About the exhibition

Masterpieces of Japanese Art in Polish Collections, the exhibition marking the twentieth anniversary of the Manggha Museum, is a presentation of old Japanese art, primarily from the Edo period (1603–1868), and also – in some examples – the Meiji era (1868–1912): ukiyo-e woodblock prints, paintings, sculptures, textiles, ceramics, bronze wares, lacquerware, and militaria. The exhibition is an opportunity to see some of the iconic images of Japanese art which radically changed the art of the West, such as Hokusai’s prints, including his famous work Under a Great Wave off Kanagawa. The Europeans’ first contacts with Japanese art were accompanied by a deep sense of alienness, which led to misunderstanding and rejection. This was so because the specifically Japanese criteria of beauty are principally contradictory to the European tradition, founded on the classical ideals of antiquity; the typical values of Japanese aesthetics form a system which stands in pronounced opposition to the traditional aesthetics of the West, with its notion of ideal beauty based on harmony, symmetry, rhythm, the principle of mimesis, the postulate of durability in art, the division into high and applied art. The Japanese concept of beauty is strongly pervaded with a sense of transience, the impermanence of things, and the related melancholy. This is a mysterious beauty, and the typical characteristics of that art – understatement, vagueness and ambiguity – are decisive for the intuitive reception of it. Beautiful objects: lacquerware sprinkled with gold, a brocade kimono, a gilded screen, when placed in dim Japanese interiors (never in bright light!), are designed to be characterised by a reserved elegance. Zen philosophy gave rise to the idea of sophisticated simplicity, which values the natural quality and ‘truth’ of the material (e.g. raw wood, bamboo, stone), underscores the value of poverty, and also the wear of things which, with time, take on a fine patina, and stresses the preference for subdued hues and the natural colours of earth. Irregularity and asymmetry are also treated by the Japanese as categories of beauty. In Japan, aesthetics applies to all the spheres of life; there is no division here into pure art and objects for everyday use. In this way, simple tea utensils are elevated to the rank of works of art… In the Japanese tradition, the everyday – subordinated to aesthetic categories – becomes art. This was well understood and sincerely admired by Feliks ‘Manggha’ Jasieński: in his vision, every Japanese person appeared to be an artist sensitive to the tiniest manifestations of beauty. This is why we have grouped Japanese masterpieces from Polish collections into eight thematic spaces: Prologue, Import and Export illustrate the presence of and fascination with Japanese art in Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; Woman, Warrior, Spectacle, Spirituality and Nature bring us closer to a different, inspiring culture. The exhibition of Japanese art in Polish collections aims to show what is most interesting, most valuable – to highlight the diversity and wealth of the Polish japoneries. Hence the ‘masterpieces’ in the title, which – sometimes little known or entirely unknown before – are granted an opportunity to be retrieved from the darkness of museum stores and come into the spotlight. The concept of masterpiece has been applied to Japanese art intuitively, from a Western perspective, as a helpful, widely comprehensible tool for the reception of an ‘other’ tradition. The exhibition will be shown in different versions: 30 November 2014 – 18 May 2015 Manggha Museum in Krakow June–September 2015 National Museum in Warsaw June–September 2015 District Museum in Torun October–December 2015 National Museum in Wroclaw

PROLOGUE

The exhibition opens with a collection of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century porcelain from the Arita manufactory in Kyushu Island, specialising in production intended for Europe. Plates, cups, vases and figurines of beautiful women (bijin) were initially offered in blue-and-white decoration, patterned on Chinese Ming porcelain, over time enhanced to include other colours: iron red, gold, and enamels. The resultant products came to be known as Imari porcelain (so named after the Kyushu seaport where cargo ships set out for Europe), embellished with colourful decoration featuring traditional motifs, such as phoenixes, ‘Chinese lions’ (karashishi), peonies, chrysanthemums, cherry and plum trees in bloom, pines and bamboos. The most valuable works on display come originally from the collection of King Augustus II the Strong, the symbol of the earliest fascinations with Japanese art in Europe. Augustus II the Strong, Elector of Saxony (from 1694) and King of Poland (1697–1733), assembled the richest and best-known European collection of Chinese and Japanese porcelain. The king’s passion led to the deciphering of its recipe in 1709, by Johann Friedrich Böttger. In 1721, a precise inventory of the king’s collection was drafted, comprising some 23,000 items. Augustus II intended to build a Japanese Palace in Dresden to house the collection. After the king’s death, the Dresden collection was partly dispersed; in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, duplicates in the Royal Porcelain Collection were auctioned off, winding up in museum and private collections. The District Museum in Toruń holds 10 items of porcelain marked with King Augustus II’s inventory numbers. These are three plates, one bowl and three pairs of tea bowls with saucers, forming the largest assembly of Japanese porcelain from the Royal Collection in Poland. The fronts of the plates and the bowl are decorated with the motif of a vase with peony or chrysanthemum flowers and blossoming cherry twigs, standing on a veranda or a terrace. The rim of the bowl bears an original Japanese ‘brocade’ pattern, imitating the patterned designs decorating Japanese cloths used for wrapping presents. The tea bowls and saucers are decorated with plant motifs: bamboo and chrysanthemum, growing behind either a small fence or a terrace balustrade.

