NEWSLETTER 44 SUMMER 2013 Japanese Art Society of America Founded as the Ukiyo-e Society of America Features Letter from the President Welcome New Members Members Reports In Memoriam Museum & Gallery Exhibitions Board of Directors of the LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Japanese Art Society of Dear Members, America, Inc. As you will see while reading this newsletter, the first half of 2013 has been busy and the second half promises to be the same. Several museums are having Board Officers major Japanese art exhibits, and I hope many of you will be able to attend AND President, Susan L. Peters send me your reports. Vice President, Amy Poster In a short time, you will be receiving (via both U.S. mail and on the website) Treasurer, Allison Tolman the 2013-2014 schedule of JASA programs, lectures, and events. The list won’t Secretary, Cynthia Bronson Altman be complete as the Program Committee is still finalizing some details, but it will give you a good idea of what is being planned. Amy Poster, Victoria Melendez, Directors Marion Galison, and Wilson Grabill have done a superb job in pulling together John T. Carpenter another exciting year, and I thank them for all their many hours of work. Be Willard “Bill” Clark sure to turn over the program letter, where you’ll find an abridged JASA financial Richard Fishbein report. Kurt Gitter In addition, a JASA committee is planning a one-day symposium in NY to Sebastian Izzard celebrate the 40th anniversary of JASA, which began life in 1973 as the Ukiyo-e Victoria Melendez Society of America. For those of our newer members, the 35th anniversary was organized and celebrated with the exhibit DESIGNED FOR PLEASURE: THE Amy Poster WORLD OF EDO JAPAN IN PRINTS AND PAINTINGS, 1680-1860 at New York’s Emily Sano Asia Society, with a catalog by the same name. A few copies of the catalog are Erik Thomsen still available for purchase via the JASA website and are a “must own” by anyone Roxane Witke interested in Japanese art. Enjoy your summer, and I hope to see many of you this coming year. Newsletter Editor All the best, Susan L. Peters Susan L. Peters, President Design Minuteman Press, Galveston TX MEMBER REPORTS Membership Adminstrator New Exhibition Opens in Santa Fe, NM: Kite Crazy in Japan Christy Laidlaw by Wilson Grabill Japanese Art Society of America The name of this new exhibition at the P.O. Box 524 Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Harwich Port, MA 02646 Fe, NM, and the choice of adjective, is spot [email protected] on. “Crazy” describes the riotous jumble of colors, shapes, sizes and images on display Japanese Art Society of America in one of the museum’s airy galleries, and P.O. Box 524 you can’t help feeling uplifted – “high as a Harwich Port, MA 02646 kite” – after seeing the show. www.japaneseartsoc.org The collection belongs to David M. Kahn, executive director of the Adirondack Museum in upstate New York, who has Front cover: been an avid – some might say, fanatical SHINODA Toko. “Ancient Dream,” #9 of 50. Printed by K. Kimura. Lithograph with – collector of Japanese kites since he was original painting. 28.5 X 38.5 cm. nine years old. Starting in the 1980s, Private Collection. however, his collection really took off and today – after multiple visits to some of Back cover: the great kite makers of Japan – he has Members of JASA at the Clark Center for more than 700 kites in his possession. Japanese Art and Culture, June 2013. Approximately 250 are on display at the Tsugaru kite painting, 1960s, museum. For Kahn, an enthusiast of Mingei depicting Raiko and Shutendoji. (folk art), the attraction to Japanese kites is Artist unknown. From the powerful. “They’re beautifully crafted and collection of David Kahn. inspiring objects,” he says. His collecting priorities are “based on aesthetic quality and historical significance” – although “historical” might be open to interpretation, since most of his kites are from the 1960s up to the present age. Kahn’s collection includes a few earlier kites – from the late Meiji, Taisho 2 Japanese Art Society Newsletter remaining of a dying breed of craftsmen – to Welcome New Members make two enormous 12 ft tall kites for the show. It is JASA’s great pleasure to welcome the following By contrast, there are also kites on display that new members: measure one inch by one inch. In between, there is every kite variation you can imagine and then some, Mr. Randall Albright, Boston, MA plus books, tools, prints and multimedia. Mr. John Amsterdam, New York, NY The exhibition is on display at the Museum of Mr. Cheney Cowles, Seattle, WA International Folk Art in Santa Fe until March 