January–December 2014
January • February • March • April • May • September • October • November • December
The following is an archive of past Japanese Art Society of America lectures and special events. Go to JASA Programs for our most current schedule.
January
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 6:15 P.M. (tour), 7 p.m. (LECTURE)
Rubin Museum of Art
Theater Level
150 West 17th Street
New York, New York
Japanese Priest Sculptor Enku
Jan Van Alphen, Chief Curator, Rubin Museum of Art, will present a lecture on the Japanese priest sculptor Enku (1632–1695), a subject that was featured in his 1999 exhibition on the subject at the Antwerpen Etnografisch Museum, where he was Curator and Director. This event will be co-sponsored by JASA and the Rubin Museum of Art. JASA Member and Vice President Amy Poster will conduct a gallery tour at the Rubin at 6:15 p.m., prior to the talk.
February
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 6 p.m.
The Marymount School
1026 Fifth Avenue, between 83rd and 84th Streets
New York, New York
Underground Buddhism: the Hidden History of the Ise Shrines
D. Max Moerman, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures, Barnard College, Columbia University will speak on Underground Buddhism.
Today the Ise Shrines are assumed to represent the oldest and purist form of “native” Japanese Shinto untouched by the “foreign” influence of Buddhism. This representation, however, dates only from the late 19th century. For most of the previous millennium, Ise was understood in Buddhist terms: its deities seen as local manifestations of the Cosmic Buddha, its shrines as embodying the Dual Mandala of the Esoteric Buddhist tradition. As early as the 10th century the priests of the Ise Shrines built Buddhist temples to gain salvation after death, took the tonsure and became Buddhist monks in the final years of their life, and received Buddhist funerals and memorial services. This talk explores this hidden history of Buddhist Ise by examining the burial of hundreds of Buddhist scriptures, inscribed on paper scrolls and ceramic tiles, in the 12th century by the priestly families of the shrines. The excavated materials from the sutra burials at Ise provide physical evidence of the depth of their Buddhist faith and tell us the names, dates, and motivations of those involved.
March
FRIDAY, MARCH 14, 11 a.m.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Japanese Galleries
1000 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York
The Flowering of Edo Period Painting: Japanese Masterworks from the Feinberg Collection
Private gallery tour for JASA members presented by John Carpenter, Curator of Japanese Art, of The Flowering of Edo Period Painting: Japanese Masterworks from the Feinberg Collection, currently on view, until September 7, in the Japanese Galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Please note this tour will be during the first rotation of the exhibition.
SUNDAY, MARCH 16, 2 P.M.
The Marymount School
1026 Fifth Avenue, between 83rd and 84th Streets
New York, New York
JASA Annual Meeting and Special 40th Anniversary Program,
Picture Mirrors: Traditional Japanese Prints in Their Own Time and Today
“A picture,” the artist Hokusai wrote, “is a mirror where heartmind meets heartmind.” What could this mean? To celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the Ukiyo-e Society of America, now the Japanese Art Society of America, Roger Keyes will focus on a few key works by Japanese print artists from the 17th through the 19th centuries and show how they managed to transform sorrow to joy, fear to courage, affliction into benefit, and pleasure into fulfillment. These qualities shine through their pictures regardless of one’s background, and the ease of well-being that informs them still makes people smile with pleasure today.
Roger Keyes first visited Japan in 1958 and has been studying and writing about Japanese prints since the 1960s. His first book, The Theatrical World of Osaka Prints (with the late Keiko Mizushima), was published in 1973. Since then Roger has published many other books and articles and completed in 2007 an illustrated but still unpublished catalogue raisonné of Hokusai’s 3000 single-sheet prints begun in 1972 with the late Peter Morse. In addition he has taught and lectured widely in Europe, Japan, and the United States, most recently about the transformative aspects of seeing and art. He and his wife Elizabeth Coombs relocated to England in 2010 and now live directly across the street from the cathedral church of York Minster.
