New Arts of Japan Gallery to culminate five-year initiative to expand presentation of Asian art

ARTDAILY

Dish with Design of Dandelions, Nabeshima ware. Edo period, 18th century.
Glazed porcelain with overglaze enamels. Tokyo National Museum.

TEXAS - The new, permanent Arts of Japan Gallery at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, will open to the public on Sunday, February 19. The Japan gallery will be the final installation in a suite of permanent Arts of Asia galleries surrounding Cullinan Hall in the Caroline Wiess Law Building, culminating an effort begun in 2007 to expand the presentation of Asian art at the museum. The Arts of Japan Gallery will open with a special inaugural exhibition, Elegant Perfection: Masterpieces of Courtly and Religious Art from the Tokyo National Museum, showcasing important objects from the collection of the Tokyo National Museum, including National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties that will stay in Houston for only eight weeks. In April 2012, the MFAH permanent collection of Japanese art will be installed with 16th-and 17th-century ceramics, 12th-century bronze Buddhist ritual objects and a 1000 B.C. sculpture on two-year long-term loan from the Tokyo National Museum. This will be the first time for the Tokyo National Museum to approve long term loans to an American museum. [link]