Exhibition at The Met Explores Themes of Anxiety and Hope in Japanese Art

13 avril 2023

Exhibition at The Met Explores Themes of Anxiety and Hope in Japanese Art

NEW YORK - Opening at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on April 8, 2023, Anxiety and Hope in Japanese Art focuses on the human stories behind art and art making. Drawn from The Met’s renowned collection of Japanese art, this exhibition explores the twin themes of anxiety and hope through more than 250 works—from ancient religious sculpture and ritual objects to modern woodblock prints and photographs—presented across four display rotations.

The exhibition is made possible by The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Foundation Fund.

Max Hollein, Marina Kellen French Director of The Met, remarked: “Anxiety and Hope explores the complicated role of these two underlying themes in Japanese art, from ancient times to the present day. The stunning array of works tell diverse stories of the human experience, and allow us to appreciate the powerful ways that art can both express—or inspire—these universally compelling emotions.”

Organized chronologically and thematically in six sections, the exhibition begins with powerful religious images from early Japan. Each of the sacred objects speaks in its own way to concerns about death, dying, and the afterlife or was created in response to uncertainties like war and natural disaster.

Continuing sections observe medieval Buddhist images of paradises, hells, and the inhabitants of those realms; depictions of war and pilgrimage; Zen responses to life and death; and the role of hopeful and protective images in everyday life. In the final section, the exhibition’s underlying themes are explored through a rotating selection of modern woodblock prints, garments, and photographs.

Featured artworks in the exhibition include two of the rarest early illustrated handscrolls (emaki) in The Met collection. “Universal Gateway of the Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World’s Sounds” is the earliest known illustrated version of the 25th chapter of the Lotus Sutra, while the five scrolls of the “Illustrated Legends of the Kitano Tenjin Shrine” narrate the origins of the vengeful deity Tenjin. A masterpiece of early-modern Japanese screen painting, Rebellions of the Hōgen and Heiji Eras is a powerfully vivid description of warfare and suffering. A selection of artworks from local New York collections as well as recently acquired works, including the hanging scroll Bodhidharma in Red Robes by Kano Masanobu, will be shown in New York for the first time.

Anxiety and Hope in Japanese Art is organized by Aaron Rio, Associate Curator of Japanese Art at The Met.

Shō Kannon, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Heian period (794–1185), 12th century. Wood with traces of gold and color. H. 45.1 cm; W. 15.2 cm; D. 14.6 cm. Dr. and Mrs. Roger G. Gerry Collection, Bequest of Dr. and Mrs. Roger G. Gerry, 2000, 2002.447.2. © 2000–2023 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The frontal pose and flattened drapery are evocative of Shō Kannon’s status as the principal incarnation of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. Produced during the late Heian period in Japan, when wood was a strongly favored medium for devotional figures, this work would have been part of a sculptural ensemble. The figure’s raised fist once probably held a lotus flower, now lost. Traces of pigment on the body and garment suggest that the surface would have been entirely painted.

Daishōgun (Great General) was a popular guardian spirit stationed at vulnerable locations in the capital of Kyoto, such as the northeast, where special shrines were established according to Onmyodō, or Chinese concepts of the yin-yang order of the universe. The deep and simple modeling of a single block of wood suggests a product of the later Heian period. Traces of the original finish on the face and torso reveal that the figure was once bearded, red-faced, and clothed in Japanese-style armor over a patterned garment.

Worshipped as one of the Four Heavenly Guardians of the cardinal directions, Bishamonten guards the perilous north and protects people from all manner of malignant spirits. Imagined as a powerful warrior standing atop a pair of demons, Bishamonten carries in his left hand a miniature stupa (a symbol of Buddhist teachings, which he is also charged with safeguarding). This sculpture was originally worshipped at Iwayadera, a major religious center in the medieval period that later fell into decline. Inscriptions on the inside of the sculpture indicate that it was restored several times, beginning in the thirteenth century. The work’s first major restoration by the Kyoto sculptor Inkai (active mid-1260s–mid-1270s) around 1275 was ordered by Emperor Go-Uda (1267–1324; ruled 1274–87) in the aftermath of the first Mongol invasions of Japan.

