Japan Society Gallery presents America's First Exhibit Of Japan's Most Influential Painter

Japan Society Gallery is pleased to announce new details for its major Spring 2018 exhibition, A Giant Leap: The Transformation of Hasegawa To?haku, the first U.S. exhibition focused on the works and stylistic transformation of Hasegawa To?haku (1539-1610).

A large, jagged pine tree, its branches wound with wisteria and its trunk edged with red azalea, a waterfall cascading into a deep blue stream, and dandelions and violets sprouting before a crab-apple tree; Hasegawa To?haku's Flowers and Birds of Spring and Summer screen is one of the most important works on view in A Giant Leap and one of the most important in the study of To?haku at large, forming the "missing link" in the painter's career.

Widely recognized as one of Japan's most beloved painters and artistic innovators, this exhibition marks a rare showing of his remarkable painted screens and scrolls in the U.S., including four Important Cultural Properties on loan from Japanese collections. A Giant Leap especially highlights research that reveals his paintings, formerly attributed to two separate painters ("Nobuharu" and "T?haku"), to be the work of a single person. The exhibition displays works marked under each name. A Giant Leap also features new video interviews with leading To?haku scholars, including Buddhist temple abbots and exhibition co-supervisor Professor Miyeko Murase (Professor Emerita, Columbia University and former special consultant for Japanese Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art). To experience T?haku's works as though they were in a Buddhist temple, visitors to Japan Society Gallery have the opportunity to sit barefooted and on the floor in close proximity to an uncased, high-quality facsimile of To?haku's famous painted pine trees screen.

This spring, a variety of programming invites visitors to experience and understand the works of To?haku unlike ever before with weekly meditation, workshops, talks and events. Every Tuesday through the duration of the exhibition, visitors can practice the art of meditation inside the North Gallery with 45-minute sessions led by masters from New York Zendo Shobo-ji in Midtown Manhattan. Other related events include: a group art-making workshop by Brooklyn-based artist Tomokazu Matsuyama, who will also reflect on the influence of To?haku on his own art; a talk identifying bird and flower species found in To?haku's paintings led by Japanese garden curator Brian Funk (Brooklyn Botanical Garden) and ornithologist Paul Sweet (American Museum of Natural History); and an illustrated lecture that uncovers To?haku's dramatic artistic style transformation, by exhibition co-supervisor Professor Miyeko Murase.

EXHIBITION

A Giant Leap conveys the dramatic transformation of a painter from the provinces into one of Japan's most important and beloved artists of the sixteenth-century. Owing to their rarity and in order to preserve their remarkable condition, the screens and scroll paintings will be displayed in two rotations, March 9-April 8, 2018 and April 12-May 6, 2018.

In 1964, art historian Tsugiyoshi Doi first proposed a theory that Hasegawa To?haku signed and sealed his work with a different name-Hasegawa Nobuharu-during his youth. The vast stylistic discrepancy between works bearing the name "Nobuharu" and those marked "T?haku" raised questions among scholars. For decades, no single painting could be identified as bridging the gap separating these oeuvres. Representing the left-hand screen of a pair (the whereabouts of its counterpart are unknown), Birds and Flowers of Spring and Summer is today considered the proverbial "missing link," with tell-tale stylistic details revealing its unique position within the painter's career.

To?haku has been the subject of renewed attention in recent years, including at the Kyoto National Museum and the Tokyo National Museum, where the 400th anniversary of the artist's death was commemorated in an important 2010 survey exhibition. Raised in a family of cloth-dyers in Nanao, on the Sea of Japan coast in the Hokuriku region of Japan's main island, T?haku began his career as a provincial painter of Buddhist paintings, working under the name "Nobuharu". He later moved to Kyoto, the heart of late 16th-century Japanese politics and culture, where he studied Chinese and Japanese painting and accepted instruction from Kan? Sh?ei, head of the Kan? school, which supplied paintings to Japan's leading samurai. In the 1580s, he appears to have begun using the name "T?haku," a switch in nomenclature that coincided with a shift in his style. While producing painted screens covered in vast expanses of gold leaf, T?haku also began to demonstrate a mastery of sumi-e (ink painting) at this stage in his career. By 1590, he had emerged as the leading painter of his day, founding his own school of painting-the Hasegawa school-consisting primarily of his own sons. T?haku became the favored painter for Sen no Rykyu and the powerful daimy? Toyotomi Hideyoshi and, at the turn of the 17th-century, he was summoned to the new capital of Edo by Hideyoshi's successor, Tokugawa Ieyasu (founder of Tokugawa shogunate), where he remained briefly until his death.

