The Wise Collection

Location

Temporary Exhibitions, Harrington Gallery

About

This summer the museum will showcase the gift to the museum of thirty Japanese and Japanese-inspired contemporary prints, drawings, and ceramics by Joanne and Doug Wise, Class of 1959. This exhibition will be organized by students in Professor Joy Kenseth's History of Museums and Collecting (Art History 82), who will choose the themes and arrange the installation. The course, which was taught during the spring term 2012, looked at the history and evolution of art collecting by both museums curators and private individuals. In keeping with this theme, Joanne Wise presented a talk on the shaping of the present collection to the students in the course.

The installation features work by artists such as Keiko Hara, Hachiro Iizuka, Makato Fujimura, and Yutaka Yoshinaga. Joanne and Doug lived in Japan between 1978 and 1982 and began to collect at that time. Upon moving to Houston, Texas, Joanne began to represent Japanese graphic artists and ceramicists and actively promote their work through a quarterly newsletter and her efforts with the Texas Print Alliance. She states: "The Wise Collection exists to bring people of the world together through greater knowledge and appreciation of Japanese art." The Wises gave a portion of their collection to the museum in 2010, and it has been used ever since for teaching students about Japanese printmaking and drawing.

Exhibition Curator

Joy Kenseth | Dartmouth Students