Tobatsu Bishamonten, Heian period (794–1185), late 10th–early 11th century. Zelkova wood with traces of color, H. 125.1 cm. Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015; 2015.300.253a, b. © 2000–2023 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Tobatsu Bishamonten is one of the manifestations of Bishamonten, the Guardian King of the North, who is usually included in a group of Four Guardian Kings (Shitennō), protectors of the four directions. However, in the manifestation of Tobatsu Bishamonten (as captured by this sculpture), the deity is always shown independently and typically stands on a mount supported by the female earth deity, Jiten, and two dwarf demons, Niranba and Biranba. Wearing an angry expression and dressed in the armor of a Chinese warrior, he holds in his left hand a miniature stupa, which symbolizes the Buddha’s teachings and relics; his right hand most likely held a weapon to subjugate evil and suppress the enemies of Buddhism.

Illustrated Legends of the Kitano Tenjin Shrine (Kitano Tenjin engi emaki), Kamakura period (1185–1333), late 13th century. One of a set of five handscrolls; ink, color, and cut gold on paper,; 28.8 x 894.5 cm. Fletcher Fund, 1925; 25.224e. © 2000–2023 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Shinto belief that aggrieved human spirits can animate forces of nature underlies the origins of Kyoto’s Kitano Tenjin Shrine (Kitano Tenmangū), dedicated to the scholar-poet and statesman Sugawara no Michizane (845–903), who died in exile after having been slandered by enemies at court. Natural disasters and illnesses plagued the capital after his death, but Michizane’s spirit was pacified when he was honored at a shrine dedicated to the thunder god in northwestern Kyoto. Later, he was deified as Tenjin, an ancient god of agriculture, and came to be venerated as the Shinto god of literature and music. Among the more than thirty extant sets of handscrolls recounting Michizane’s life and the events leading to the establishment of the Tenjin cult, this version is second in age and quality only to the early thirteenth-century version in the main Kitano Tenjin Shrine in Kyoto.

Tile with Buddha Triad, Asuka period (538–710), second half 7th century. Earthenware with traces of color, H. 24.5 cm; W. 19.7 cm; D. 3.8 cm. Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015; 2015.300.249 © 2000–2023 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Clay relief tiles with figures of the Buddha, known as senbutsu, were made for only a short period of time, between the second half of the seventh and the early eighth century. Here, the Buddha sits beneath a canopy with two (unidentifiable) attendant bodhisattvas in front of the sacred bodhi tree. This example is believed to have been an interior wall decoration at Tachibanadera Temple in Asuka, near the ancient capital of Nara.

Flower Vessel, Kamakura period (1185–1333), 13th century. Gilt bronze. H. 19.4 cm; Diam. 9.2 cm.Purchase, Barbara and William Karatz Gift, 2006; 2006.180. © 2000–2023 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This small vase was originally made for use in a Buddhist temple. Flower vessels, along with candlestands and incense burners, are essential components of Buddhist ritual offerings. Here, centuries of use have resulted in the loss of most of the original gilding, revealing the softly shimmering bronze body.

Kongōhō Bodhisattva (Vajradharma), Heian period (794–1185), 11th century. Bronze. Overall (figure): H. 25.4 cm; W. 16.5 cm; D. 5 13.7 cm. The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard, and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975; 1975.268.154. © 2000–2023 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This seated bodhisattva survives from a set of five sculptures. Esoteric practitioners of the Tendai sect commonly depicted the buddha Amida surrounded by four attendant bodhisattvas: Kongōhō, shown here, along with Kongōri (Vajratiksna), Kongōin (Vajrahetu), and Kongōgo (Vajrabhasha).

