 |  In the evocative Clover, Tateishi Harumi captures the bittersweet mood of Japanese society in its transition between the expansive, optimistic 1920s
and the increasingly militaristic, authoritarian 1930s. |  | Discover a treasury of Asian art
Among the finest in the Western world, the MFA's collection of Asian art covers the creative achievement of more than half the world's population since 4,000 BC. The collection encompasses Japanese, Chinese, and Indian painting and sculpture; Japanese prints and metalwork; Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese ceramics; the arts of the Islamic world; and a rapidly growing selection of Oceanic and African art. |
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Highlights
African Art
Japanese Prints
Oceanic Art |
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Making The Collection Searchable Online
The Department of Art of Asia, Oceania, and Africa is working on a series of surveys of the Asian holdings, each of them intended to enhance remote access via this site. Most of the 2,250 items from the first two phases of a survey of our Japanese paintings, sculpture, textiles, masks, and Buddhist arts, funded by the Kajima Foundation, are available online, and work has begun on the third and final phase. Some 1,000 digitized images of Japanese prints are produced every month, and we are preparing to upload new photographs of the entire Morse collection of Japanese pottery (over 5,000 pieces). More than 3,500 examples of Japanese metalwork and lacquer, and over 20,000 Japanese postcards from the Leonard A. Lauder collection (nearly 9,000 of them with full cataloguing), can already be viewed on this site.
We're also updating the records for our small but outstanding collection of Korean art, using the results of a recent research project carried out in collaboration with the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage in Korea. At the same time, we’re improving the documentation of our finest Chinese masterpieces, preparing a catalog of Vietnamese ceramics, and making preparations for an online presentation of our more than 1,700 Indian paintings. Subject to the outcome of recent funding applications, these projects will result in enhanced digital photography as well as accurate and updated information about each work. |
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Friends of African and Oceanic Art
Join the Friends of African and Oceanic Art to support and learn more about the Art of Asia, Oceania + Africa department at the MFA. |
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