Kaigyokusai Masatsugu, The Twelve Zodiac Animals, Edo-Meiji periods, mid-to-late 19th century, ivory with staining, sumi, inlays, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Raymond and Frances Bushell Collection.
Photo © Museum Associates/LACMA
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
“The Life of Animals in Japanese Art”
June 2 – August 18, 2019
As the first devoted to the representation of animals in Japanese art, this major exhibition covers 17 centuries (from the fifth century to the present day) and a wide variety of media – sculpture, painting, lacquerwork, ceramics, metalwork, textile, and the woodblock print.
More than 300 works will be spread across 18,000 square feet in the East Building’s Concourse galleries.
Artists range from Sesson Shukei, Ito Jakuchu, Soga Shohaku, Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, to Okamoto Taro, Kusama Yayoi, Issey Miyake, Nara Yoshitomo, and Murakami Takashi.
Included in the nearly 180 Japanese loans are seven designated as Important Cultural Property by the Japanese government.
