: The genesis of the dramatic stylistic changes in Japanese art
during the brief but brilliant Momoyama period (1573-1615) is
explored in "Turning Point: Oribe and the Arts of Sixteenth
Century Japan" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art through January
11.
The works selected for this exhibition - nearly 200 ceramics,
paintings, lacquer ware and textiles from museums and private
collections in Japan, Canada and the United States - illustrate
the myriad forces that led to the unprecedented innovations in
Japanese art and aesthetics in the late Sixteenth Century, a
tumultuous period marked by both the struggles of ambitious
warlords for control of the long-splintered country and Japan's
first encounter with the West.
The exhibition focuses on Oribe ceramics, a unique ware made for
the tea ceremony that is traditionally associated with Furuta
Oribe (154¾4-1615), the great warrior and renowned tea master
whose bold, imaginative approach to tea aesthetics reflected the
unfettered spirit of the time. The dramatic designs, innovative
forms and brilliant colors of Oribe ceramics find their
counterparts in paintings and decorative arts of the period,
evidencing a collaboration among artists never before witnessed
in the history of Japanese art.
The exhibition opens with a group of Chinese and Japanese tea
utensils favored by the influential tea master Sen no Rikyu
(1522-1591), Furuta Oribe's mentor and predecessor tea master to
the ruling shogunate. An imported Chinese stoneware tea bowl and
tea caddy and a bronze flower vase, all dating from the Southern
Song dynasty in the Thirteenth Century, demonstrate Rikyu's
preference for simple yet elegant objects.
The finely crafted Chinese wares contrast markedly with the tea
ceramics produced in Japan at the end of Rikyu's lifetime at
kilns in Mino (modern-day Gifu Prefecture), Furuta Oribe's native
province, which reflect the tastes of the emerging aficionados of
tea among the newly powerful merchant class in the capital Kyoto,
southwest of Mino. Roughly formed, covered with thick white or
gray glazes, and decorated with naturalistic designs, these
ceramics represent a new technology introduced to Japan by Korean
potters. Especially notable is a square gray Shino dish with the
design of a wagtail, an important cultural property in the
collection of the Tokyo National Museum.
Also featured in this section are two large groups of recently
discovered pottery shards: one excavated from a kiln site in
Mino, the major center of ceramics production in the Momoyama
period, and the other from the former residence of a ceramics
merchant in Kyoto, the primary center of ceramics consumption
during the period.
The second section of the exhibition demonstrates the
mid-Sixteenth Century impact on all of the arts of Japan's first
encounter with Europeans and Christianity. A rare missal stand
and European-style portable cabinet in black lacquer, combining
the newly fashionable mother-of-pearl inlay with the traditional
maki-e technique of sprinkled gold powder, are examples of
objects made by Japanese artisans for export to Europe.
A European-made globe, maps of the world produced both in Europe
and in Japan, a Black Oribe tea bowl decorated with the image of
a cross in underglaze white and an Oribe ware candlestand in the
shape of a European gentleman epitomize the Japanese curiosity
about European culture.
The exhibition is organized by Miyeko Murase, special consultant
for Japanese art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, in
collaboration with Jun'ichi Takeuchi, director, University Art
Museum, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music; and
Hideaki Furukawa, director, The Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu; with
the assistance of Masako Watanabe, senior research associate, the
Metropolitan Museum; and Misato Shomura, curator, The Museum of
Fine Arts, Gifu. Installation design is by Michael Langely,
graphic design is by Sue Koch and lighting design is by Clint
Coller and Rich Lichte, all of the museum's design department.
Additional design elements were contributed by Shigeru Uchida,
Studio 80, Tokyo.
A variety of educational programs, including lectures and gallery
talks, will be offered in conjunction with the exhibition.
Information is available on the museum's website
www.metmuseum.org or by calling 212-570-3710.
