his show was not. Would the exhibition be better attended were the art made more accessible? I would like to think so.
What I dream of, but hardly ever find, are inexpensive exhibition catalogues with interpretative essays for the general reader. For The Tale of Genji, however, we have a massive, gorgeous, and, needless to say, expensive presentation with essays by seven specialists talking among themselves. For me, the most instructive section was the short appendix by Akazawa Mari discussing the Japanese residential architecture depicted in these images. A lost opportunity, for sure.
Note: My earlier related review is “The Millenium of The Tale of Genji, The Museum of Kyoto,” ArtUS, 24/24 (Fall-Winter, 2008): 17.
The Tale of Genji. A Japanese Classic Illuminated continues at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (1000 5th Ave, Upper East Side, Manhattan) through June 16.
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Visually spell-binding exhibition even if I can’t read or understand Japanese. I find that the content of art is the ungraspable, inherent “art” itself, rather than “story”. It connects and communicates to us as humans.
And yes desire for context comes from the transporting power of the art. It made me wish to revisit the novel, or at least parts of it.
Excellent post! I particularly endorse the point about the growing intellectual disparity between the big museums’ blockbuster shows, which bust ever bigger blocks, while exhibitions about lesser known, historical subjects abandon the lay visitor, who may req