DALLAS, TX.-The Dallas Museum of Art will present an exhibition which investigates the rich historical interplay between the art of Asia and the West. The exhibition East Meets West opens Aug. 7 and is on view through Nov. 27 in the Focus Gallery.

The exhibition pairs objects of sculpture, painting and decorative pieces from the East and West, revealing the creative interaction between the artists of the two worlds.

Artistic exchanges occurred as historical boundaries widened, first in antiquity and again after the Renaissance. As eastern Asia opened up to the West, prominent artists like Edgar Degas and James McNeill Whistler began to explore the visual styles of the Orient. At the same time, Asian artists created works for the European market.

“The emerging 19th-century trade between Asia, Europe and America hastened a vibrant exchange of fine arts and decorative arts at that time,” said Dr. Anne Bromberg, The Cecil and Ida Green Curator of Ancient and South Asian Art of the Dallas Museum of Art. “It led to a rich visual mix—on both sides of the equation.”

That historical development could be considered an early movement in the creation of the “Global Village” of the modern world, since both Asian and Western artists today are able to work in a worldwide cultural context.

Paired pieces in the East Meets West exhibition will show how the discovery of Asia by the Greeks during the reign of Alexander the Great influenced Asian Buddhist art, which began to reflect Greek and Roman styles. In the 17th century, Spanish Colonial artists adopted Japanese art types like folded screens. From a Gandharan Head of Buddha to a 20th-century Mark Tobey painting recalling Japanese calligraphy, visitors will be able to see the effects of many profitable artistic meetings between the Western and Eastern worlds.

One of the outstanding works in the exhibit is the contemporary artist Mariko Mori’s Burning Desire, a large image on glass that shows the artist as a Tibetan Buddhist holy figure, encircled by flames. The work is on loan from Cindy and Howard Rachofsky. East Meets West was organized by the Dallas Museum of Art and curated by Dr. Bromberg.