Import

After Japan opened up to the West, Europe was overcome by a ‘Japanese craze’. The objects preferred by contemporary Japonistes were popular arts and crafts from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The most important role was played by ukiyo-e woodblock prints and printed books relating to the world of popular entertainment, small objects such as inrō seal caddies and tsuba sword-guards, as well as lacquerware and porcelain. However, starting in the 1860s, European collectors and artists were particularly interested in and inspired by coloured woodblock prints from the Edo period (1603–1868), which were considered the essence of Japanese art. These became the primary source of valuable compositional ideas for European artists. The popularity of Japanese prints was fuelled by the fact that this art form did not target the elite – it was relatively inexpensive, produced in vast quantities, and available to a wide public. There was also a generous flow of such prints into Europe, where artists began to internalise various elements of this exotic art. Paris was the indisputable centre of Japanism. The French capital was the principal place of business of the famous art dealer and collector Siegfried (Samuel) Bing (1838–1905), involved in the popularisation of broadly defined Japanese art through his gallery called L’Art Nouveau and the magazine Le Japon artistique published between 1888 and 1891. It was also here (as well as in Munich, Vienna and London) that some department stores specialised in importing goods from Japan. Those were the outlets visited by Feliks ‘Manggha’ Jasieński (1861–1929), who created the largest collection of Japanese art in Poland, with 6,500 objects: woodblock prints, military artefacts, sculptures, textiles, enamels, lacquer and bronze wares. The ‘Japanese craze’ was aptly diagnosed in 1878 by a Paris journalist: One kept oneself informed about new cargoes. Old ivories, enamels, faience and porcelain, bronzes, lacquer, wooden sculptures, […] embroidered satins, playthings, simply arrived at a merchant’s shop and immediately left for artists’ studios or writers’ studies. They entered the hands of Carolus Duran, Manet, James Tissot, Fantin-Latour, Degas, Monet, the writers Edmond and Jules de Goncourt, Philippe Burty, Zola, the travellers Cernuschi, Duret, Émile Guimet. The movement was established, the amateurs followed.

Woman

The heroine of one of the great myths of the Japanese mass culture through which Europe discovered Japan was the woman – courtesan and geisha. Although two ideals of womanhood existed alongside each other in the Edo period (1603–1868): that of the exemplary wife and homemaker and that of the courtesan, the imagination of the West was conquered by the resident of the Yoshiwara. While the former was modest and entirely subordinated to her husband, the latter was the object of desire, the symbol of the impossible romantic love. Thus the courtesan was the heroine of ukiyo-e woodblock prints, impressed in very large numbers of copies, and of stage plays; she also dictated the fashion trends. However, one should not forget that, irrespective of their status within the hierarchy of the Green Houses, the female prostitutes were entirely subjugated and financially bound to the owners of those establishments. Those men financed the publication of Yoshiwara guidebooks and the printing of portrayals of the district’s beauties, turning them into celebrities, expected to incite the desire of prospective clients and build the reputation of the business for which they worked. Their oppressive situation never merited criticism, or even an account written by an impartial chronicler. Apart from courtesans, another group of female celebrities was formed by geisha, living in two realities as they resided in the ‘normal’ world of Edo as well. They did not render sexual services but specialised in various forms of dance, often quite sophisticated, played all manner of musical instruments, practiced the art of entertaining conversation, telling stories and jokes. At the clients’ requests, they were also hired by the owners of houses of pleasure. Those superbly educated and beautiful women worked at shops or teahouses, waiting on guests. And – just like the courtesans – influenced and inspired the contemporary world. Ukiyo-e prints were not confined to the portrayal of courtesans and geisha; they also depicted images of women inhabiting the ‘normal’ reality: wives, mothers, and young girls. There is a great number of series and single plates showing women from various social classes as well as their behaviours, garments, and favourite pastimes. But it was the Yoshiwara courtesan, the celebrity of her time, that set the trends in fashion and makeup. Kimono, obi sashes, richly decorated hairpins (kogai) and ornamental combs (kushi), handheld fans, dressing tables and other accessories present in women’s lives became desirable collectors’ items in nineteenth-century France. Some of them were small masterpieces, such as suzuribako – decorative cases for implements used in calligraphy, or inrō – tiny boxes for seals, also widely used for medicines.

