Expanding Horizons: From European Decorative to Contemporary Arts

Expanding Horizons is an online selling exhibition exploring the cross-pollination between Eastern and Western art traditions. Juxtaposing European decorative arts with post-war and contemporary art from and influenced by Asia, explore our curated virtual gallery to get a closer look at the works available to purchase.

The traditions and aesthetics of Asian works of art have been greatly admired in Europe from the early 16th century onwards. The flow of porcelain, lacquer, wallpaper, silk and other finely-worked artefacts from East Asia gave rise to ‘chinoiserie’, a style that combined Chinese, Japanese and Indian motifs and ornament to create a fantasy world evocative of these highly-prized wares. As the world has grown closer in the post-war period, artists from Asia and Europe has been inspired to re-interpret their traditions of fine art in light of this cross-cultural dialogue, creating contemporary works which both challenge and evoke the past.

Image credit: © Georges Mathieu, DACS 2021.