MONDAY, MARCH 17, 2:15 P.m or 3:30 P.M.
New York Public Library Print Viewing Room
New York Public Library
41st Street and 5th Avenue
New York, New York
Ukiyo-e masterpieces of the New York Public Library Collection
Print viewing session of the collection with Roger Keyes and New York Public Library Curator Madeleine Viljoen. The library’s holdings of Japanese illustrated books and manuscripts, housed in the Spencer Collection, are comparable to those in only a handful of institutions in the world, and surpass any collection in the United States. They encompass books created by Japanese artists from the years 764 through the present day.
The library likewise has an important collection of ukiyo-e prints, a large number of which was bequeathed to the Print Collection by Charles Stewart Smith in 1901. Originally assembled by English military man, journalist and author Frank Brinkley, this collection comprises a celebrated group of woodcuts by Kitagawa Utamaro, as well as examples of the work of Harunobu, Koryusai, Sharaku and Hokusai. Later additions to the Japanese print collection include ten woodcuts acquired from the Louis V. Ledoux collection, as well as a complete set of the first edition of Hiroshige’s Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido.
April
SUNDAY APRIL 6, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Los Angeles, California
University Art Museum, California State University
Long Beach, California
Visit to the Price Collection and a Noh Mask Exhibition
Renowned collectors Joe and Etsuko Price will lead a tour for JASA members of selections from their extraordinary painting collection currently on view at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The exhibition, The Color of Life: Japanese Paintings from the Price Collection, features works by artists Ito Jakuchu, Nagasawa Rosetsu, Maruyama Okyo, Suzuki Kiitsu, Sakai Hoitsu and Kawanabe Kyosai, among others. In 2013 these works traveled to three cities in the Tōhoku region of Japan, which was directly impacted by the great earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011. The exhibition was a gesture of solidarity and support for the citizens of the Tōhoku region and was greeted with enormous gratitude and enthusiasm in Japan.
At 3 p.m., Dr. Kendall Brown, professor of Japanese art history at California State University, Long Beach, will lead a tour for JASA members of the exhibition Traditions Transfigured: The Noh Masks of Bidou Yamaguchi at the Cal State Long Beach Art Museum. Bidou’s masks apply the forms, techniques, transformative spirit and mysterious elegance of Noh masks to iconic female portraits from the European art historical canon, and to Kabuki actor prints by Sharaku, Japan’s enigmatic 18th-century portrait master.
SUNDAY, APRIL 13
Yale Art Gallery
New Haven, Connecticut
Excursion to Yale Art Gallery
For a special exhibition tour of Brush and Ink in Byobu: The Grandeur of Japanese Screens (March 25–May 11) with curator Sadako Ohki and Professor of History of Art Mimi Yiengpraksawan, and a visit to a private New Haven collector.
May
THURSDAY, MAY 1, 6 p.m.
The Marymount School 1026 Fifth Avenue, between 83rd and 84th Streets New York, New YorkThe Floating World at Your Finger Tips: Using the Ukiyo-e.org Search Engine
JASA member John Resig will discuss and demonstrate the use of of the Ukiyo-e.org Japanese woodblock print database and search engine, a new tool for ukiyo-e researchers, scholars, and collectors that simplifies print research. The database currently contains over 213,000 prints from 24 institutions and has received 6.3 million page views from 260,000 people since its launch.
The database holds images of Japanese woodblock prints collected from a variety of museums, universities, libraries, auction houses, and dealers around the world. It provides the ability to search for prints simply by providing a photograph of a print. Using this tool, new copies of prints have already been located by scholars and curators. Additionally, museums have been able to correct information on unattributed prints, identifying the artist and comparing to known examples.
Mr. Resig will also present new research that this site has made possible. If you have any woodblock prints you’d like to learn more about, please bring them to the talk and we’ll use the site to see if more information about the print can be found.
John Resig is the creator of the Ukiyo-e.org Japanese woodblock print database and search engine. He develops tools to aid ukiyo-e and ehon researchers. A visiting researcher at Ritsumeikan University, he recently presented at the 2013 Japanese Association for Digital Humanities conference in Kyoto.
