Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens, an outstanding exhibit of Japanese art objects in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, is currently on exhibit at the museum located in University Circle where the second half of the show will remain until September 16, 2001.  
 
The range and quality of the works of screen art incorporated in the exhibition rewards the careful observer with a wealth of insights into many aspects of both Japanese cultural belief and practice and the larger historical and aesthetic worldview of which that culture forms a fundamental part.  
  
The items in the show are all accompanied by useful and informative captions which can help point out details you might otherwise miss or provide the context needed to make sense of the object described. Scattered around the exhibition space you will also find copies of the exhibition catalog which can supply more detailed information about those screens or related objects that particularly attract your interest. There is also a free pamphlet containing a welath of useful information. 
     
Don't try to take in the entirety of the exhibition in detail on a single visit; instead, after a brief survey of the whole, choose to concentrate on one or, at the most, two of the approaches suggested by the lines of inquiry listed below. Write up and submit the resulting observations to the instructor for evaluation. Your analysis should seek to adequately demonstrate insights derived from viewing and studying specific screens included in the exhibition and should illustrate as well some direct connection to the subject matter of the course.

Room Two in the exhibition is devoted to "A Gathering of One Artist's Work: Matsumura Goshun (1752 - 1811)". Working in a variety of forms, Matsumura demonstrates a number of characteristics common to traditional Japanese artists; close observation of the works on display here will provide insights into the nature of the Japanese aesthetic. For example, note the sources of inspiration for many of the themes central to Matsumura's work -- what do they illustrate about Japan's cultural relationship with its continental neighbors? And note, too, the interplay between text and visual image -- what does that tell us about the Japanese aesthetic tradition? Look closely at the brushwork common to both text (and its importance as "calligraphy". the art of fine writing) and image -- what insights into the relationship between word and picture does this suggest?
  
The overall point of this exercise in to encourage you to use this unique opportunity to view directly and experience first hand some of the most important Japanese art treasures owned by the Cleveland Museum of Art as a means to better understand and appreciate both aspects of Japanese cultural life and the ways in which material objects can illuminate the historical record of a nation's past. 
  

POINTS TO PONDER

• In what ways does this exhibit illustrate the fundamental visual orientation of Japanese culture in general? What does the quality of craftsmanship illustrated in the displayed objects tell us about the level of cultural development and specialization present at the time of the screen's creation? What does the range of materials used illustrate about the nature of the Japanese aesthetic tradition and the role of the artisan therein? What can we tell from the range of forms and types of artistic approaches found in the exhibit about the role and place of aesthetics in everyday Japanese life? 

  
• In what ways does this exhibit of screen paintings help account for the role of art first among the aristocratic elite of the late Familial and early Aristocratic periods of Japanese history and later among the masses of the Japanese people in general? How does the exhibit illuminate the social and political (as well as religious) consequences of art's influence on Japanese life?

  
• What evidence of the adaptation process at work can be demonstrated by reference to the screens in the exhibit? What do these works of art tell us about the interactions between China, Korea and Japan over the centuries?

  
• In what fundamental ways do the Japanese appear to interact with the divine and the natural world around them as illustrated in these screens? Is the appeal simply aesthetic or does it appear to point to sincere religious devotion? Are these objects of material possession indicating wealth and status or are they representative of religious faith and a concern with art's ultimate role in life?