They represent only part of the full exhibition, which consists of 68 objects and groups. Because of the limited space, Fischer will change the installation to include the other 26 objects about midway through the show's run.
The evolution of Japanese craft art from 1875 to the present might seem like an arcane subject, but historically it's a revealing one. It was during this period that Japan, previously isolated by choice from Western culture, rocketed into the modern era in all phases of national life, including art.
This exhibition, however, looks and feels resolutely Japanese. Even when absorbing avant-garde styles, the Japanese never surrendered to them. Perhaps the most obvious synthesis of traditional values and European modernism is a sleek silver flower container in the form of a section of bamboo by a silversmith known by his studio name of Choshusai. This piece combines East and West in equal measure.
The objects that make up the exhibition reflect the taste of California collector Frederick R. McBrien III, who acquired them over the last 12 years. He already has given about 20 percent of them to the museum; the remainder are promised gifts. Because of this donation, the Art Museum now owns the most extensive collection of 20th-century Japanese craft in America.
A California native, McBrien first visited the Art Museum as a child during summer visits to a family farm in Reading. In the mid-'70s, while a student at the University of Pennsylvania, he worked at Marian Locks Gallery.
On one visit to the museum several years ago, he admired three pieces of metalwork from the mid-20th century. These were acquired in the early 1990s, when the museum began to fill a 20th-century gap in its Japanese holdings.
