Symbol & Substance: The Elaine Ehrenkranz Collection of Japanese Lacquer Boxes

January 23 – April 6, 2003

Japan has long been credited with bringing the art of lacquer to its highest technical and aesthetic development. This exhibition of fifty-six lacquer boxes – ranging in date from the Muromachi (1392–1568) and Momoyama (1568–1615) to Edo (1615–1868) periods – featured one of the most elegant and diverse assemblages of such pieces outside Japan. The exhibition examined not only the aesthetic refinement and intricate symbolism of Japanese lacquers, but also the intricate planning, painstaking labor, and supreme artistry that determined their construction and elaborate decoration. With a rich arsenal of lacquer techniques at their disposal, Japanese artists produced bold, harmonious designs of great precision and beauty in a shifting panoply of styles representing five centuries of Japanese design.

Curator: Organized by the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, in Cambridge, Massachusetts and curated by Anne Rose Kitagawa, Assistant Curator of Japanese Art in the Department of Asian Art. The Smart Museum presentation was coordinated by Richard A. Born, Smart Museum Senior Curator.

This exhibition and related programs were made possible by Elizabeth and Harvey Plotnick.

Presented in the Richard and Mary L. Gray Special Exhibition Gallery.

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