The Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery presents The Arts of Japan an exhibition on view January 12–February 26, 2012.
Tsukioka Yoshitoishi Japanese (1839–1892) The Buddhist Monk, Nichiren, in Exile on Sado Island, from the series Yoshitoshi Ryakuga (Sketches by Yoshitoishi), 1882 Color woodblock print 6-15/16″ x 9-3/16″ The Herman D. Doochin Collection, Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery 1992.090
More than 1,300 objects compose this portion of the Fine Arts Gallery’s collections, encompassing both fine and applied art. Highlights include two six-panel screen paintings: an early seventeenth-century work illustrating scenes from the Tale of Gengi, and an eighteenth-century work featuring vignettes of daily life in Kyoto, each a masterful example of Japanese painting executed in mineral colors and gold leaf; a wide range of fine ceramics from blue and white porcelain to works by artists associated with the rebirth of the Japanese folk art movement; and scrolls, paintings, and rare books. The exhibition will also feature outstanding examples of graphic arts by such influential Ukiyo-e artists as Utagawa Kunisada I, Utagawa Hiroshige, and Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, along with artists associated with the twentieth-century shin hanga movement that revitalized traditional Ukiyo-e techniques with a modern sensibility.
This exhibition is presented in recognition of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Asian American Student Association at Vanderbilt University and will feature the research of Fine Arts Gallery interns and research associates Rebecca Bratt, Meredith Novack, Ashley Pakenham, and Christine Williams.
The Arts of Japan is organized by the Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery and curated by Joseph S. Mella, director. – www.vanderbilt.edu