Two shows of Japanese art

Some years ago, the building that used to be San Francisco's Main Library was transformed into the Asian Art Museum, to house the collection that had been so cramped at the old De Young. We went to see an exhibit called "Drama and Desire"--two rooms of Japanese paintings from the 18th and 19th century "Floating World," the pleasure quarters of the Shogun's city Edo (Tokyo) where courtesans, geishas, and kabuki theater performers.


Apparently, in the 1880s, a rich doctor from Boston went to Japan where he bought a boatload of paintings. They went straight to the basement of the Fine Arts Museum, which didn't start to catalogue them until fifteen years ago. The colors are so vivid. This is my favorite: the energy of the musicians is palpable.

In one room, there was a parental advisory up because of the display of rolls with paintings of sexual cavorting, somewhat euphemistically called "suggestive pictures." In fact, they are casually explicit. Many of the subjects are kabuki performers, scenes from plays, images of people at the theater. When I get back home, I'll have to see the show at the MIA, the Weber collection of Japanese art.

Dr. John C. Weber, an avid New York collector, is lending more than 100 masterworks acquired during the last decade, when many important and rare objects entered the marketplace. The Weber collection premiered in 2006 at the Museum of East Asian Art, National Museums in Berlin, and was subsequently shown at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. As the exhibition’s final venue, the MIA offers museum-goers one final opportunity to savor these stunning works of art.


With a dazzling display of hanging scrolls, folding screens, sculpture, lacquers, textiles, and ceramics, Arts of Japan encompasses more than 900 years of technical and artistic innovation by Japanese artists. From opulent to quietly sublime, each object is distinguished by its exceptional artistry and breathtaking design.