Exhibitions Archive
Narratives in Japanese Woodblock Prints
Japanese woodblock-print artists produced numerous rich engagements with culturally resonant narratives that were often loosely based on historical events, then subsequently embellished in textual sources and their theatrical adaptations. The artists featured in this exhibition explore a wide and often gendered range of responses to those narratives’ emotionally charged moral and ethical dilemmas.
Munakata at Dartmouth
Though recognized the world over for his woodblock prints, Shiko Munakata is widely regarded in Japan as one of the nation‘s foremost 20th-century calligraphers--an honor of considerable significance, for calligraphy has always been the highest form of art in East Asia. This Installation highlights works collecting during and since Munakata‘s time as a visiting artist and lecturer at Dartmouth in 1965. It also features pairings of several works from Utagawa Hiroshige‘s (1797-1858) Tokaido with Munakata‘s revisiting of these sites.
Journeys along the Tokaido Highway
A Feast for the Eyes and a Sacred Trek for the Feet
This exhibition, at its essence, is about the power of place. A single locale can carry myriad meanings and experiences for different people, as can be seen through depictions of the Tokaido highway. As the main arterial road in Japan during the Edo period (1603–1868), the Tokaido held great significance for citizens and artists alike. Examining different artists’ representations of the Tokaido illustrates the diverse range of experiences people had along the road, as well as the distinctive meanings each artist attached to the highway.
Dartmouth Looks at The Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari)
Often called “the world’s first novel,” The Tale of Genji was written in the early eleventh century by Murasaki Shikibu, the nom de plume of a woman born into the middle ranks of the aristocracy. Its complex development of character and sophisticated representation of moral and aesthetic values have made The Tale of Genji the central canonical text of one of the world’s most important literary traditions.
This exhibition of works from the Japanese collection of the Hood Museum of Art showcases representations of the eleventh-century Tale of Genji and three sequels written in the mid-nineteenth century. A handscroll and folding screen painted during the early to mid-1700s offer a sense of high-culture approaches to the novel. A selection of woodblock prints demonstrates how the novel and its sequels were reworked for popular audiences.
Selections from the Hood Museum of Art
The Beauty of BronzeBronze—a combination of copper, tin, and small amounts of other metals—has long been prized for its preciousness, endurance, and ability to register fine details and reflect light. It is strong and durable, making it ideal for modeling expressive gestures, yet—in molten form—it is malleable enough to be suitable for creating intricate shapes. The term “bronze” is often used for other metals as well, including brass, which is an alloy of copper and zinc.
There are two basic methods of casting a bronze in order to make multiple versions of the same design. Sand casting—developed in the early nineteenth century in Europe—is a relatively simple and less expensive technique that relies upon disparate molds made of compacted fine-grained sand that allow for easy production and assembly. Traditional lost-wax casting uses wax models in two manners, or methods, both of which date from antiquity. In the “direct” method, the original wax model itself is used (and thereby destroyed); in the “indirect” method, reusable plaster molds are taken from the original wax model.
The medium’s intrinsic tensile strength and ability to render precise features and various surfaces have been applied to a variety of objects, including vessels, implements, portraits, animals, and figurines. The examples on display here document the worldwide attraction to this remarkable material from antiquity to the early twentieth century.
The Art of Fan Tchunpi
Between Tradition and Modernity
This exhibition explores the extraordinary life and work of Fan Tchunpi (1898–1986), one of the most important and prolific Chinese artists of the modern era. As the first solo exhibition of the artist's work since her 1984 retrospective at the Musée Cernuschi (Asian Art Museum) in Paris, Between Tradition and Modernity examines Fan Tchunpi's search for an artistic language that would speak for the self and the nation in an age of crisis, war, and revolution. The oil paintings, works on paper, and ceramics on display in this exhibition demonstrate her efforts to create a dynamic synthesis of Chinese and Western artistic traditions and techniques, while also reflecting the turbulent age in which she lived.