Exhibitions

The Poetry of Nature in Japanese Woodblock Prints

June 7 - August 24, 2008

The poetic visions of the land and its moods expressed by Japanese woodblock artists present a personal response and celebration of the ever-changing effects of nature. They concentrate on features of the land and urban environment, which then become transformed through the different seasons, times of day, and shifting weather patterns. By exploring the eloquent compositional arrangements in relation to subject matter and Japanese poetry, this exhibition hopes to open new avenues in the appreciation of this quintessentially Japanese form of artistic expression.

The Fine Art of Living: Luxury Objects from the East and West

May 29, 2008 - Spring 2009

This multicultural exhibition features a selection of luxury arts from the Museum ’s diverse collections. Like painting and sculpture,these beautiful objects played an important aesthetic role as they communicated social, political, religious and cultural information about the patron. The realm of the decorative arts is a vast one, involving objects of every shape and material imaginable. By bringing together objects from China, Europe, India, Japan and the United States from the Early Modern period to around 1900, this show explores a wide variety of cultural aesthetic preferences and societal practices in relation to The Fine Art of Living.

Ancient Glass from the Permanent Collection

ongoing from August 2007

This exhibition highlights the Museum’s finest ancient glass vessels, representing various techniques of manufacture including core-formed, free-blown and mold-made examples. A broad spectrum of time periods are also encompassed, ranging from Greek to Roman and from Byzantine to Islamic. The ancient glass collection is indebted to Gladys Davidson Weinberg, who was co-founder of the Museum, and held the titles of curator and honorary research fellow. Weinberg was a pioneer in the field of ancient glass and did much to advance the study of this fascinating aspect of ancient material culture. Moreover, she acquired many glass objects for the Museum’s antiquities collection, some of which are included in this exhibit.

South Asian Sculpture

ongoing from April 2006

This new installation features selections of Buddhist and Hindu sculpture from the Museum’s permanent collection. Stone reliefs from ancient Gandhara show early Buddhist imagery, dating to the first several centuries of the Common Era. From medieval and later India are two- and three-dimensional sculptures in bronze and stone that depict many of the most important deities of the Hindu pantheon.