Introduction

At the end of the 19th into the first decades of the 20th century, the arts in Japan experienced a renaissance. Wealth and patronage combined with a tradition that valued superb craftsmanship and believed art to be part of civilized life. A reexamination of Japan’s artistic heritage and a discussion of what it meant to be modern and Japanese was invigorated by a deep curiosity about other cultures, both Western and Asian. Imperial government patronage of the arts ranged from educational institutions such as the Tokyo School of Fine Arts to the sponsorship of national art exhibitions, governmental backing for Japanese art to travel for exhibition abroad, widespread purchase of art at domestic exhibitions and as well as the lavish commissioning of art for the imperial collections and to be given as gifts. The rising middle class aspired to be part of this world. Hundreds of thousands travelled to attend the great national art exhibitions. Professional pride and competition between artists at exhibition brought standards of craftsmanship and quality to unequaled levels. A responsive and highly educated audience supported this world of creativity.

Few realize today that during the early 20th century a pair of inlaid and chased silver vases of high quality cost the equivalent of a fine house in the best quarters of Kyoto or Tokyo. This was true not only for metalwork, but for the other applied arts as well as paintings. Little of the best quality was exported, though oceans of mediocre, decorative material flowed to the West. Of the very high quality art shown by Japanese artists at international expositions in Europe and North America, most was too expensive to be understood by foreigners and returned to Japan. One such piece was the inlaid vase decorated with sea life by Tsukada Shükyö that won the gold prize at the Japan-British Exhibition in 1910 (number 28 below in this catalogue).

During this era, the arts in Japan also saw an evolution in aesthetics towards a more refined, elegant sense of design. Often (though not always) this involved a preference for simpler composition and a dramatic use of empty space to balance design motifs. In this stylization may lie some of the seeds of the modernist abstraction that grew luxuriantly in the late 1920s and 1930s. Naturalism, a delight in the depiction of the natural world, breathed in all the arts of period.

With this catalogue we look at a selection of late Meiji and Taishō metalwork, lacquers and cloisonné enamels. The quality of the workmanship may never again be equaled and is reason enough to marvel and celebrate. A sense of beauty and joy in the natural world echoes throughout the work and reminds us of the wonder of life. Art can do no more.