23, Ms. Carole Davenport, New York, NY 2014. It should not be missed. Ms. Joyce Eskwitt, New York, NY Ms. Patricia Falk, New York, NY Asian Art Unveiled at the Smith College Museum Mrs. Eve Hampson, Ottawa, Canada of Art Mr. Thomas Harr, Rockville, MD by Julia Meech Mr. Gregory Irvine, London, United Kingdom Ms. Marie-Louise Kennedy, Chevy Chase, MD The Smith College Museum of Art (SCMA) is Mr. Donald Klein and Mrs. Rachel Klein, New York, NY looking for donations of Japanese art to enhance Mrs. Ann Korijn, New York, NY a new permanent gallery dedicated to the arts of Mr. Richard Kroll, Portland, OR Asia. Ms. Elizabeth Meyers, Seattle, WA Many former students, including Hilary Tolman; Mrs. Rachael Munafo, Philadelphia, PA Peggy Danziger; Victoria Chan-Palay; Joan Lebold Dr. Robert A. Myers, New York, NY Cohen; and Julia Meech among others, have made Ms. Madeline Noveck, New York, NY gifts or promised gifts in recent years. Joan is the Ms. Nana Onishi and Mr. Errol Rudman, New York, NY visionary who initiated the museum’s Asian Art Task Mr. Lewis Paleias and Mrs. Linda Paleias, New York, NY Force. As she says, “We still have a way to go, but Mr. John D. Proctor, Moreland Hills, OH we are definitely off and running.“ There is now a Ms. Diana P. Rowan, New York, NY burgeoning collection as well as seed money for Ms. Susan Schmidt, Boulder, CO a curator of Asian art and a gallery of Asian art. Mr. Joshua Shapiro and Mrs. Joyce Shapiro, Chappaqua, NY The exhibition “Collecting Art of Asia,” on view this Mr. Peter Shinbach, Lake Oswego, OR spring, with its eponymous catalogue, drew many of Mr. Yoshinobu Shiota and Mrs. Kathleen Shiota, Owings Mills, MD us to Northampton for a two-day colloquium on April Mr. Richard Siegel and Ms. Diana Altman, New York, NY 5 and 6. Henry D. Slosser, M.D., Pasadena, CA Invitees included donors and supporters who Dr. Andrew Svedlow, Loveland, CO worked to make the exhibition happen. Professors Ms. Vanessa Tothill, Chelmsford, United Kingdom conducted seminars for us on subjects ranging from Mr. Sergei Varshavsky, San Francisco, CA jade carving and connoisseurship to contemporary Mr. Joseph Waldman, New York, NY Korean art. Mary Tolman spoke of her family’s Mr. David Werner, State College, PA involvement with contemporary printmakers. Dr. Victoria Weston, Harvard, MA Samuel Morse introduced us to a newly acquired Ms. Karen Westrell, Golden, CO collection of prints by Sekino Jun’ichirō, a gift from Lucio and Joan Noto initiated through the intercession of Allison Tolman. The Hotel and early Showa eras – but they are quite rare. The reason for this Northampton and adjacent Wiggins Tavern proved is simple, he explains: “Kites are ephemera. They end up in trees to be thoroughly enjoyable. and in rivers. They’re destroyed by bad landings and poor storage. It The handsome catalogue is well worth can be an ignominious end to beautiful hand-painted works of art.” purchasing, and if you are in that part of the world, Kites came to Japan quite early, via China, but it was in the be sure to visit the museum, one of the best of its Edo era when Japan first went “kite crazy.” Because of the extreme kind. scarcity of kites from the Edo period, the museum is displaying a JASA Goes to California number of kite themed woodblock prints to give viewers a sense of by Susan L. Peters, Editor how kites were enjoyed by both men and women, and by adults as well as children. Later, kites became associated with boys and both I don’t have enough superlatives in my lexicon Boys Day and New Year celebrations specifically. Japanese kites vary to describe the May trip to California, but I hope in shape, size and design, depending on the region the kite maker the photo on the back of the newsletter sends comes from and demand for his product. A beautifully designed the message: we had a great time! There are too brochure, “Tako Kichi, Kite Crazy in Japan,” organizes the kites many wonderful moments to write about, so I’ll only into themes: gods and goddesses; iconic figures such as Daruma, mention some that were, for me, exceptional. Fukusuke, Kintaro and Yakko; famous warriors; demons; animals First, the photography show at the Getty and mythical creatures; and calligraphy. Museum – “Japan’s Modern Divide” was a Kahn commissioned a Shirone kitemaker – one of the few fascinating look at the traditional, more objective SUMMER 2013 3 work by Yoshio Yamamoto, and the imaginative, surreal bus. Almost all of us on the JASA trip had never been here. photos of Hiroshi Hamaya. Since I knew nothing about We arrived the night before after a 4 hour bus ride – these two men, it was an eye-opening experience for me.