This exhibition offers one of the first surveys of Japanese crafts in all their rich diversity of media and techniques through the entire 20th century, from Japan’s first forays on to the international stage of World’s Fairs to the heady internationalism of the 1920’s and 1930’s, to the dynamic creativity of the post-WW II period and to the present.

Japan is one of the few cultures that has appreciated and fostered its crafts traditions in the 20th century: instituting a system of national competitive exhibitions, commissioning and purchasing crafts through the Imperial Household Agency, and supporting artists as “holders of intangible cultural property,” popularly called “living national treasures.” Six living national treasure artists are represented in this collection.

Approximately forty pieces, ceramic, lacquer, wood, metalwork and paintings, are featured. Based on the over seventy gifts and promised gifts from the Frederick R. McBrien III collection to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the exhibition and its accompanying catalogue serve as a guide for both the scholar and collector in the less-explored areas of Japanese art, such as the metal crafts of the pre-war period. This collection puts Philadelphia on the national map as one of the premier sites for the study and enjoyment of the stunning craftsmanship of Japan’s modern and contemporary artists.

Curator

Felice Fischer • Luther W. Brady Curator of Japanese Art and Curator of East Asian Art

Location

Galleries 241, 242, 243, second floor