"We are thrilled to stage this momentous exhibition of rare works by Hasegawa To?haku. In many ways, the exhibition exemplifies Japan Society's unique capability to provide a window onto Eastern scholarship, acquiring Important Cultural Properties from Japan and presenting them in a single exhibition in the U.S. As many of the loans are previously unseen in the West, A Giant Leap is an opportunity for To?haku's genius to be recognized at an international level that has not yet been achieved in the U.S.," said Yukie Kamiya, director of Japan Society Gallery.

The exhibition is conceived and supervised by Dr. Miyeko Murase (Professor Emerita, Art History and Archaeology Department, Columbia University and former special consultant for Japanese Art, Asia Department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art) with Dr. Masatomo Kawai (professor emeritus, Keio University and director, Chiba City Museum of Art) in consultation with Yukie Kamiya, director of Japan Society Gallery.

In conjunction with this exhibition, a 96-page catalogue with full-color reproductions will be published by Japan Society. Essays will be contributed by Dr. Miyeko Murase and Dr. Masatomo Kawai and entries by Professor Matthew McKelway (Columbia University), Hiroyoshi Tazawa (chief curator, Tokyo National Museum), and Masato Matsushima (curator, Tokyo National Museum).

PROGRAMMING DETAILS

Program details are subject to change. Please visit japansociety.org/gallery for regular updates.

Escape East @ 333
Fridays, March 9, April 6, and May 4, 6-9pm

Free and open to the public

Escape the long work week and Leap into spring with our popular monthly mixer for art enthusiasts, including a special Launch Party on the evening of the exhibition opening. Complimentary snacks, music and drink specials.

Gallery Talk: Image-in-Focus
Sunday, March 11, 2pm
Free with admission to the exhibition

This special installment of Japan Society Gallery's Image-in-Focus series celebrates the opening of A Giant Leap, with exhibition co-supervisor Dr. Masatomo Kawai (Professor Emeritus, Keio University; Director, Chiba City Museum of Art), one of the world's leading T?haku specialists. Dr. Kawai will share his exceptional insights into the life and career of the artist and personally guide visitors through close examinations of the masterpieces on display--a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Image-in-Focus talks are energetic, 20-minute conversations with specialists sharing their unique perspectives on select highlights from the exhibition. Groups are limited to 30, first-come, first-served basis. Please visit japansociety.org for a full list of Image-In-Focus guest speakers.

Meditation Series: Morning Meditations
Tuesdays, March 13-May 1, 11am
Season pass: $120/$100 seniors & students; $32 members
Single session: $16/$14 seniors & students; $5 members

Many of Hasegawa T?haku's greatest masterpieces were made for Buddhist temples as sliding room dividers (fusuma) and multipanel screens (by?bu). Practice the art of meditation seated before a screen in Japan Society's North Gallery in these weekly 45-minute sessions led by masters from New York Zendo Shobo-ji in Midtown Manhattan. Following this respite from the work week, continue your journey with complimentary admission to the exhibition.

Lecture: "How Hasegawa T?haku Conquered the Art World"
Friday, March 16, 6pm
$15/$12 students and members

In conjunction with Asia Week New York, this illustrated lecture by exhibition co-supervisor Prof. Miyeko Murase (Professor Emerita, Columbia University) inaugurates A Giant Leap. Dr. Murase reveals the contemporary relevance of T?haku and his dramatic transformation from a provincial upstart to the leading painter of his age. Followed by a reception.

