NEW YORK, NY.- Asia Society will now be presenting Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan. This exhibition reevaluates a seminal era of turmoil, creativity, and transformation in Japan spanning the mid-nineteenth to early-twentieth centuries.

Comprising over 80 works—including paintings, prints, photographs, sculptural works, and objects in various media, such as enamel, lacquer, embroidery, and textiles—this exhibition presents some of the finest examples of Meiji-period artworks in American collections, both public and private. Arranged around traditional Japanese motifs, such as the sea and nature, Buddhist deities, beauties, and mythical animals, Meiji Modern highlights these themes as they are transformed by the introduction of newly imported techniques, materials, and objects, surprising the viewer with works of technical virtuosity, unexpected scale, and sheer beauty.

Asia Society presents a fresh look at the art of Japan’s Meiji era (1868-1912), a period of unprecedented cultural and technological transition, in the landmark exhibition Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan. During these four remarkable decades, the country experienced radical social and political shifts, which propelled the once inward-facing society into a new modern, global era. Following two centuries of limited international trade, new connections with foreign cultures inspired dynamic new forms of artistic expression.

The profound cross-cultural impact of the country’s developing relationships with the wider world is evident in over 80 extraordinary objects comprising Meiji Modern. Paintings, prints, photographs, sculpture, and fine examples of enamel, lacquer, embroidery, and textiles—evidence a blending of cultures and techniques and the innovative interchange of old and new. Uniquely, the exhibition features a diverse selection of both export wares and items made for display in Japan, reflecting the diversity of tastes and aesthetic discourse in the Meiji period. The exhibition is organized by the Japanese Art Society of America.

Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan is co-curated by Bradley Bailey, Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Curator of Asian Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and Chelsea Foxwell, Associate Professor of Art History, University of Chicago.

This exhibition is organized by the Japanese Art Society of America in celebration of its 50th Anniversary, with funds generously provided by The E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation; The Mary Griggs Burke Center for Japanese Art, Columbia University; The Japan Foundation; Shiseido Americas Corporation; Bonhams, Japanese Art, New York; and Japanese Art Society of America (JASA) members.

Asia Society Museum Presents
Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan
October 3rd, 2023 - January 7th, 2024