The Audacious Eye: Japanese Art from the Clark Collections

The Audacious Eye: Japanese Art from the Clark Collections

October 6, 2013 - January 12, 2014
Target Galleries (admission charged)
Ticketed Exhibition

Suzuki Kiitsu, 1796–1858
Detail of Mt. Fuji from Miho-no-matsubara, early 19th century
Ink and color on silk
The John R. Van Derlip Fund; purchase from the collection of Elizabeth and Willard Clark 2013.31.29

Shibata Zeshin, 1807–1891 The Four Elegant Pastimes, late 19th century Ink and color on gold leaf The John R. Van Derlip Fund; purchase from the collection of Elizabeth and Willard Clark 2013.31.47.1-2

Shibata Zeshin, 1807–1891
Detail of The Four Elegant Pastimes, late 19th century
Ink and color on gold leaf
The John R. Van Derlip Fund; purchase from the collection of Elizabeth and Willard Clark 2013.31.47.1-2

Suzuki Kiitsu, 1796–1858 Moon and Waves, early 19th century Ink and color on silk Gift of Elizabeth and Willard Clark 2013.30.13

Suzuki Kiitsu, 1796–1858
Detail of Moon and Waves, early 19th century
Ink and color on silk
Gift of Elizabeth and Willard Clark 2013.30.13

Tsuji Kakō, 1870–1931 Detail of Daruma, 1917 Ink and color on paper Gift from The Clark Center for Japanese Arts & Culture 2013.29.1134

Tsuji Kakō, 1870–1931
Detail of Daruma, 1917
Ink and color on paper
Gift from The Clark Center for Japanese Arts & Culture 2013.29.1134

The Audacious Eye presents more than 100 highlights of the legendary Clark Collections of Japanese art, recently acquired by the MIA. This is the first time that such a broad range of the works has ever been shown.

In 1995, Bill and Libby Clark founded the non-profit Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture near their home in the remote, agricultural heart of the central California valley, 45 miles south of Fresno. They had prodigiously collected Japanese art since 1978, and the collection had become internationally renowned. The Clark Center, dedicated to collecting, conserving, studying, and exhibiting the arts of Japan, made the collection accessible to anyone who ventured out. Many have, including scholars from around the world who have come to study individual works.

Bill Clark has described himself as an “unrestrained, undisciplined, crazy collector.” In his pursuit of intriguing objects—what catches his audacious eye—he has disregarded market trends and any specific medium, time period, artist, or motif. The 1,700 works of art amassed in the Clarks’ personal collection and through donations to the Clark Center range across 1,200 years of Japanese art, from the eighth century to the present day. From paintings to woodblock prints, ceramics to textiles, wood sculptures to works of bamboo and lacquer, the collections—and this exhibition—offer unusually rich and personal insights into the nature of connoisseurship and the breadth of Japanese art.

This exhibition is organized by the Minneapolis Institute of Art.  To reserve tickets, please call 612-870-3000 or reserve tickets online.

Major Sponsor:

Generous support provided by: CHRISTIESLOGOTYPEBLACK-small