Modern FLLAC collection reaches out to Japan

Gülfem Demiray Assistant Arts Editor

Thanks to Matthew Vassar, Vassar was the first American college founded with a permanent art collection and gallery. Founded in 1864 under the name Vassar College Art Gallery, the Francis Lehman Loeb Art Center (FLLAC) offers an illustrious educational opportunity for both students and the Poughkeepsie community. Most recenly, the gallery’s most recent example of educating through sharing art is by sending part of the modern collection to Japan.

The FLLAC selected 86 pieces of artwork and has sent them on a five-museum tour in Japan. The exhibition, Paris—New York: Modern paintings in 19th and 20th Century, Masterworks from the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, opened at the Shimane Art Museum on the central island of Honshu on March 7 after James Mundy’s two years of hard work and cooperation.

The exhibition tries to establish not only a relationship between the Western art of the 19th and 20th centuries, but also between French and American art. It will move onto the Ishibashi Museum of Art on southernmost island of Kyushu, the Yamagata Museum of Art on the island of Honshu and the Fuchu Art Museum in a suburb of Tokyo. The exhibit will end at the Miyazaki Prefectural Art Museum on Kyushu on Dec. 14.

The partnership between Japanese museums and Vassar was initiated and managed by James Mundy, the Anne Hendricks Bass Director of the FLLAC. Mundy first traveled to Japan to see the reproduction of Mark Rothko’s “No. 1 (no. 18, 1948),” in an exhibit that featured the reproductions of the 1,000 greatest paintings of Western Art history.

Mundy wanted Vassar and its art collections to become better known internationally. He set out to accomplish the connection with his colleagues through negotiations, meetings and sponsorship processes, which took several years.

“It was a lot of hard work,” he said, “but it has been worth every minute.”

Curators from the Yamagata Museum of Art came to Poughkeepsie during Summer 2005. They reviewed the FLLAC’s collection and selected various paintings, prints and drawings by American artists from the post-war period. Mark Rothko’s “No. 1 (no.18, 1948)” and Jackson Pollock’s drip painting from 1950 are among the paintings that are exhibited in Japan, along with less often exhibited paintings of Jules Olitski, Theodore Stamos and Grace Hartigan.

The Japanese curators “loved our collection and were especially interested in American abstract expressionist painting,” said Mundy. He added that the exhibition presents works that are precursors to modern western art. Jennifer Cole, Coordinator of Membership, Special Events and Volunteer Services, was thrilled with the tremendous interest in the paintings at the galleries. “It is a big compliment to our collection,” she said.

According to Mundy, Japan has a very aesthetically focused culture and has a long history of acquiring special collections and art work from all over the world. The Japanese “are among the most dedicated museum-goers on earth. They are very into culture of all kinds, and they like to fill their museums with art,” he said.

Mundy added that American and modern western art are not often exhibited in Japan. The Vassar collections exhibition will be one of the first Japanese exhibitions of American post-World War II art.

The FLLAC also has a gallery devoted to Asian art that displays a collection of Japanese prints and small objects. Mundy said that he had spoken with Vassar’s partner Japanese museums about bringing more Asian art pieces to the gallery, but, there are not yet any specific plans.

This partnership has started to spread across the globe. Vassar is currently working to build greater relationships, especially with Asia, through the alumnae/i living there. The College has recently created an official exchange program with the Ochanomizu University in Tokyo, an all-women’s college. Mundy thinks that the exhibitions will build Vassar’s reputation in Japan.

“I’m hoping that by getting to know our art collection, people will be more interested in the College. As a result, we might even see more Japanese students applying,” he said. And Cole added, “Our hope is that it will strengthen an already existing partnership, keeping the philosophy Vassar has: embracing all cultures.”