Asian Art Museum 1: Boxes and Baskets

The Asian Art Museum is preparing its special exhibition space for the upcoming "Shanghai" show.



For the first time, the museum is reconfiguring huge chunks of wasted space on the ground floor to allow room for the new exhibit to breathe.



Frankly, it's about time, because there have been too many great shows at the Asian over the last five years where too many treasures have been crammed into too small a space.



I was on the way to the Heart of the City Farmers' Market last Sunday afternoon, and decided to pop my head into the museum and take a couple of photos for my faithful readers.



The place really is extraordinary, particularly in the depth of its collections.



The weird, fabulous Japanese basket display was almost completely different from the last time I visited only a couple of months ago.



I've found that the best way to check out the permanent collection is backwards, starting with the Japanese Baskets, Tea Room, and Monster Screens rooms. For reasons that probably have to do with protection from light damage, the displays tend to rotate ceaselessly. It's never the same place.