JAPANESE<br /> <em>Jōmon jar </em> Middle Jōmon period 2500 BCE-1500 BCE<br /> <em>(Fukatsubo Jōmon doki 深壺 縄文土器)</em><br /> earthenware<br /> 40.0 x 31.5 x 25.0 cm<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Purchased, 1971<br /> AS40-1971

Japanese Design

Neolithic to Now

Free entry

NGV International

Level 1, Japanese Collection

18 Dec 20 – 1 Aug 21

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Throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Japan has been admired globally for unique artistic traditions and sophisticated visual design.

These distinctive qualities can be attributed to Japan’s isolated island status and associations with nature worship, known as ‘Shinto’, from ancient times. Shinto – literally ‘Way of the Gods’ – is a form of animism where gods pervade all aspects of life and natural phenomena, including the wind, sun, moon, water, mountains and trees. Shinto underlies the deep appreciation of beauty in nature and the changing of seasons at the heart of Japanese customs and lifestyle.

This exhibition, drawn from the NGV Collection, brings together works that express a human desire to create with a close spiritual affiliation with nature. Spanning over four thousand years, from Neolithic times to the twenty-first century, it celebrates the wabi-sabi aesthetic of rustic earthenware ceramics, and encompasses Buddhist sculpture and calligraphy, minimalist medieval furniture, the appreciation of seasonal flowers, the refined motifs of porcelain ware, bamboo weaving to create contemporary sculptural forms, and the work of some of Japan’s leading contemporary fashion and graphic designers.

Select Works

JAPANESE
Noh theatre robe, Karaori (1860-1890)
(Nōshōzoku Karaori 能装束唐織)
woven Silk

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest in honour of Allan Myers AO President of the Council of Trustees of the NGV, 2012
2012.263
JAPANESE
Gourd-shaped bottle with chrysanthemums (mid 18th century)
古伊万里色絵花文瓢形 一輪生
porcelain, gilt, enamel (Ko-Imari ware)
34.5 x 16.6 cm diameter
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by Pauline Gandel, 2018
2018.611
JAPANESE
Kyogen theatre vest and pants with design of flowing water and drums, kataginu and nagabakama (19th century)
cotton, paper
82.4 x 67.6 cm (vest) 164.3 x 62.2 cm (pants)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, NGV Asian Art Acquisition Fund, 2014
2014.32
Utagawa HIROSHIGE
Rough Sea at Naruto, Awa Province (1853-1856)
(Awa naruto no kazanami 阿波 鳴門の風波)
from the Famous views of the sixty odd provinces (Rokuju yoshu meisho zue 六十余州名所図会) series 1853–56
colour woodblock
34.3 x 22.8 cm (image) 37.2 x 25.6 cm (sheet)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1910
507-2
YUFU Shohaku
Flower basket Niō (2015)
(Hanakago Niō 花籠仁王)
bamboo
70.0 x 52.0 x 51.0 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by Baillieu Myer AC and Sarah Myer, 2015
2015.497
© Yufu Shohaku
Yukihiko Nakayama
Tea caddy with design of sea shells (1995)
(Kaigara natsume 貝殻棗)
lacquer on wood, mother-of-pearl
7.8 x 7.3 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by the Hon. Michael Watt and Cecilie Hall, 2014
2014.1994
© the artist, courtesy Hajime Sasaki
Taro YAMAMOTO
Green maple and boat on flow (2012)
(Aokaede ukifune-zu ōgi 青楓浮船図扇)
pigments on paper, bamboo
36.2 x 49.5 x 2.5 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by the Hon. Michael Watt QC and Cecilie Hall, 2013
2013.572
© Taro Yamamoto, courtesy Imura Art Gallery, Kyoto
Serizawa Keisuke
Kimono with pattern imitating glaze dripping down the side of a jar (Kamedare mon kimono) 1961
stencil-dyed banana-bark cloth, (abaca)
155.0 x 130.0 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by Allan Myers AO and Maria Myers AO, 2015
2015.408
© Serizawa Keiko