Back to Calendar

Gallery Talk: Japan on Paper

Katsushika Hokusai, Japanese, Traveling Hat with Spring Greens, 1801. Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper. Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of the Friends of Arthur B. Duel, 1933.4.2680.

Gallery Talk

Harvard Art Museums
32 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA

Yan Yang, curatorial assistant in the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art, will give this gallery talk. The talk is offered in conjunction with the exhibition Japan on Paper, on view May 25 through August 11, 2019 in the University Study Gallery on Level 3.

Japan on Paper features almost 50 works spanning the history of Japanese woodblock printing, from the 17th through the 20th century; these include single-sheet prints, luxury surimono prints, printed handscrolls, and printed books by renowned designers such as Suzuki Harunobu (1725–1770), pioneer of the full-color print; landscape specialist Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858); enigmatic designer Sharaku (active 1794–95); Itō Jakuchū (1716–1800); and the ever-popular Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849). Also included are modern “new print” (shin hanga) and “creative print” (sōsaku hanga) works by the leaders of these two 20th-century movements, as well as a selection of woodblock printing tools to enhance visitors’ understanding of the medium.

Our galleries are full of stories—this series of drop-in talks gives visitors a chance to hear the best ones! The talks highlight new works on view, take a fresh look at old favorites, investigate artists’ materials and techniques, and reveal the latest discoveries by curators, conservators, fellows, visiting artists, technologists, and other contributors.

Free with museums admission. Gallery talks are limited to 15 people and tickets are required. Ten minutes before each talk, tickets will become available at the admissions desk.

Please meet in the Calderwood Courtyard, in front of the digital screens between the shop and the admissions desk. Museums staff will be on hand to collect tickets.

Japan on Paper is curated by Quintana Heathman, former curatorial fellow in Japanese art (2014–16); and Rachel Saunders, the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Associate Curator of Asian Art at the Harvard Art Museums. Support for this exhibition was provided by Harvard University’s Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies and by the Harvard Art Museums’ Leopold (Harvard M.B.A. ’64) and Jane Swergold Asian Art Exhibitions and Publications Fund, Peter Drucker Research and Exhibition Fund, and José Soriano Fund.