Mr. Resig is the Head of Computer Science at Khan Academy and is a renowned computer programmer, having created the jQuery JavaScript library used by over two-thirds of all web sites. He has also published two books on JavaScript programming: Pro JavaScript Techniques (2006) and Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja (2012).
THURSDAY, MAY 15; First Session at 4 p.m., Second Session at 6 p.m.
New York, New YorkSpecial Visit to a Private Collection: Oni Zazen
Curator Laura J. Mueller will introduce new works in the Oni Zazen Collection. The viewing will highlight the recent acquisition of the Numata Collection of Soga Shôhaku, which includes screens and paintings that were most recently exhibited in the Shôhaku Show at the Kyoto National Museum in 2005. It will be the first time many of these works have been shown outside of Japan
FRIDAY, MAy 16, 11 a.m.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Japanese Galleries
1000 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York
The Flowering of Edo Period Painting: Japanese Masterworks from the Feinberg Collection
Private gallery tour for JASA members presented by John Carpenter, Curator of Japanese Art, of The Flowering of Edo Period Painting: Japanese Masterworks from the Feinberg Collection, currently on view, until September 7, in the Japanese Galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Please note this tour will be during the second rotation of the exhibition.
SATURDAY, MAY 17, 10 a.M.–5:30 P.M.
Japan Society Auditorium
333 East 47th Street
New York, New York
JASA at the Forefront: Celebrating the Fortieth Anniversary of the Japanese Art Society of America
JASA is delighted to announce a day of presentations in the current field of Japanese art and culture to mark the 40 years of its history. Six distinguished guest scholars include Christine Guth, Royal College of Art, London; Yukio Lippit, Harvard University; Melissa McCormick, Harvard University; Jennifer Perry, Metropolitan Museum of Art; Eric C. Rath, University of Kansas; and Bert Winther-Tamaki, University of California, Irvine. The moderator is John Carpenter, Metropolitan Museum of Art and Board member, JASA. For details, download the JASA at the Forefront schedule.
June
Wednesday, June 11, 2–3 p.m. and 3:30–4:30 p.m.
Brooklyn MuseumEastern Parkway
Brooklyn, NY
Private print viewing
Print viewing session of ukiyo-e masterpieces in the Brooklyn Museum Collection with noted expert Sebastian Izzard and Assistant Curator of Asian Art Susan L. Beningson. The Brooklyn Museum collection has been recognized for its Hiroshige’s Hundred Famous Views of Edo, and its fine holdings of Edo-period prints and illustrated books through the present day. We will view some of the aizuri-e, and a sampling of prints from every era, including works donated by Louis V. Ledoux, a long-time trustee of the museum.
September
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
New York, New York
CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE CERAMICS: NYC GALLERIES TOUR
Join JASA President Susan Peters for a full-day excursion to several New York art galleries featuring contemporary Japanese ceramic exhibitions.
Morning: Four Uptown Exhibitions
10 a.m.: Fukami Sueharu New Works
Meet at Erik Thomsen Gallery, 23 East 67th Street, between Madison and Fifth Avenues
11 a.m.: Kawase Shinobu: The Blossoming of Celadon
Joan B. Mirviss, Ltd., 39 East 78th Street, 4th Floor, where we will meet master ceramist Kawase Shinobu
12 p.m.: Pottery as Canvas
Hollis Taggart Galleries, 958 Madison Avenue (between 75 and 76th Streets), Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd., Beatrice Chang
12:45 p.m.: CHAWAN: Tea bowls by 16 contemporary Japanese potters
Ippodo Gallery New York, 12 E. 86th Street, #507, at Madison Avenue
1:30-3 p.m. Lunch on your own
Afternoon: Two Chelsea Exhibitions
3 p.m.: Solo show of Mizuno Mineo
Onishi Gallery, 521 West 26th Street, lower floor
3:15 p.m.: Group show of several contemporary Japanese ceramic artists
Onishi Gallery
October
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8
Kykuit Gardens,
Tarrytown, New York
By special request: Autumn Maple Viewing and Tea Ceremony at Kykuit
A full-day excursion by train to Kykuit, the Rockefeller Family Estate in Tarrytown. Tour hosted by JASA Board Member and Secretary Cynthia Altman, Curator of the Kykuit collections. Urasenke Tea Master Yoshihiro Terazono and Tomoko Urabe will again join us.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 19, 5:15 P.M.