Sutra Box (Kyōbako) with Lotus Pond, Edo period (1615–1868), early 17th century. Lacquered wood with gold togidashimaki-e, hiramaki-e, and e-nashiji (“pear-skin picture”). H. 15 cm; W. 20.6 cm; L. 36.5 cm. Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015; 2015.300.292a–c. © 2000–2023 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This box with a shallow drawer was made to hold Buddhist sutras and is decorated with the sacred symbol of Buddhist art: the lotus pond. The style of the leaves, stems, and seed heads in the various stages of the plant’s life is reminiscent of early seventeenth-century designs by Tawaraya Sōtatsu (died ca. 1640). The application of the hiramaki-e (flat “sprinkled picture”) and e-nashiji (“pear-skin picture”) sprinkling represents a later type of the Kōdaiji lacquer style.

Jar for Sutra Burial (Sankinko), late Heian period (ca. 900–1185),early 12th century. Stoneware with natural ash glaze (Tokoname ware). H. 24.8 cm; W. 19.1 cm. Dr. and Mrs. Roger G. Gerry Collection, Bequest of Dr. and Mrs. Roger G. Gerry, 2000; 2002.447.12 © 2000–2023 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Made at Tokoname, one of Japan’s oldest pottery centers, this jar was coil-built and then smoothed on a wheel, a process that inspired its regionally distinctive embellishment of three lightly incised rings. Colors ranging from pale blue to vernal green cloak thick layers of kiln-fused ash glaze. Buried sometime in the late Heian period, this jar protected a bronze cylinder containing precious Buddhist sutras and relics.

One of the “One Million Pagodas” (Hyakumanto), Nara period (710–794), ca. 764–70. Japanese cypress (hinoki), Cleyera ochnacea (sakaki), and ink on paper. H. 21 cm; Diam. 10.2 cm. The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard, and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975; 1975.268.150a–c © 2000–2023 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This miniature wooden pagoda (tŏ) is one of one million (hyakuman) commissioned by the Empress Shŏtoku (718–770) and distributed to Japan’s ten major temples. It originally was created to commemorate and offer thanks to Buddhist deities for their help in suppressing the Emi Rebellion in 764. This example belonged to the temple Hŏryǔji in Nara, where three thousand of the one million pagodas were given away in 1908 to those contributing to an appeal for funds. Each pagoda was painted white and contained a printed Buddhist text called a darani (Sanskrit: dharani), or invocation. The text displayed here came from the pagoda on known as the Jishin’in darani, the invocation is one of four from the sacred text Mukujŏkŏkyŏ (Sanskrit: Vimala Mirbhasa Sutra) found in the pagodas. These printed texts are among the oldest known in the world. They are likely to have been printed from bronze plates, but some scholars maintain that they were printed from woodblocks.

White-Robed Kannon, Kamakura period (1185–1333), 13th century. Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk. Image: 74.9 × 39.1 cm.The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard, and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975; 1975.268.19. © 2000–2023 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This graceful frontal view of Kannon (Sanskrit: Pandaravasini) emphasizes the deity's dignity and compassion. It derives from Esoteric Buddhist iconography that systematically groups deities into mandalas of the two worlds: the Diamond World Mandala and the Womb World Mandala. White-robed Kannon is one of twenty-one Kannon in the Lotus Court section of the Womb World Mandala. The bodhisattva's pose, with one leg pendent, seems to be a precursor to the more relaxed pose he assumes in the monochrome ink painting of White-robed Kannon in a landscape. Here, Kannon, wearing a delicately decorated white robe and sitting on a white lotus pedestal, conforms to the feminized concept of “Mother Kannon,” an aspect of the deity that was developed further in later medieval worship. Some stiffness of line in the robes is probably the result of copying from a model. More fluid brushstrokes in the lotus petals create a sense of volume, a quality that suggests a thirteenth-century date for this work.