TEMPORARY EXHIBITION / Masterpieces of Japanese Art in Polish Collections
18 June – 9 August 2015
Japanese art has for years enjoyed much popularity among the Polish public, even if there have only been a few occasions to actually view Japanese artefacts on display in Poland. This is why the exhibition at the National Museum in Warsaw offers an exceptional opportunity to take a look at the most precious examples of Japanese painting, sculpture and artisanal handicraft from Polish public collections. The display, organized by the Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology and the National Museum in Warsaw, is an attempt to recreate in Warsaw the exhibition that honoured the 25th anniversary of the Museum in Krakow.
Our exhibition encompasses about 300 items. They come from the collections of the National Museum in Warsaw and Krakow which hold the largest collections of Japanese art in Poland. Also exhibited will be Japanese artefacts from the National Museums in Poznań and Wrocław and the Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów, Warsaw, whose collections, while not large, are estimated to be world-class.
The Japanese artefacts from Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology in Krakow were last exposed in Warsaw in 1986 at Zachęta National Gallery of Art. The new exhibition will present more than 100 masterpieces of painting, graphic arts and artisanal handicraft from the collections of the famous art collector Feliks “Manggha” Jasieński. During several years spent in Paris, Jasieński managed to acquire an impressive collection of ancient Japanese art, and further expanded it after his return to Poland in 1888 through purchases in Berlin, Paris, London and remote Japan. In 1920, he donated his huge collection of about 6500 artefacts to the Polish nation. During World War II, Poland lost over 500 precious woodblock prints and several dozens of paintings and handcrafted objects that went into the hands of the occupiers, while the rest was fortunately spared.
Japanese art from the National Museum in Warsaw is represented by about 2500 objects dated from the Edo period (1600–1868) until present day. It is one of the richest collections of this kind in Poland, unfortunately not on permanent display at the Museum. During the last decade, it was shown during extensive temporary exhibitions in Krakow (2006) and Szczecin (2007), and in Warsaw at small-scale displays at the National Museum, at the President’s Gallery and at the Information and Culture Centre of the Japanese Embassy. The present exhibition involves about 50 of the most interesting and precious artefacts from the period of the 17th–20th century representing various art genres, including: scroll painting from Edo and Shōwa periods, wooden Buddhist sculpture from the 17th–20th century and miniature ivory sculptures from the 18th–20th century. The Warsaw collection will also be represented by ukiyo-e and shin-hanga woodblock prints, ceramics, lacquerware and cloisonné enamel objects as well as metalware from the periods of Edo (1600–1868) and Meiji (1868–1912) through the 1960s. We will also display precious porcelain (17th–18th century) and lacquerware from the Museums in Poznań and Warsaw and from the Wilanów Palace in Warsaw.
The richness and diversity of forms, decorations and handcrafting techniques invite us into the extraordinary and brightly-coloured world of Japanese art. There is the sophistication and flamboyance of forms next to noble minimalism, and imperfection caused by passing time next to unequalled mastery of craft – all that united by a flawless sense of beauty.
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