key to unlocking narratives in works of art.

Contributors

Denise Patry Leidy
Curator, Department of Asian Art

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Art Mentioned

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Mother Feeding Child, Mary Cassatt American, Pastel on wove paper, mounted on canvas, American
Mother Feeding Child
Mary Cassatt
1898
Kabuki Actor Ōtani Oniji III as Yakko Edobei, Tōshūsai Sharaku Japanese, Woodblock print; ink, color, and white mica on paper, Japan
Kabuki Actor Ōtani Oniji III as Yakko Edobei
Tōshūsai Sharaku
1794
A Lady Playing the Tanpura, Ink, opaque and transparent watercolor, and gold on paper, India (Rajasthan, Kishangarh)
A Lady Playing the Tanpura
India (Rajasthan, Kishangarh)
ca. 1735
Shiva as Lord of Dance (Nataraja), Copper alloy, Indian (Tamil Nadu)
Shiva as Lord of Dance (Nataraja)
Indian (Tamil Nadu)
ca. 11th century
Yashoda with the Infant Krishna , Copper alloy, India (Tamil Nadu, Pudukkottai and Tanjavur districts)

Yashoda with the Infant Krishna

India (Tamil Nadu, Pudukkottai and Tanjavur districts)
early 12th century
Tea Bowl with “Hare’s-Fur” Glaze , Stoneware with iron glaze (Jian ware), China

Tea Bowl with “Hare’s-Fur” Glaze

China
12th century
Poem by Kamo no Chōmei with Underpainting of Cherry Blossoms, Hon'ami Kōetsu Japanese, Poem card (shikishi) mounted as a hanging scroll; ink, gold, and silver on paper, Japan
Poem by Kamo no Chōmei with Underpainting of Cherry Blossoms
Hon'ami Kōetsu
Tawaraya Sōtatsu
1606
Buddhist Deity, Ushnishavijaya (Zun Sheng fo mu), Gilt brass; lost-wax cast, China
Buddhist Deity, Ushnishavijaya (Zun Sheng fo mu)
China
late 17th–18th century
Seated hollow figure with helmet, Las Bocas artist(s), Ceramic, cinnabar, red ochre, Olmec
Seated hollow figure with helmet
Las Bocas artist(s)
1200–800 BCE
Portrait of a Young Man, Bronzino (Agnolo di Cosimo di Mariano) Italian, Oil on wood
Portrait of a Young Man
Bronzino (Agnolo di Cosimo di Mariano)
1530s
The Lovers, Riza-yi 'Abbasi Iranian, Opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper
The Lovers
Riza-yi 'Abbasi
dated 1039 AH/1630 CE
Bowl Emulating Chinese Stoneware, Earthenware; painted in blue on opaque white glaze
Bowl Emulating Chinese Stoneware
9th century
The Visitation, Master Heinrich of Constance German, Walnut, paint, gilding, rock-crystal cabochons inset in gilt-silver mounts, German
The Visitation
Master Heinrich of Constance
ca. 1310–20
The Vine, Harriet Whitney Frishmuth American, Bronze
The Vine
Harriet Whitney Frishmuth
1921; revised 1923: this cast 1924