MINGEI MOMENT

MONTGOMERY COLLECTION EXPLORES EXPANSE OF JAPAN’S ART OF THE PEOPLE AT THE CROW MUSEUM OF ASIAN ART.

BY NANCY COHEN ISRAEL PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHADWICK REDMON

“I’ve always thought of being a keeper of culture,” muses Jeffrey Montgomery. From his first trip to Japan, at the age of 18, he says he “started gathering” objects. Now in his 80s, British-born, Swiss-based Montgomery has amassed the largest and arguably most important collection of Japanese mingei, or folk art, outside of Japan.

Japan, Form & Function: The Montgomery Collection is culled from his trove of nearly 1,200 objects. It is on loan to the Crow Museum of Asian Art of the University of Texas at Dallas, where it will remain on view in the Dallas Arts District galleries for one year. “This exhibition is the first of its kind to take over the entire museum,” says Caroline Kim, the Crow Museum’s director of development. Its seeds were planted decades ago, when the museum first borrowed work from Montgomery for the 1996 Sun and Star celebration.

Devoting an exhibition exclusively to this now substantially larger collection fulfills a long-held vision. According to Amy Lewis Hofland, senior director of the Crow Museum, “This project is a ripple created in the 1990s by the late Neill H. McFarland and the late Richard Freling, among others, who wished and dreamed for deep engagement and understanding between the United States and Japan.”

Spanning 5,000 years, the Montgomery Collection offers myriad scholarship opportunities, aligning it with the museum’s educational mission. Hofland says that this fall, for example, the museum will work with campus partners to host an international symposium. Additionally, the university will offer courses designed around the collection.

Luigi Zeni, the exhibition’s Lugano-based curator, has spent considerable time researching the collection as part of his own academic pursuits in Japanese studies and East Asian art history. His thorough knowledge of it was useful as he winnowed the collection down to the exhibition’s nearly 250 objects. Using a novel approach, Zeni says, “I proposed a new concept for the exhibition, to explore Japan from south to north. It is a discovery of the art of the people— that is, folk art. It was more important to show the regions of the country rather than present it chronologically.”

The exhibition therefore begins at the southern tip of the islands, during the Ryūkyū Kingdom. It introduces the collection’s range of media, including ceramics, textiles, metalware, wood, paper, painting, and lacquerware.

Another layer of the exhibition is the influence of other parts of Asia, and even the West, on the art of Japan. In this first gallery, for example, a set of ten lacquerware dishes featuring landscapes, florals, and birds reflect Chinese influences. A gallery highlighting Kyushu ceramics explores the inspiration of Japan’s neighbors, including Thailand and Korea. One uniquely recurring Japanese motif, however, is the pine tree, revered as a symbol of longevity.

Sake bottle (tokkuri ) with chrysanthemum and ivy leaves. Edo period, 18th century. Kyomizu ware, Kyoto prefecture, stoneware with overglaze enamel design. On right from above: Tenjin doll sitting on multiple pedestals, Edo period, 19th century; Izumo, Shimane prefecture, wood, sawdust, glue, gesso and pigments. Courtesy of the collector; Oil-plate (aburazara) with two chrysanthemums, Edo period, 18th–19th centuries, Seto ware, Aichi prefecture, stoneware with green glaze (oribe) and ironoxide designs of two chrysanthemums set in two circles; Storage jar (tsubo), Meiji period, 19th century, Shigaraki ware, Shiga prefecture, glazed stoneware with green trailed glaze decoration (haginagashi ). All courtesy of the collector.

What is usually the museum’s Jade Gallery currently features art of the 20th-century Mingei Movement, which began as an antidote to the onslaught of industrialization in the early years of the last century. According to Zeni, the criteria for Mingei work are that it is anonymous, inexpensive, handmade, and locally produced. Its resurgence led by a group that included Yanagi Sōetsu and the Hong Kong–born Bernard Leach, embraces and celebrates regional craftsmanship. Their work, as well as that of other Mingei-inspired artists, including Minagawa Masu and Kawai Kanjirō, is on view, as is that of Kinjō Jirō, Hamada Shōji, and Shimaoka Tatsuzō. The latter three are Living National Treasures, a designation bestowed by the Japanese government to craftsmen who continue these traditions. Politically, Montgomery notes, the movement coincided with the “revival of identity in Japan by highlighting art of the people as Japan transitioned from democracy to a nationalist regime.”

The movement’s installation is juxtaposed with ancient vessels from the Jōmon period (5000–3520 BCE). This early experimental work provides a historic counterbalance to the 20th-century works.

Zeni’s thoughtful curation creates smaller, manageable microexhibitions. “What Luigi has succeeded in doing is that every room has a different theme,” remarks Montgomery. Zeni and Hofland both hope that this presentation inspires museumgoers to make multiple visits, focusing on a new space each time.

In one area, for example, he has created an intimate space replicating the way in which Montgomery displays the work in his home. A facing wall presents everyday wares. “These objects were made to be used,” Montgomery says. Similarly, the mezzanine is devoted to the Six Ancient Kilns, a 20th-century designation highlighting the most important ceramic centers of Japan. Zeni explains how the color of the earth and natural elements play significant roles in these works.

The transformed upper galleries across the skybridge feature ritual objects for religious as well as in-home use. Many of the latter, dating to the 18th and 19th centuries, were commissioned by members of the merchant classes who, Zeni offers, were quite wealthy despite being on the lowest rung of the social ladder. One corner of this gallery is a playful nod to this Year of the Rabbit.

Two vertical banners depicting the seven Buddhist gods of fortune add drama to the space. Because of their monumental size, this is the first time that they are being exhibited together. Equally impressive are two horizontal banners depicting battle scenes that wrap around the back gallery. The collection also includes an abundance of textiles, garments reflecting an array of weights, materials, and uses.

“Many of the artworks have never been shown before, and many haven’t been researched. Therefore, it is great to have the support of UT Dallas. There is still lots to find out,” explains Zeni. This scholarly quest will be enhanced by the museum’s educational efforts. “We will offer several thematic programs with the Japan-America Society of Dallas/Fort Worth, quarterly lectures by scholars from around the world, as well as Family Days and UT Dallas programs focused on Japanese culture,” says Hofland.

For Montgomery, sharing his collection, particularly in North Texas, with its large Asian community, is especially exciting. For the public the exhibition offers a year of rich exploration and deep discovery. P

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