Spirituality

Among the masterpieces of Japanese art found in Polish collections, works relating to Buddhism and Shinto form a small but interesting group. Buddhism, which came to Japan from China in the 6th century CE, imposed a specific subject matter on sculpture and the strict rules of its rendition. The iconography encompasses a large number of religious depictions which have their own hierarchy, mutual connections, interdependencies and functions. They are manifestations and personifications of the main religious doctrines of Buddhism and its various sects. The latter, formed over centuries, worshipped various manifestations of deity, and this is why such depictions attracted recognition in respective periods, which was reflected in painting and sculpture. In accordance with the tenets of Buddhism, the iconographic features always had to be rendered with utmost care and precision. The figures were depicted in strictly predefined poses, whether seated or standing. The poses, the hand gestures, the number of heads, and the facial expressions – either menacing or benign, full of untainted serenity – symbolized specific ideas. The attire and attributes held in the hands were associated with the role and function of the depicted character. The symbolic representation of the idea that the sculpture was to convey was more important than the realistic rendition of the anatomic proportions. The following is a presentation of traditional Japanese Buddhist sculpture, in the style formed under the influence of Chinese and Korean sculpture, initiated in the Nara (710–784) and Heian (794–1185) periods, and perpetuated in subsequent eras. These works are depictions of the Buddha and the bodhisattvas of the Mahayanistic pantheon, and also monks, sages and the so called divine guardians of the faith. They have iconographic features which facilitate identification of the depicted characters, although their limited size (usually tens of centimetres) deprives them of an important aspect of religious impact – monumentality. Sculpted in wood, polychromed or lacquered, the figures imitate the formal and iconographic examples of the peak period in Japanese plastic arts in the Kamakura era (13th−14th c.). An interesting group within the collection are the figures placed in zushi, portable shrines used for prayer during travels or as part of a home altar. There are a handful of examples of sculpture referencing the tradition of Japan’s indigenous religion, Shinto, which developed alongside Buddhism. These are probably connected with local objects of cult. They were portrayals of spiritual beings, or kami (in the form of human or animal figures), guardians and personages related or of merit to specific temples. Shinto deities would also often take on the form of Buddhist holy men. Buddhist rituals and ceremonies required specific objects; censers, candlesticks and flower vases, fabrics and monks’ robes (kesy) were accessories added to temple altars and home shrines alike. All these products represent the high level of Japanese craftsmanship in the second half of the 19th century.