Lecture: "Hard Bodies: Contemporary Japanese Lacquer Sculpture"
Sunday, March 18, 11am
$15/$12 students and members
The toxic sap from the lacquer tree has been used to make objects resilient and beautiful in East Asia for several thousand years. Until the modern period, lacquer was principally used for articles of daily or ceremonial use, such as wine vessels and document cases. In the early 1950s, artists revolutionized this utilitarian tradition by creating the first sculptures made from lacquer. Dr. Andreas Marks (Curator and Department Head, Japanese and Korean Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art) presents contemporary experiments with the medium by a small but enterprising circle of artists, all born since 1959, who have pushed lacquer in entirely new directions. Co-organized with the Japanese Art Society of America (JASA). Morning refreshments served before and after the lecture. Post-lecture tours of A Giant Leap conducted by Japan Society staff, first-come first-served.

Symposium: The Artist's Transformation: Recontextualizing Hasegawa T?haku

Saturday, April 7, 2 pm

Tickets: $20/$18 members and students

Launching the second rotation (April 12-May 6) of historically and aesthetically significant paintings in A Giant Leap, this symposium presents an array of new vantage points and innovative perspectives on the career of Hasegawa T?haku. Leading scholars, including Prof. Matthew McKelway (Columbia University), Prof. Yukio Lippit (Harvard University), and Masato Matsushima (Tokyo National Museum), illuminate cutting-edge research on T?haku and the role of painters in Momoyama-era Japan. Organized in conjunction with the Mary Griggs Burke Center for Japanese Art, Columbia University. Visit japansociety.org for list of participants and schedule.

Workshop: Beyond T?haku: Make a Masterpiece
Sunday, April 15, 11am
Single session: $75/$65 members and students

One of the most provocative and controversial artistic figures of his day, Hasegawa T?haku broke with established norms and challenged highly regarded rivals to emerge as Japan's leading painter. A school of followers carried on his name for over a century after his death. T?haku's legacy continues to this day in the work of contemporary Japanese painters who unabashedly push artistic boundaries while maintaining a reverence for the past. Join NYC-based artist Tomokazu Matsuyama as he discusses the impact of T?haku on the creation of his own vibrant multipanel works, and guides visitors in creating their own T?haku-inspired masterpieces. Space is limited. All materials provided.

Gallery Talk and Tea: Kacho-zu: Bird and Flower Sightings in the Art of T?haku
Saturday, April 28, 11am
Tickets: $20/$18 Japan Society members and students
Celebrate the arrival of Spring with this guided tour of A Giant Leap, focusing on the menagerie of birds and flowers featured in the T?haku's paintings. Japanese garden curator Brian Funk (Brooklyn Botanical Garden) and ornithologist Paul Sweet (American Museum of Natural History) will lead participants in identifying species from their painted representations and explain how these flora and fauna interact with one another to create unique ecosystems. Welcome the spring verdure with a special matcha (green tea) reception after the tour! Space limited to 30 participants.

ABOUT JAPAN SOCIETY

Since 1971, Japan Society Gallery has been the premier institution in the United States for the display and interpretation of Japanese art and culture. Through groundbreaking exhibitions and related programs, the Gallery cultivates a broader understanding and appreciation of Japan's contributions to global artistic heritage; explores the artistic interconnections Japan shares with its Asian neighbors, the U.S., Latin America, and Europe; and celebrates the diversity of Japanese visual expression from prehistoric times to the present day.

Founded in 1907, Japan Society in New York City presents sophisticated, topical and accessible experiences of Japanese art and culture, and facilitates the exchange of ideas, knowledge and innovation between the U.S. and Japan. More than 200 events annually encompass world-class exhibitions, dynamic classical and cutting-edge contemporary performing arts, film premieres and retrospectives, workshops and demonstrations, tastings, family activities, language classes, and a range of high-profile talks and expert panels that present open, critical dialogue on issues of vital importance to the U.S., Japan and East Asia.

During the 2017-18 season, Japan Society celebrates its 110th anniversary with expanded programming that builds toward a richer, more globally interconnected 21st century: groundbreaking creativity in the visual and performing arts, unique access to business insiders and cultural influencers, and critical focus on social and educational innovation, illuminating our world beyond borders.

$12/$10 students and seniors | FREE Japan Society members and children under 16. Admission is free to all on Friday nights, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. Docent tours are available free with admission Tuesday-Sunday at 2:30 p.m. (English), and Fridays at 6 p.m. (Japanese) and 7 p.m. (English); reservations only necessary for group tours.