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13/4/2009

MEIJI

MAK Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art, Wien

curated by Johannes Wieninger

The beginnings of the Japanese collection 140 years ago and, contemporaneously, the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Austria provide the starting point and the occasion for the exhibition “MEJI. Japan around 1900” shown at the MAK Collection Asia. The exhibition presents a selection of 90 ceramic, bronze, lacquerwork, and porcelain objects created between 1870 and 1912, but also purchased for or donated to the then Museum of Art and Industry (today’s MAK) in that same period. Particularly illuminative is the comparison between ‘official’ objects donated by Japanese state institutions and others that came to the museum through private donations.

From 1869 to 1871, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy had sent out the “Imperial and Royal East Asian Expedition” to China, Siam, and Japan to set up diplomatic relations between these countries and Austria. Arthur von Scala, an expert of the then Museum of Art and Industry, took part in the expedition on which the first Japanese items were acquired for the museum—of which only very few are still extant in the MAK collection. Under the governmental motto of “Meiji” (Enlightened Rule), the only 16-yearold Tenno (Emperor) Mutsuhito (1852–1912) took over government in 1868, leading Japan from a feudal system into a constitutional monarchy after the Western model.

This induced fundamental economic and social changes as well as an intensification of international relations in several respects: the Meiji Tenno transferred the imperial capital city from Kyoto to Edo which was renamed into Tokyo in 1868, transformed the Samurai system into a regular army system, and made the country follow Western ideals.

The 1873 Vienna World’s Fair where Japan first presented itself to Europe as a nation with a broad range of products, offered a variety of interesting art and crafts pieces, many of which were later donated by the Japanese government to several European museums, including today’s MAK. Prior to the World’s Fair, Japan had made an effort to manufacture products to the European taste, though with little success. So the decision was made that the country should present itself in Vienna with products based on its own tradition. One highlight of the show is a fan-shaped lacquerwork piece by Ikeda Taishin (1829–1903), which, in 1873, was appreciated with enthusiasm in Vienna. As for centuries before people were impressed by the delicacy and diversity of materials—above all, by the gold sprinkling (maki-e) on dark lacquer. One of the most eminent Japanese porcelain painting artists featured in the show is Kawamoto Masukichi (1831–1907) from Seto. He created a porcelain painting of Mount Fuji. On the one hand, he thus continued the great tradition of Fuji pictures in the manner of Katsushika Hokusai; on the other, the painting shows that it was possible to continue an independent tradition while not rejecting Western influences altogether. After the end of the World’s Fair, the porcelain painting was presented to the Museum of Art and Industry as a gift from the Japanese government.

Another donation made to today’s MAK by the Japanese government after the Vienna World’s Fair of 1873 is a large state vase with reliefs showing scenes from Japanese history (today a companion piece is in the Tokyo National Museum). A comparison of this stately bronze piece with two vases purchased by the museum at the 1901 Glasgow International Exhibition makes a development of the language of forms discernible in the course of the Meiji era: a more generous line in form and decoration was more to the European taste. Pieces like these became key works of Japonism.

Following the World’s Fair, the “Oriental Museum” was founded in 1874, its main mission being the advancement of trade relations between Asian countries and the Austrian monarchy. Its collection was complemented 1892 with substantial donations by Heinrich Siebold and Hermann Mandl, which also included, aside from historically significant items, contemporary lacquerwork, ceramics, and bronzes; 1907, the holdings were taken over by the Museum of Art and Industry. Many of the works exhibited in the show were previously presented in international exhibitions, while others, mostly donations from travelers to Japan, are show for the first time here. These sometimes strange-looking objects attest to the taste of the epoch and to a frequently very personal interest in the then far-away country.

MAK Press Office
Monika Meryn
Olivia Harrer
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Press Preview Tuesday, April 14, 2009, 10:30 a.m.
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