I was surprised to see that there is very little in this section about the Pavilion for Japanese Art at LACMA. This portion of the museum is somewhat isolated from the main exhibits. It occupies its own little corner just east of the Hammer Building (where you can view LACMA's collection of Korean Art).
Some of my favorite pieces in the Japanese Pavilion are the paintings on scrolls. A few weeks ago, I visited as was able to see a series of paintings--mainly of nature--from the 19th century. Among my favorites was Deer an an Autumn Landscape. The muted pallet of this particular work is lovely to look at, with very faint pint flowers adding subtle bursts of color. I also appreciated the composition, as the images was balanced beautifully on the canvas, despite the fact that the subject matter does not appear perfectly in the center of the scroll. Finally, Mori's craft is on display in his ability to create the appearance of soft fur on the backs of his deer. This was just one of many scrolls that exhibit a sort of austere beauty.
I highly encourage you to check out the Japanese paintings at LACMA.
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Pavilion for Japanese Art At LACMA
01/05/2015 06:28 AM
#1
Pavilion for Japanese Art At LACMA
I love the Japanese Pavilion. I took my AP World History kids here last year. It's a great place to go on a field trip. The docents are fantastic and there's a 1 hour art portion, where students create bamboo ink painting, known as sumi-e painting.
gsharpe-- how big of a group did you take to the museum and how long were you there? I'm never able to take my kids on field trips, but I would love to be able to swing a trip to LACMA. Also, did you feel that the art project was appropriate for high school students?
I took 50 students, who I split up into 3 groups upon arrival. The museum is free, we just had to raise money for the buses. The art project was appropriate, but really on the border. Any older than 10th grade, may be stretching it.
Good to know! Thank you!
I also like the paintings but polarize towards the pottery/sculpture and samurai armor. I usually start at the very bottom and spiral to the very top and move on to the pottery displays. In the West Wing of the pavilion across from the art exhibit I was amazed that since the kimonos had no pockets, people would use netsuke both toggle and counterweight to help suspend hanging purses or boxes from the sash of a man's kimono. The detail involved in making these crafts left almost nothing to the imagination. Yet, it such a society where conformity was expected, these items allow for some individualism.
Good information, thanks! I need to expand my knowledge on the arts so I can take it back to my classroom and incorporate it in my teaching.
This is an amazing opportunity. I will definitely add this to my list of upcoming places that I need to visit.
My favorite part of the museum is the display of netsuke, little miniature figurines that Japanese men used to attach little containers to their obis. There are well over 100 of these little statues on display, and they are so much fun to look at. They come in all shapes and sizes, from cats to dragons, and my personal favorite, the octopi.
The kimonos displayed are beautiful. The detailed embroidery makes me appreciate the simplistic design of the robe. I too am drawn to the swords on display and the craftsmanship in creating a sword shown on the video.