Photo: Seated crowned and bejeweled Buddha. 1895. Burma; possibly Shan State. Gilded dry lacquer with mirrored glass. Gift from Doris Duke Charitable Foundation’s Southeast Asian Art Collection, 2006.27.27; copyright by Asian Art Museum.

Thanksgiving weekend why not take a trip to Burma and Siam at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. The “Emerald Cities Exhibit” is awe-inspiring and allows for a quick trip without an arduous plane-ride. The exhibit goes through January 10, 2010 and is well worth the admission price.

If you haven’t been to the Asian Art Museum you are missing out on a treasure. The historic building once the former Public Library has been re-imagined by world famous architect Gae Aulenti. The building has been transformed and brightened and is now the perfect setting for the Asian Art collections. In the old location the museum could display only a small part of their extensive collection. At its new home the lucky patrons get to see many more treasures. The museum has over 17,000 pieces of art spanning a 6,000 history. It is one of the largest museums devoted entirely to Asian Art in the Western world.

The Asian Art museum is the exclusive venue for this exhibition. The Exhibit showcases 19th Century art from cities of Burma and Siam in South East Asia. Take your time to meander through the galleries featuring gilded ritual vessels, furniture, tapestries, paintings, manuscripts and delicate ceramics.

The collection came to the museum from heiress Doris Duke’s private collection and has not been viewed by the public until now. Duke developed an affinity for Asian art while on her honeymoon travelling through India, Thailand and Indonesia in 1955. This developed into a lifelong passion of collecting art from this region.

This exhibit was lovingly restored, cleaned, and repaired taking five years for the 140 objects in the collection. The result is magnificent. The objects range from textiles, sculptures, paintings, furniture and jewelry and shine ever so brightly.

The art invokes a sense of tranquility and calm. You will want to linger over each piece to fully appreciate the beauty. The collection has a number of Buddha statues in various sizes and poses. There is an incredible series of the 13 Chapters of Prince Vessantara, believed to be the last human incarnation of Buddha. The paintings each depict one of the Chapters of his life in a beautiful piece of art. Very few of these paintings remain as they were painted for festivals and later destroyed.

The textiles and paintings are so beautiful with the richness of the colors and textures depicting everyday scenes. There are several head-dresses used in dance/drama performances on display. The furniture is a work of art with the complexity of the ornamentation.

The temporary exhibit takes up three galleries on the main floor but don’t stop there. The permanent exhibit houses three more galleries of Asian Art upstairs which complements the collection you have just admired. Please view the slideshow asociated with this article to see a few of the treasures on exhibit.

A stop at the museum would not be complete without a visit to the gift shop. To commemorate the exhibit you may wish to purchase one of the beautiful coffee table books or one of the other beautiful objects. There are plenty of distinct items for those on your gift list. If you are hungry stop in the restaurant for a delectable lunch or snack. The food is reasonably priced and delicious.

Click here for other articles by this author.