Lecture Videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BydORXLgx1U This April 28, 2022, talk by Markus Sesko, Associate Curator of Asian Arms and Armor at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, introduces the museum’s extensive Japanese arms and armor collection and discusses the newly opened exhibition Samurai Splendor: Sword Fittings from Edo Japan, on display until spring 2024. This exhibition explores the luxurious aspect of Edo-period sword fashion, a fascinating area of Japanese arms…

https://youtu.be/yVuYL61bn1U On March 20, 2022, the keynote address of the Japanese Art Society of America annual meeting was delivered by the well-known ukiyo-e collector George Mann, who spoke about extraordinary prints and legendary figures in the Japanese print world. View more lecture recordings

https://youtu.be/Ka66JoDCORM (This talk recording is audio only!) On February 9, 2022, Dr. Eugenia Bogdanova-Kummer presented a talk on postwar Japanese calligraphy. Based on her recent book Bokujinkai: Japanese Calligraphy and the Postwar Avant-Garde,  she introduced the Kyoto-based avant-garde calligraphy group named Bokujinkai, and explored their international trajectories. Bokujinkai—or “People of the Ink”—was a group formed in 1952 by five calligraphers: Morita Shiryū, Inoue Yūichi, Eguchi…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUA-qsV5BTc On January 11, 2022, Professor Max Moerman presented a talk on the specialized subject of maps in Japanese Buddhism. From at least the 14th through the late 19th century, Japanese monks have created and used maps to construct, represent, and find their place in a Buddhist world. Such maps provide a spatial history of religious thought, inform intellectual orientation and cultural identity, and reveal…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDKIhVaQTtE In 2021, several superb exhibitions focused on the master artist Hokusai. A wonderful show at the National Museum of Asian Art, on view until January 9 2022, highlights the collection of Hokusai drawings, paintings and screens collected by its founder, Charles Lang Freer. Across the Atlantic, the British Museum features a much-anticipated exhibition of drawings by Hokusai until January 30, 2022. Other museum curators…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1ls-iXkboM This November 3, 2021, talk drew on groundbreaking research into Edward C. Moore, the head of Tiffany & Co.’s silver division during the second half of the 19th century, conducted for the recently published book Collecting Inspiration: Edward C. Moore at Tiffany & Co. and the accompanying exhibition that will be presented at The Metropolitan Museum in 2024. An avid, pioneering collector of works…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNE2JbJPvao On October 12, 2021, Japanese art historian Meher McArthur discussed her upcoming exhibition Washi Transformed: New Expressions in Japanese Paper, which will begin touring the country this autumn. Her talk presented the works of nine Japanese artists featured in the exhibition: Hina Aoyama, Eriko Horiki, Kyoko Ibe, Yoshio Ikezaki, Kakuko Ishii, Yuko Kimura, Yuko Nishimura, Takaaki Tanaka and Ayomi Yoshida. These artists have different…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk5r2E3i2Zs Through January 1, 2022, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is exhibiting Shigeko Kubota: Liquid Reality, the first solo presentation of work by the artist at a U.S. museum in 25 years  On September 20, 2021, Lia Robinson, Director of Programs and Research at the Shigeko Kubota Video Art Foundation, was joined by Liquid Reality curator Erica Papernik-Shimizu, Associate Curator, MoMA, to introduce recent…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daquSpNlEkk Celebrating a gift of over 100 prints by Saitō Kiyoshi from members Charles and Robyn Citrin, The Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida, opened Saitō Kiyoshi: Graphic Awakening in March 2021—the first major survey of the artist’s work since his death. On July 13, 2021,  Rhiannon Paget, PhD, the curator of the exhibition, presented a talk on Saitō’s transition from painting to print,…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygEVjiFLg40 On June 16, 2021, this second lecture of a two-part series (view Part 1) explored the nature of color in Japanese painting and prints. Renowned scientist and head of the Scientific Laboratory of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Marco Leona, shared the studies of his department and collaborations with art historians and curators. With the Met’s outstanding collection of screens, paintings and woodblock prints,…