03/01/2024 General, Asian Works of Art
NEW YORK, NY -- Doyle is honored to auction property from the collection of contemporary fiber artist Jon Eric Riis of Atlanta, Georgia. This remarkable collection of Asian textiles, historic costumes and works of art was assembled during his many travels to Asia in local markets, antique shops, the Arts of Pacific Asia show and other shows, as well as at auctions around the world.
Riis’ passion for textiles and ethnographic art began during his childhood in Chicago in the 1950s, where he spent hours with his family at the Field Museum of Natural History. He began weaving at age 18 at The Art Institute of Chicago and went on to study fiber at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfields Hills, Michigan.
Riis began collecting textiles in 1970, when he went to India as a Fulbright Scholarship studying indigenous textiles. In the early 1970s, Riis was named head of the Crafts Program at Georgia State University, and after a few years, he started his own business creating commissioned tapestries. After 25 years creating commissioned works for corporate buildings and public spaces, he opted for the freedom of weaving his own creations beginning in the early 1990s.
Tapestry work by Jon Eric Riis can be found in numerous private and public collections, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Museum of Arts and Design, and the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
“I attempt to push the tapestry genre, as I investigate issues if identity and the human condition. I am also interested in the notions of beauty using myths and historic textiles as points of departure. In many of my tapestry works, I utilize precious materials such as metallic and silk thread, often with added embellishments of freshwater pearls and crystal and coral beads.” – Jon Eric Riis
Property from the Collection of Jon Eric Riis comprises lots 101- 130 in the Asian Works of Art auction on March 19, 2024.
View Lots
Tapestry Skull Coat with Pearls by Jon Eric Riis
Exhibition Friday, March 15 – Monday, March 18, Noon – 5pm
On view concurrent with the Asian Works of Art exhibition is a special exhibition of Tapestry Skull Coat with Pearls by Jon Eric Riis. Richly embellished with fresh water pearls and crystal and coral beads, this piece is inspired by Tibetan antomical drawings of skulls, such as lot 126 in the sale: A Tibetan Painted Anatomical Diagram on Paper, 18th-19th Century.
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