The Marymount School 1026 Fifth Avenue, between 83rd and 84th Streets New York, New YorkTribute to Terry Satsuki Milhaupt
Terry Satsuki Milhaupt (1959–2012) was an independent art historian based in New York, a guest curator and an internationally recognized expert on Japanese textiles as well as a former JASA board member. She contributed essays to numerous exhibition catalogs and publications, including the Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion (2010).
Textile specialist Sharon S. Takeda, Senior Curator and Department Head, Costume and Textiles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, will speak about the work of past–JASA Board Member and scholar Terry Milhaupt in honor of her book on Japanese kimono, Kimono: A Modern History, in conjunction with the special exhibition of the same title from September 27, 2014 to January 4, 2015.
This presentation and reception will take place immediately following the Sunday at the Met public program on kimonos from 3–4:30 p.m. in the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
November
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 6 p.m.
The Marymount School 1026 Fifth Avenue, between 83rd and 84th Streets New York, New YorkScenes of Japanese Poetry and Prose: Representing Classics in Japanese Lacquer and Textile Art
Monika Bincsik will present a special talk on Japanese lacquer, in conjunction with the kimono exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Dr. Bincsik is an art historian specializing in Japanese decorative arts and collecting history. At present she is an Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial Fellow at the Department of Asian Art of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
December
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 6 p.m.
The Marymount School
1026 Fifth Avenue, between 83rd and 84th Streets
New York, New York
Holiday party and lecture: Ink and Gold, Theme and Variation in the Art of the Kano
Our special guest lecturer is Felice Fischer, Senior Curator of East Asian Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art. Dr. Fischer was awarded The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays in Fall 2013 for her exceptional contribution to Japan–U.S. relations through the promotion of major cultural exchanges in the field of arts and for deepening the appreciation of Japanese culture in the region.
In February 2015, the Philadelphia Museum of Art will present the exhibition Ink and Gold: Art of the Kano. The Kano lineage of painters was established in the 15th century by Kano Masanobu and continued until the early 20th century. The longevity of the Kano was owed in part to the longevity of their primary patron, the Tokugawa shogunate. The Kano painters also found support among the Kyoto aristocracy and the growing merchant elite. While the Kano were providing stunning large-scale gold-backed imagery on sliding doors and screens for castles and residences, they continued to create ink landscapes based on their interpretation of Chinese modes. The genius of artists like Kano Tan’yu lies in his ability to produce the themes his patrons demanded, but make them new with his own variations of focus, style, and brushwork. This presentation will explore this significant factor in the Kano dominance by following some of the important themes that formed the core vocabulary for Kano artists: Chinese figures (historical and literary) flower-and-bird painting (kachōga), ink landscapes (Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang).
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13
Princeton University Art Museum
Princeton, NJ
Special exhibition tour: Chigusa and the Art of Tea in Japan
Princeton curators and Professor Andrew Watsky will host a special tour of the exhibition Chigusa and the Art of Tea in Japan. The exhibition will include the ceramic vessel named Chigusa and all its accoutrements, and will feature loans and works in the collection of the Princeton University Art Museum. Different from the Freer Sackler presentation, Princeton’s show will add a section on Japan’s appropriation of Chinese and southeast Asian materials in the art of tea. This one-day excursion is planned in conjunction with the exhibition. The trip will include lunch and a special viewing of the University’s collection of ukiyo-e prints with Curator Cary Liu.