Japan. Picturing Place

Current exhibit at Princeton University's Art Museum, this is three rooms of paintings, prints, screens, scrolls and photography. The theme is recording place, in terms of time, symbols, people, literature, even disasters. You don't need to know the background, though, just go and let it have an impact on you.

Some pieces dating back to the sixteenth century, the compositions are stunningly spare and modern. If you're local, worth going to. It's there for a couple more weeks.

This screen is enormous, room sized, remember to look at it right to left, Japanese style.

 This image was on the cover of the brochure, a  good humored portrait of the artist at work indoors, imagining the scenery

 Look at the spare lines of the work on the left

This, I was sure, was late 19th century, until I saw the date, centuries earlier, so modern in concept

Here's a New year work, with good omens for the year-- Mt Fuji, hawk feathers and eggplant.

 This is an anonymous work depicting people from many eras, existing in space together

There are several Hokusai prints, too, like visiting old friends.

And the exhibit comes with a beautiful brochure, from which I got these images. Not okay to snap pictures of the works themselves, exhibited in low light to protect them, so I limited myself to these.

So good to be near a great museum that's human in scale. I was a bit wobbly today what with the cold wind blowing me all over, and  a fair walk from the nearest parking, so my visit was short but still worth it.