We toured the Met's Japan collection on the same day we did China, with the similar advantage of having been to Japan personally and having maintained a passing acquaintance with its art. We were there for two weeks in 1983, along with SMU's senior administration, band, and football team, mostly for the Mirage Bowl in Tokyo, but also as guests of "sister" university Kwansei Gakuin near Osaka. Nothing surpasses Japanese hospitality. Our home in Dallas also featured an atrium we turned into a sort of Japanese garden. Having now reviewed my pix from 1983, I'll have to do a short blogpost on them, following this post.
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Fudo Myoo, wood, lacquer, etc., 12th century; a Buddhist deity...uses his sword to slash through ignorance...could be really handy now...even better would be one that slashes through lies and disinformation |
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Assorted Buddhist figurines I forgot to document |
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Writing box, wood, lacquer, gold, silver, etc. 18th |
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Hanging scroll, Grapes, by Motsurin Joto, 15th; representative of the three perfections in Japanese art: poetry, painting, calligraphy... |
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Closer up |
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Lacquered box, mother-of-pearl inlay, etc., 17th |
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Jizo Boddhisvatta...13th...Jizo is an enlightened being known for leading others along the path of Buddhism... rescuing souls from hell and protecting children...also why when stepping on a Lego piece, Japanese always say "Jizo Christ!" |
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Screens are very big in Japanese art history, and this is the first of several here...Screen with Chinese Poetry, Ryokan Taigu, 19th |
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Another hanging thing, Maruyama Okyo, Dragon and Tiger, 18th |
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Japanese and Chinese Poems of the Four Seasons, attributed to Konoe Sakihisa, 17th |
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Another screen, whose name, attribution, and age I neglected to get |
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Ninsei-style incense burner, 17th century |
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Poetry card, scenes from The Tales of Genji; Edo period |
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Screen with scenes from The Tale of Genji; okay, The Tale of Genji, is an 11th century work, argued by some to be the first novel, and certainly the first large literary work by a woman, the Lady Shikibu Murasaki, Japan's Shakespeare; I bought a copy when we were in Japan and tried mightily to read it... |
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More Tale of Genji |
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Tea ceremony equipment |
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More tea ceremony |
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Yosa Buson, Hanshan and Shide, hanging scroll, ink and color, 1770s; painting evolves... |
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Hara Zalchu, Orchid Pavilion by a Winding Stream, hanging scroll, ink and color on silk, 1829; our docent on the right |
Modern Japanese art...a basalt Water Stone, Isamu Noguchi, 1986
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Kohei Nawa, PixCell-Deer#24, taxidermied deer with artificial crystal glass...and now for something completely different...there really is a stuffed deer inside all the glass... |