Date: Fri 27-Mar-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: CAROLL

Quick Words:

JFolk

Full Text:

The Art Of The People

w/4 cuts

GREENWICH, CONN. -- From April 18 through June 14, the Bruce Museum of Arts

and Science presents "Mingei: Japanese Folk Art from the Montgomery

Collection," featuring 175 objects from one of the world's premier collections

of Japanese folk art.

The exhibition includes paintings, textiles, sculpture, woodwork, ceramics,

lacquerware, metalwork, basketry, and paper objects spanning the Fifteenth

through Nineteenth Centuries. The objects were selected by guest curator

Robert J. Moes, an art historian specializing in Okinawan and Japanese

textiles.

The Bruce Museum's presentation marks the only Northeast showing of the

exhibition, which is being organized by Art Services International,

Alexandria, Va.

"Mingei: Japanese Folk Art from the Montgomery Collection" includes some never

previously exhibited textiles (quilt covers and festival robes) that

demonstrate the Japanese artists' dynamic use of color and pattern. An unusual

group of store signs, lacquer and paper lamps, ships' chests and kettle hooks

further illustrate the breadth of utilitarian objects designed to celebrate

form as well as function.

The exhibition includes a wide variety of vessels, from glazed stoneware sake

bottles and lacquer bowls to basins, casseroles, trays, and a charcoal caddy.

Also on view will be human and animal figures carved from wood, granite, and

clay and used in shrines or as toys. Together, all these objects represent the

high degree of skill and intuitive aesthetic sensitivity attained by Japanese

artisans.

The concept of "fine arts" did not exist in Japan, prior to its introduction

by Europeans in the 1870s. The work of painters, sculptors, and architects was

seen as essentially similar to that of potters, lacquerers, carpenters, basket

makers, swordsmiths, and other craftsmen. Yanagi Soetsu (1889-1961), an art

theorist, social critic, and philosopher, introduced the concept of folk art

to Japan around 1920. To describe it, he coined a new word, mingei (the art of

the people), by combining the Chinese/Japanese character min (people) with the

character gei (arts, accomplishments).

Yanagi was profoundly influenced by the writings of William Morris, founder of

the Arts and Crafts movement in England, who extolled the virtues of

craftsmanship and endorsed the well-designed and well-made object that

resulted when materials and techniques are thoroughly mastered. Yanagi

traveled throughout his homeland, as well as to Korea and Okinawa, collecting

superb examples of mingei. For Yanagi, such folk art objects reflected a sense

of locality, a directness evident in unornamented simplicity, a high level of

aesthetic sensitivity, and admiration of natural materials.

It has been said that Japanese folk art was produced by the common people for

their own use -- Yanagi referred to this anonymous artisan as the "unknown

craftsman." Yet nearly all these examples of mingei were created by

professional artisans with considerable expertise and experience. Although

they certainly did not regard themselves as artists prior to the Twentieth

Century, these craftsmen were highly specialized. Many served long

apprenticeships in order to master their complex skills.

Farmers and artisans were encouraged to produce hand crafts after their daily

chores and during their seasons off from agriculture in order to supplement

their meager incomes and thus contribute to their local economies. Some kiln

complexes and communities became renowned for their production of ceramic

wares or carved wooden objects.

And the consumers of mingei were likewise a diverse group, not all of whom

would ordinarily be called "common people." The official hierarchy imposed on

Japan by its feudal rulers during the Tokugawa era (1600-1867) resulted in

limited social mobility and made warriors, or samurai, the highest social

class next to the Imperial court nobility. Farmers, whose toil supported the

still largely agrarian economy, formed the next class, followed by artisans.

Merchants, nominally held in contempt by the samurai, constituted the lowest

class, except for the "untouchables" who were engaged in such "unclean" trades

as butchering and tanning.

Following the rise of Japan's merchant class in the late Sixteenth Century,

however, many merchants, especially sake brewers, amassed great wealth.

Consumers of mingei thus ranged from relatively poor farmers, at the lower

economic end, to rich merchants. Also, many members of the samurai class

acquired mingei, since only daimyo (feudal lords who ruled the provinces),

like the shogun (military dictator) or the Imperial court, could afford to

maintain their own artisans.

By late in the Tokugawa era, an expansive network of inter-regional trade

routes connected isolated towns with the bustling cities of Kyoto, Osaka, and

Edo. Large volumes of goods, including textiles, pottery, and books, were

traded and distributed throughout Japan. In the Eighteenth and Nineteenth

Centuries, it became acceptable for warriors and commoners alike to travel for

business and pleasure. Tourists, eager to return home with souvenirs of local

foods, products, and crafts, added to the growing interest in what we now term

mingei.

The Montgomery collection, formed by Jeffrey Montgomery over the past 20

years, is one of the most comprehensive collections of Japanese art of daily

life, particularly significant for its high quality. "Mingei: Japanese Folk

Art from the Montgomery Collection" has already been to museums in Pittsburgh,

Pa.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Dallas, Tex.; Flint, Mich.; Palm Beach, Fla.; Fresno,

Calif.; and Fort Dodge, Iowa. A major scholarly catalogue, Mingei: Japanese

Folk Art, accompanies the exhibition. In addition to individual entries and

full-color illustrations of all objects in the exhibition, the publication

includes three essays by Robert Moes and one by Dr Amanda Stinchecum. A fifth

essay exploring Tokugawa society has been provided by Dr William B. Hauser,

professor of history at the University of Rochester. The book is published by

Art Services International.

The Bruce Museum is at 1 Museum Drive and is open Tuesdays through Saturdays,

10 am to 5 pm, and Sundays, 1 to 5 pm. Admission is $3.50.

For information, 203/869-0376.