On June 1, 2019, the Department of Asian Art hosted a day-long symposium with speakers from Japan, China, Great Britain and the U.S. as well as a workshop that addressed issues of training and education.
Over 120 professionals and students attended the symposium, which introduced recent trends in training practices in Japan, issues of historical mountings in Korean paintings, challenges of conserving modern and contemporary art in China, art historical findings gleaned from conservation and scientific analysis of an important early Buddhist painting in Japan, and recent advances in the study of Edo and Meiji period colorants in Japanese paintings and prints.
The workshop, attended by conservation specialists from more than two dozen institutions, resulted in a new initiative to create an online forum for conservators to stay connected and share ideas. One of an ongoing series of East Asian paintings conservation workshops held in past years at the MFA Boston and the Cleveland Museum of Art, this year’s gathering—the largest to date—was planned and implemented by Jennifer Perry, the James and Mary Wallach Conservator for Japanese Painting at The Met and organized with the assistance of Tegan Miller, Assistant Manager of Friends Group. It was funded by the Department of Asian Art and by a generous contribution from John C. Weber.
Presentations and Speakers
- Behind the Scenes: Art History, Conservation, and the Death of the Buddha, Yukio Lippit, Professor of History of Art and Architecture, Harvard University
- Conservation and Curatorial Conversations: Case Studies of Korean Painting Conservation at LACMA and the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Hyonjeong Kim Han, Associate Curator of Korean Art, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
- Recent Findings on the Materials and Techniques of Edo and Meiji Period Paintings and Prints, Marco Leona, David H. Koch Scientist in Charge, Department of Scientific Research, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
This is part two of a two-part symposium. Watch the first session.
This symposium is made possible in part by John C. Weber.