Intending to build the World of True Civilization, Master Jinsai collected many masterpieces of work during His life, which are part of collection of Museum of Art today.
The collection of the MOA Museum of Art is composed of paintings, calligraphy, sculpture, and other fine art from the Far East, with an emphasis on the art of China and Japan. Among the 3,000-odd works in the museum's collection, a number have been officially recognized by the government of Japan as being especially noteworthy. Three works have been classified as National Treasures, fifty-three as Important Cultural Properties, and forty-seven as Important Art Objects. Many of these works are indispensable to the historical study of their media, for example, the Red and White Plum Blossoms screens, a National Treasure by Ogata Korin; the tea-storage jar with a design of wisteria, a National Treasure by Nonomura Ninsei; the antology of calligraphy fragments Kambokujo, a National Treasure; Lady Under a Tree, an Important Cultural Property from T'ang-dinasty China; the hanging scroll Kuei-yün (Cloud-capped Tower), an Important Cultural Property from Southern Sung-dynasty China by the Zen priest Wu-chun; a gilt-bronze statue of Kannon (Avalokiteshvara), an Important Cultural Property from Sui-dynasty China; and the writting box with a design of a woodcutter, an Important Cultural Property by Hon'ami Koetsu.
There is great depht to the works in each medium, and it is worth nothing that most items in the museum's collection are quite well preserved. In the field of painting the collection includes such works as the portraits of famous poets dating from the Kamakura period (1185 - 1392), monochrome ink paintings from the Muromachi period (1392 - 1573), screens from the Momoyama and Edo periods (1573 - 1868), and Chinese masterpieces from the Sung through the Yüan dynasty (960 - 1368). Examples of calligraphy range from fragments to complete copies of Chinese-and Japanese-language works composed by well-known Chinese Zen priests and Japanese writers. The extensive range of ceramics includes celadons, enamel-ware, and tea bowls.
Esoteric Buddhist paintings of the Heian period (794 - 1185) once owned by the Kyoto temple Kyoogokoku-ji, many kinds of lacquerware, and metalwork are also included in the collection, together with illustrated scrolls, such as the Tale of Yamanaka Tokiwae, which contains a self-portrait of its author, Iwasa Katsumochi. There are also a number of original genre paintings by ukiyo-e masters of the Momoyama and Edo periods. A coherent collection of Chinese ceramics makes it possible to trace the history of this medium from China's prehistory through the Ch'ing dynasty. As a whole, the museum's collection is invaluable both for research and for providing unparalleled aesthetic appeal.
DEEP PLATE WITH PEACH MOTIF IN POLYCHROME OVERGLAZE
Nabeshima ware Seventeenth century, Edo Period Diameter, 31.5 cm. Nabeshima ware, unmatched in Japan for its delicacy, was produced with official support at Okochi in the Nabeshima fief (modern-day Saga Prefecture, Kyushu). This plate has long been famous as one of the larger surviving pieces of Nabeshima ware. A very deep plate with a high […]
Read moreRAINY EVENING ON THE HSIAO AND THE HSIANG
Taikan Yokoyama 1948, Japan Height 64.7 cm, width 92.2 cm Taikan Yokoyama (1868 – 1958) was born at the beginning of Japan’s modern period of westernization. He studies under Kakuzo (or Tenshin) Okakura, one of the leaders of Japan’s art world, and worked to create a new style of purely Japanese painting. This painting was […]
Read moreFRAGMENT FROM THE ILLUSTRATED SUTRA OF CAUSE AND EFFECT
Nara period (645 – 794), Japan Dim.: 26.7 X 154.5 cm. The Sutra of Cause and Effect was translated into Chinese in four fascicles by the fifth-century Indian monk Gunabhadra. A biography of Shakyamuni, it describes both his former lives and his existence as the historical Buddha. In the eight-fascicle illustrated version of this sutra, […]
Read moreSNOW, MOON AND FLOWER
Sakai Hoitsu (1761 – 1828) Edo Period (1615 – 1867) Height 91.4 cm, width 35.1 cm Sakai Hoitsu was the sun of the feudal lord of Himeji Castle, and in this fortunate environment he was able to study art from his childhood. He especially admired workd of Korin and became a painter, a poet, and […]
Read moreLADY UNDER A TREE
T’ang Dynasty (618 – 907) Colors on paper Height 139.1 cm, width 53.3 cm Important Cultural Property Lady Under a Tree, one of the well-known masterpieces in the collection Master Jinsai built, was among the works in danger of being sold abroad. In the summer of 1952, before it had been designated an Important Cultural […]
Read moreRED AND WHITE PLUM BLOSSOMS
Ogata Kōrin, circa 1710, Edo Period Pair of twofold screens, colors on silver and gold leaf over paper Each screen: height 156.0 cm, width 172.2 cm. National Treasure The work of Ogata Korin (1658 – 1716) was influenced by that of Tawaraya Sotatsu (fl. early seventeenth century). Korin’s original style is embodied in the composition […]
Read moreTHE WISTERIA JAR
Tea-storage jar with an overglaze enamel design of wisteria, by Nonomura Ninsei Seventeenth century, Edo Period. Height, 28.8 cm National Treasure This tea-storage jar with four lugs is probably the best work of Nonomura Ninsei (ca. 1574 – 1660). The vessel – known popularly as Fujitsubo, or Wisteria Jar – was made by Nonomura Ninsei, […]
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