The exhibition includes approximately 145 works chronicling the remarkable influence of the fairs on the course of Japanese art during the Meiji period (1868-1912).
 
Los Angeles—The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, LACMA, opens a pioneering exhibition featuring 19th-century Japanese art created during the era of the great world's fairs and international expositions. Japan Goes to the World's Fairs: Japanese Art at the Great Expositions in Europe and the United States, 1867-1904, on view from May 26 through October 10, 2005, only at LACMA, will showcase works displayed at many of the most famous gatherings, including the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia (1876), the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago (1893), and the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis (1904). The world's fairs became important showcases for the fine arts, architecture, newly discovered technologies, and design, and were great opportunities for Japan to introduce its artistic vision to the Western world.

When most people think about the great fairs, they envision displays celebrating systematized knowledge and new inventions. Many, however, don't realize that they included significant installations of art and culture as well, said LACMA Chief Curator of Asian Art, J. Keith Wilson. The fairs allowed millions of visitors to discover all the wondrous things of the world.

The Exhibition
Japan Goes to the World's Fairs: Japanese Art at the Great Expositions in Europe and the United States, 1867-1904 includes approximately 145 works chronicling the remarkable influence of the fairs on the course of Japanese art during the Meiji period (1868-1912) when Japan was reforming itself under strong Western influence. During this time, Japan participated in 19 international events and organized five domestic fairs, an average of almost one major undertaking every year. Representing the creative interests of the period, the show is particularly rich in the craft media of ceramics, lacquers, metalwork, and textiles.

The exhibition is presented in sections that examine Japan's representation in the early fairs from 1867 through 1880; works created for the series of domestic fairs in Japan (1877-1903); and Japan's remarkable representation in Chicago (1893) and St. Louis (1904). An underlying theme throughout the show is the impact these events had on increasing Western understanding and interest in collecting Japanese art.

Japan's official introduction to the fairs began at the Weltausstellung in 1873 in Vienna, where the practice of dividing displays into two categories–fine arts and industrial arts–at two separate venues began. Many of the pieces sent to Vienna and the other early fairs in Philadelphia (1876) and Paris (1878) suggest that Japanese artisans, aiming for the preferable fine arts venue, believed that scale and elaboration provided the surest route to success. This can be witnessed in bronzes like the Pair of Large Vases with Yorimitsu Climbing Mt. Oe and Incense Burner with Chinese Boys Performing the Lion Dance, both of which are grand in size and enriched with wondrous surface detail.

In an effort to encourage aesthetic development and promote new ideas derived from contact with the West, the Japanese government sponsored a series of five National Industrial Exhibitions beginning in 1877. At this time, a series of wood block-printed volumes, called the Onchi Catalogues, was produced to chronicle outstanding models of Japanese design. Examples include painting-like ceramic, maki-e lacquer, and inlaid metal panels that suggest official efforts to blend fine art and traditional craft, ultimately aiming for placement alongside Western painting as well as commercial success abroad. Other marvels reveal an interest in scientifically-based representational sculpture (Miniature Skull) and Western materials and styles (Footed Oval Bowl with Crabs).

From the Japanese point of view, the most important of all of the international expositions and fairs was the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Japan was able to convince the Chicago organizers to display Japanese craft in the fine arts hall for the first time. The works being showcased at this time–such as a remarkable series of twelve portrait-like life-size hawks created in copper alloys, gold, and silver–demonstrated both the technical and aesthetic achievements of Japanese art in the latter half of the Meiji period.

The exhibition concludes with surviving elements from the Jakuchu Room, a major installation created for The St. Louis Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904. Requiring four years to plan and complete, the room was awarded a gold medal at the Fair.

Approximately 25 light-sensitive works–chiefly lacquers and textiles–will be rotated midway through the exhibition.

Museum Hours: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday noonE pm; Friday noonE pm; Saturday and Sunday 11 amE pm; closed Wednesday.

Cost : Adults $9; students 18+ with ID and senior citizens 62+ $5; children 17 and under are admitted free. Admission (except to specially ticketed exhibitions) is free the second Tuesday of every month, and evenings after 5 pm.

www.lacma.org