Warrior

A terrible weapon, a matchless masterpiece of the universal art of armoury. A work of art crafted meticulously, whose features are national through and through, elegant as a whole; the blade is capable of removing heads from several necks with just one skilful blow; and the rest: veritable gems, where artist-craftsmen and craftsman-artists get a chance to show off superbly: draughtsmen, engravers, haberdashers, lacquerers; an inexhaustible mine of ideas, simple yet amazing, implemented with perfection. The decorative genius comes through in all instances. Feliks ‘Manggha’ Jasieński, 1911 On the sword guards [tsuba], you can find everything that surrounds us, starting with a blade of grass, ending with clouds; but the use of material, the translation of nature into art, perceived individually by the various individualities from a nationalist point of view – here is what should command admiration and must give delight. Geometrical motifs, the world of plants and animals, figural and landscape compositions – all can be found here. Feliks ‘Manggha’ Jasieński, 1911 Formed in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the culture of ‘men of arms’ made the Japanese a people traditionally attaching considerable weight to combat and warfare and martial arts. A people that also highly valued military artefacts. The samurai class emerged in the twelfth century when two powerful clans, Taira and Minamoto, engaged in a ruthless war for political power. It was during that time when the bakufu was born, a system of government headed by a military leader – the shogun – and run by samurai warriors under his command. From 1185 all the way to the restoration of the imperial reign in 1868, Japan was ruled on behalf of the emperor by the successive families of military dictators. The culture that they developed over the ages was truly unique. Since the oldest times, the extraordinary characteristics of Japanese swords have commanded the world’s admiration and recognition. The Japanese swordsmithing masters’ technical skill and care of execution led to the creation of a unique implement which was not only a superb weapon, but also a work of art. For over twelve centuries, this weapon has had a spiritual dimension and a religious significance to the Japanese. Alongside a mirror and a gem, it is one of the imperial insignia. It is also a symbol of knightly virtues, honour, courage, and loyalty. A warrior’s outfit also included a suit of armour, which embodied the moral and spiritual tradition of the samurai. In addition to its protective function, it was also a symbol whose characteristic form and colours expressed the individual identity and glory of the clan. The Japanese armour was a system of elastic protective guards, fastened with ribbons to the warrior’s body in a manner that did not obstruct his motions or swiftness. The torso was protected by a cuirass with tassets, shoulder-guards, armguards, thigh-guards made of iron plates and lames, coated with lacquer, and joined together with interwoven silk bands. The samurai myth was immortalised in musha-e (warrior prints), which, in addition to portrayals of actors (yakusha-e) and beautiful women (bijin-ga), formed three major themes of the ukiyo-e culture. The dynamic pictorial compositions extolled the samurai tradition, portrayed famous warriors, depicted scenes of duels, clashes and battles. They were inspired by the literary tradition of gunki monogatari (‘war tales’), created between the tenth and fourteenth centuries, in which the warriors’ code of honour, loyalty to their feudal lord and courage in the face of death were valued higher than anything else. These motifs were rendered in various forms in nō, bunraku, and kabuki theatres, in jōruri – songs accompanied by musical instruments – as well as legends and fairytales. Ukiyo-e print masters also depicted actors who played great warriors, both historical and legendary, in stage plays. The most popular tale was that of the forty-seven ronin. In the Meiji period (1868–1912), as a result of intense efforts to modernise the country, some of the traditions that formed the Japanese culture and civilisation were marginalised, including the sword and the whole sphere of weaponry and military accessories. No longer appreciated, many fine products crafted by local master artisans were taken out of the country and found their way to Europe and America, where the samurai myth was reborn.

Export

In the Meiji period (1868–1912), an interesting development could be observed in Japan, consisting in the growing production of ceramics designed specifically for export to Europe and America, catering to the tastes of buyers in those countries and to their own idea of Japanese culture. These somewhat bizarre objects, sometimes of kitsch quality when viewed from our 21st-century perspective, the West perceived as typically Japanese products while the Japanese treated them exclusively as export goods, unattached to their own aesthetics. In the West, porcelain, faience, clay and stone wares – vases, bowls, plates, tea bowls and pots of various sizes, as well as figurines – were imported from Japan in mass quantities by specialised companies. They were desirable objects not only to collectors of Far Eastern art, but also to regular customers. Vessels made at the Satsuma manufactory were particularly sought after: coated with crème-coloured glazing, painted with colourful enamels and gold, they delighted Europeans with their diversity of decorative motifs and precision of execution. Equally popular were ceramic wares from the regions of Kutani and Bankō, Yokohama, Kyoto and Osaka. In addition to ceramics, products made specifically for export included enamel and metal wares.

