Collecting Across Cultures: Japanese Textiles in the West

Rotations through April 3, 2022

Decorative Arts Corridor

With gleaming gold thread and bold embroidery, this installation explores Japan’s rich textile traditions as well as the legacy of Western collectors.

Japan’s stylized aesthetic looked fresh and modern to Western eyes at the turn of the twentieth century. Many American collectors—among them architect Frank Lloyd Wright, whose Library from the Little House is on view at the Museum—developed a taste for Japanese art that included textiles. Valued as home decor and exhibited in museums, these textiles were admired for their handcraft and as sources of creative inspiration.

This series of rotations features highlights from the Museum’s Japanese textile holdings, and will continue to introduce new groups of textiles every few months through April 3, 2022.

Featured image, above: Installation view of the current rotation of the exhibition.

Collecting Across Cultures: Japanese Textiles in the West is supported through the generosity of the Audrey and Bernard Berman Family Fund and the Leon C. and June W. Holt Endowment.