The Orient Expressed: Japan's Influence on Western Art, 1854- 1918

From February 19 throughout July 17, 2011, the Mississipi Museum of Art will present the exhibition "The Orient Expressed: Japan’s Influence on Western Art, 1854-1918", the eleventh in The Annie Laurie Swaim Hearin Memorial Exhibition Series.

Comprising more than 200, The Orient Expressed will show works of art from the 19th and early 20th centuries, lent by some of the most prestigious collections, including: Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgium; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California; Honolulu Academy of Arts, Hawaii; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York; New Orleans Museum of Art, Louisiana; Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, Laurel, Mississippi; and the Mississippi Museum of Art’s own collection.

The exhibition will instruct visitors upon the cultural phenomenon known as Japonisme, first identified by French art critic Philippe Burty in 1872, and its influence up to our days in visual and decorative arts, architecture, fashion, graphic design, literature, music and theater.

Through decorative arts, graphic design, paintings, printmaking, and other media, the public will have the opportunity to aknowledge the impact of Japan on the West prior to World War I. In addition to the exemplary Western objects that will be showcased in The Orient Expressed, a select group of works from the Japanese art tradition will be incorporated to clarify specific influences. Dan Piersol, the Mississippi Museum of Art’s Deputy Director for Programs, states, “All of these aspects will elucidate the impact of Japonisme, and how it hastened the development of art nouveau and symbolism during the 1890s, and the advent of modernism.”

Visitors will be able to appreciate the works from noted artists and manufacturers such as Robert Frederick Blum, Pierre Bonnard, Félix Buhot, Felix Bracquemond, Mary Cassatt, William Merritt Chase, Charles Caryl Coleman, James Sidney Ensor, Paul Gauguin, Gorham Manufacturing Company, Childe Hassam, Utagawa Hiroshige, Helen Hyde, Georges Lacombe, John La Farge, Bertha Boynton Lum, Minton and Company, Charles Sprague Pearce, Rookwood Pottery, Henry Somm, James McNeill Whistler, Alfred Stevens, Theodore Wores, Tiffany & Co., and many more.

Found within the exhibition itself, two Family Corners and a Closer Look Gallery will offer educational components related to The Orient Expressed, and will include interactive areas, art activities, and reading materials to engage visitors with the works of art on display.

A host of special events, educational programs, and other activities with a Japanese influence will also help to enhance the visitor's experience.

With the participation of guest curator and scholar Gabriel P. Weisberg, "The Orient Expressed: Japan’s Influence on Western Art, 1854-1918" is expected to expect to host more visitors than any other exhibition the Museum has had previously, according to Mississippi Museum of Art Director Betsy Bradley.

Following its presentation in Jackson, The Orient Expressed will be on view at the McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas, from October 5, 2011 through January 15, 2012.