Guide to the Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture collection

Processed by Emily Lin, UC Merced Library
The University of California, Merced Library
University of California, Merced
5200 North Lake Road
Merced, California, 95343
E-mail: library@ucmerced.edu
URL: http://library.ucmerced.edu/
2006-12-01
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.


Title: Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture collection
Date: 700-[ongoing]
Collection number: Consult repository.
Collector: Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture

Clark family

Addiss, Stephen

Seo, Audrey Yoshiko
Extent: approximately 1200 items approximately 800 online items
Repository: University of California, Merced. Library
5200 North Lake Road
Merced, California 95343
Abstract: The Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture (formerly known as the Ruth & Sherman Lee Institute for Japanese Art at the Clark Center) in Hanford, California housed a broad range of Japanese art, in diverse media and from multiple periods. The collection includes Japanese screen and scroll paintings, sculptures, prints, ceramics, textiles, metalwork and woven bamboo art, with works dating from the tenth century to the present day. Areas of particular emphasis within the representative collection include Buddhist sculpture and painting, screens and scrolls of the Edo Period (1615-1868), literati-style (Nanga) painting and calligraphy, modern kimono and woodblock prints, bamboo flower baskets and sculpture, and the ceramics of the contemporary Sueharu Fukami.
Languages: Japanese Chinese English

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Property rights now reside with the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The Regents of the University of California have the rights to a non-transferable, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to the digital files. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For additional information, please contact the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Preferred Citation

Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture collection. University of California, Merced Library.

Acquisition Information

Creation of digital collection funded by a National Leadership Grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services.

Biography

The Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture was founded in 1995 by Willard G. Clark and his wife, Elizabeth. Long attracted to the art and culture of Japan, the Clarks began acquiring Japanese art seriously from the 1970s, and their collection, though supplemented with later gifts, still comprises the core of the holdings. The Clarks named the Institute in honor of their longtime friend and acquisitions advisor, Dr. Sherman Lee, former Curator of Asian Art at The Cleveland Museum of Art. Initially establishing the Institute as a scholarly project, the Clarks decided to open the museum to the general public in 1998, and held quarterly exhibitions. In 2013, the Clark Center collection was transferred to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Scope and Content of Collection

Among the highlights of the collection are Buddhist paintings and sculptures from the 13th and 14th centuries; Edo period (1615-1868) paintings of various schools and celebrated masters; the single greatest resource collection of Nanga material in the world; and collections of modern and contemporary bamboo art and ceramics, the latter featuring numerous porcelain sculptures representing the career of Fukami Sueharu (1947-).
In addition, the Center housed one of the largest collections of works by Kamisaka Sekka outside of Japan, as well as approximately 200 woodcut prints designed by the Yoshida Family and their students.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
abstraction
Animals
Art, Buddhist
figures (representations)
Flowers
form (composition concepts)
Genre painting
Gods & goddesses
landscapes (representations)
Nanga
Narrative painting
Seasons
baskets
calligraphy
ceramics (objects)
color woodcuts
devotional objects
folding screens
hanging scrolls
handscrolls
letters (correspondence)
paintings
poetry
portraits
religious texts
rubbings
sculpture (visual work)
urushi