SPECTACLE

The most important phenomena of Japanese culture include performing arts – nō, bunraku and kabuki theatre forms. Associated with various social groups and dating back to different historical periods, these forms of stage performance rely primarily on synthesis of music and dance, while dialogue is only a secondary component, as opposed to Western theatre. Their specifically Japanese characteristics also include interest in the supernatural, quotations from traditional Chinese and Japanese poetry, assimilation of folk songs and poems, poetic dialogue, and the use of a predefined set of figures and movements – kata. Nō theatre was formed in the Middle Ages through the patronage of samurai aristocracy while bunraku (puppet) and kabuki (actors’) theatres crystallised in the early modern period, and were closely associated with the culture of city dwellers. Kabuki actors (yakusha) were the celebrities of their time: they were the magnets attracting audiences, as objects of admiration and desire for all groups of society, although they occupied the lowest position in the social hierarchy (after warriors, peasants, artisans and merchants). Their portrayals in various roles and scenes from fashionable stage plays were rendered by the most prominent artists of the golden age of ukiyo-e: Toyokuni, Sharaku, Utamaro, and Kuniyoshi. Actor prints were produced in large numbers of copies because everyone wanted to have a portrait of a famous player in their favourite role. One of the most important designers of ukiyo-e actor prints was Tōshūsai Sharaku (fl. c. 1794–1795), a mysterious artist as very little is known about him; his works are characterised by unusual, almost caricatural expression. By portraying famous actors in their most popular roles, artists created not only a theatrical hall of fame but also a catalogue of the convections prevailing for example in kabuki. Ukiyo-e prints and paintings also showed ritual dances (sanbasō) and spectacles involved in annual festivals, e.g. in Yoshiwara (Niwaka Festival). Many European collectors specialised in this specific genre of Japanese woodblock prints.

Nature

Nowhere does snow cover the ground with a whiter fluff; nowhere do shining full moons better fuse valleys, mountains, seas and woods into a drowsy silence against the serene sapphires of the night. Nowhere does pouring rain lash people and trees with greater fierceness. Nowhere does mist diffuse better the light that it absorbs. Nowhere does the sea rage harder; nowhere do foamy creeks rush rapider amid granite cliffs. Nowhere do orchards blossom more gloriously. This is truth – an artistic truth. Photography cannot offer this, because art is nature interpreted by the artist. Feliks „Manggha” Jasieński,1906 The Japanese people’s attitude towards nature is the key to understanding aesthetic categories, such as beauty. The desire to attain harmony between man and nature translates into a desire to attain harmony between manmade objects and the natural surroundings. It is nature that determines the canons of beauty, and it is considered the supreme aesthetic category. In Japanese art, the manifestations of nature – a landscape or a small fragment of it, flowers, trees, grasses and animals – become the most important subjects of art. The Japanese sensitivity to it is well illustrated in shiki-e (pictures of the four seasons) and tsukinami-e (depictions of occupations typical for specific months), in kimono decorations corresponding to the time of the year, and also in the flower festivals: flower viewing (hanami), especially of cherry trees (sakura) in blossom, or in the grand thematic category of kachō-ga. The Japanese term kachō-ga (‘pictures of flowers and birds’) refers to one of the three main themes – next to figural and landscape compositions – in Far Eastern visual arts. The motif originated in China, and its popularity and high position were closely related to the Buddhist philosophy which saw an emanation of Buddha in every manifestation of life, even the smallest one, escaping our attention. Flowers and shrubs, even the most common ones, birds accompanying humans’ daily chores, or insects of original and unusual shapes could became the subject of depiction, not only in paintings, but also in woodblock prints. Thus, kachō-ga showed trees in bloom, grasses and flowers, accompanied by birds and insects. Their tendency to change, their fragility and vegetation cycles corresponding to the rhythms of the changing year seasons – closely observed and noted – represented the unchangeable existence of all things or transient, impermanent beauty. The seasons of the year were symbolised by flowers blossoming in respective months, and specific birds, insects and animals ascribed to them. This is why these pictures always carried a symbolic or symbolic-religious message. Woodblock prints with landscapes and ‘flower and bird’ motifs are some of the most valuable and beautiful works of Japanese art in Polish collections. Landscape came to prominence in Japanese art only at the start of the 19th century, as a consequence of a new development observed across all classes of society: travelling around the country. Pilgrimages were undertaken to Buddhist and Shinto temples, as were pleasure trips to popular places known for their delightful sights, such as Edo. Woodblock prints showing famous places were sold as tourist souvenirs, and popular landscape prints would be released several times by various publishers. The genius of the two greatest masters of landscape – Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) and Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858) – not only popularised the genre in Japan but also caused it to exert a tremendous influence on the development of modern European art.