The Written Image: Japanese Calligraphy and Painting from the Sylvan Barnet and William Burto Collection

Murase, Miyeko, with contributions by Sylvan Barnet, William Burto, Karen L. Brock, Sondra Castile, Maxwell K. Hearn, Tadayuki Kasashima, Denise Patry Leidy, Masako Watanabe, and Yūji Yamashita (2002)

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Description

Calligraphy is often regarded as the purest manifestation of an artist's inner character and level of cultivation, as well as the expression of his soul, thoughts, and feelings. This publication presents some fifty-eight Japanese works, almost all calligraphy, from the remarkable collection formed over the last forty years by Sylvan Barnet and William Burto, literary scholars who became enraptured by the Japanese art of the brush. Their holdings, virtually unique outside Japan, not only embody a fundamental aspect of Japanese culture but also testify to the growing sophistication of Americans' engagement with other cultures. Spanning more than a thousand years from the Nara period (710–784) through the nineteenth century, the material includes sublime early sutras, or transcriptions of the Buddha's discourses; an extraordinary mandala that is perhaps the finest example of its kind in the West; seminal works by such renowned figures as Myoe, Koetsu, Muso, Konoe, and Daishin; engaging letters and poems that illuminate courtly life; and powerful graphic statements by Zen monk-artists.

In their "Collectors' Foreword" Sylvan Barnet and William Burto discuss the history of their collection. Their second essay, "Some Western Thoughts on Shodō: The Way of Writing," is directed to the non-Japanese reader and is an illuminating commentary on the ways in which Japanese calligraphy can be appreciated. Miyeko Murase's introduction provides a rich commentary on the Japanese calligraphic scripts and scribes and an insightful overview of the society and world in which this art flourished. All of the works are discussed in texts by leading experts. Mountings of Japanese calligraphy are treated in an appendix.

Table of contents

Director's Foreword
Contributors
Chronology
Essays

Collectors' Foreword
Sylvan Barnet and William Burto

An Introduction to Japanese Calligraphy in the Barnet and Burto Collection
Miyeko Murase

Some Western Thoughts on Shodō: The Way of Writing
Sylvan Barnet and William Burto

Catalogue

Sacred Texts

Sacred Images

Writings in Kana Script; Correspondence

Writings of Zen Monks

Eccentric Masters

Appendix

Mountings for Japanese Calligraphy and Paintings
Sondra Castile

Bibliography

Index

About the authors

Miyeko Murase is Special Consultant for Japanese Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Maxwell K. Hearn is Curator of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Denise Patry Leidy is Associate Curator of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Masako Watanabe is Senior Research Associate in Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Sondra Castile is Conservator of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Karen L. Brock is an independent scholar.

Tadayuki Kasashima is Curator at the Idemitsu Museum, Tokyo.

Yūji Yamashita is Professor at the Meiji Gakuin University, Tokyo.

Sylvan Barnet and William Burto live in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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William Burto

Sondra Castile

Maxwell K. Hearn

Tadayuki Kasashima

Denise Patry Leidy

Miyeko Murase

Masako Watanabe

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Exhibition

The Written Image: Japanese Calligraphy and Painting from the Sylvan Barnet and William Burto Collection

A remarkable collection of Japanese calligraphy and painting assembled by two American collectors over the past forty years is the subject of this exhibition. Featuring sixty works, the exhibition traces the evolution of Japanese calligraphy from the Nara (710–784) through the Edo (1615–1868) period, including examples of both Chinese kanji script and Japanese kana script. These expressive calligraphic masterworks, including Buddhist holy texts, Zen aphorisms, secular poems, and intimate personal letters, embody diverse expressive goals as well as convey something of the writers' cultivation and character. The works from the Barnet and Burto Collection—among which are a notable gift and promised gifts to the Metropolitan Museum—are complemented by a selection of Japanese paintings and calligraphy from the Museum's holdings.

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