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Japan Society Gallery
Japan Society Gallery is among the premier institutions in the U.S. for the
exhibition of Japanese art, presenting major exhibitions each spring and fall.
“What is striking about almost
everything in the show is how
seamlessly East and West and old
and new are wed. An uninformed
visitor could be forgiven for believing
that the Japanese invented Art
Deco. And, in a way, that viewer
would not be wrong.”
—The New York Times, on Deco Japan: Shaping Art
and Culture, 1920–1945
Clockwise from top left: Fiber Futures: Japan’s Textile Pioneers
(September 16–December 18, 2011). Hitomi Nagai, Birth
(detail), 2011. Cotton; waffle weave. Photo: Mareo Suemasa.
Deco Japan: Shaping Art and Culture, 1920–1945 (March 16–
June 12, 2012). Neya Chūryoku (1897–1987), Table Clock
with Design of a Rabbit Pounding Rice Cakes on the Moon.
Cast bronze and other metals; wood base, 1920s–30s.
Photograph courtesy of The Levenson Collection. Deco
Japan. Hisamaro (dates unknown); Publisher: Hakubi
Shuppansha; Printer: Kishimoto Fukutarō Nihonbashi kara
(From Nihonbashi), from series Hakubi chōtokusen gakufu
(Hakubi’s Extra Special Sheet Music). Songbook cover;
color lithograph, inks on paper. Photograph courtesy of The
Levenson Collection. Fiber Futures. Kyōko Ibe, Requiem, 2011.
Installation photo by Richard Goodbody.
Fiber Futures: Japan’s Textile Pioneers was organized by Japan Society
and International Textile Network Japan in collaboration with Tama Art
University Museum.
Deco Japan: Shaping Art and Culture, 1920–1945 was drawn from The
Levenson Collection and was organized and circulated by Art Services
International, Alexandria, Virginia. The exhibition curator was Kendall H.
Brown, Professor of Art, California State University, Long Beach.
Support was provided by The Chisholm Foundation. His Excellency
Mr. Ichiro Fujisaki, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan
to the United States of America, was Honorary Patron of the exhibition.
Contributors to Japan Society’s 2011–2012 exhibitions were the E. Rhodes
& Leona B. Carpenter Foundation; Chris A. Wachenheim; The Coby
Foundation, Ltd.; the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State
Council on the Arts with support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New
York State Legislature; Furthermore: a program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund;
Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf; Friends of Fiber Art International; Henry and
Gilda Buchbinder Family; Kenneth A. Cowin; the New York City Department
of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; Martha J. Fleischman;
Marjorie G. Neuwirth; Kathleen and Martin Feldstein, The Japan Foundation,
the Nomura Foundation, and Nikkei Inc.
Media sponsorship was provided by WNYC. Transportation assistance was
provided by Japan Airlines.
Exhibitions at Japan Society were made possible in part by the Lila
Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund and the Friends of the Gallery.
Arts & Culture Lecture Programs were supported by the Lila Wallace-
Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund, Japan Airlines and United Airlines.
Additional support was provided by Chris A. Wachenheim, and the Sandy
Heck Lecture Fund.
Education Programs were made possible by generous funding from The
Freeman Foundation. Generous support for Education Programs in 2011–
2012 was provided by United Airlines. Additional support was provided
by The Norinchukin Foundation, Inc., Chris A. Wachenheim, Joshua N.
Solomon, Jon T. Hutcheson, Joshua S. Levine and Nozomi Terao, the Milton
and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, Inc., and the New York City Department
of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
12 Japan Society Annual Report 2011–12