The collection formed the basis for Buckley’s doctoral work at the University of Chicago and was exhibited on campus in one of the first systematic displays of Japanese religious objects in the West. Buckley’s academic interest in foreign cultures and religions coincided with Chicago’s 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and the ground-breaking Parliament of World’s Religions, in which Buckley took part.
By examining the Japanese art and artifacts of the Buckley collection—including paintings, sculpture, woodblock prints, temple maps, sutras, and religious talismans—this exhibition not only delved in to the history of museum collections, religious studies, and the University of Chicago, but also offered insight into the place of ethnicity and religion in late nineteenth-century popular culture.
This exhibition was the culmination of a University of Chicago Art History seminar taught by the curators in Spring 2007.