I was browsing the courses on offer at Princeton's Art and Architecture faculty when I chanced upon 'Zen Figure Drawing', which led me to 'Awakenings: Zen Figure Painting in Medieval Japan', and what an awakening it was. In the last 60 years, there have only been two major art exhibitions outside of Japan related to medieval Japanese Zen Buddhism, most recently at the Rietberg Museum, Zurich in 1993. The earlier exhibition was held at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 1970, so the 'Awakenings' exhibition, which is part of the Japan Society's centennial program, is the first major international exhibition of its kind in the U.S.A. for over 35 years.
47 important and rare Chinese and Japanese paintings from the 12th to 16th century, are featured in the Awakenings exhibition, including the Japanese National Treasure 'Budai and Jiang Mohe', a painting by Yintuoluo.
Japan Society is located at 333 East 47th Street, New York; Gallery hours are Tuesday through Thursday, 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; Friday, 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.. Note that the Gallery is closed on Mondays.
Admission is $10; students and seniors $8; Japan Society members and children under 16 free. Admission is free to all on Friday nights, 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Labels: Exhibition, Japan Society, Painting, USA, Zen
