Every Living Thing: Animals in Japanese Art

(Los Angeles—July 31, 2019) The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) presents Every Living Thing: Animals in Japanese Art, the first U.S. exhibition to bring together artistic representations of animals in all media across Japanese history from the 5th century to the present. Underpinned by Japan’s unique spiritual heritage of Shintō and Buddhism, the Japanese reverence for nature—and the place of animals within that realm—is expressed in sculpture, painting, lacquerware, ceramics, metalwork, cloisonné, and woodblock prints. Lions, dogs, horses, oxen, cats, fish, insects, birds, dragons, and phoenixes are meticulously and beautifully rendered in a vast variety of artworks. Featuring nearly 200 objects, the exhibition draws heavily from LACMA’s permanent collection and includes other masterpieces from Japanese and American public and private collections, some of which are on view for the first time.

Every Living Thing is co-organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, The Japan Foundation, and LACMA, with special cooperation from the Tokyo National Museum. Prior to the presentation at LACMA, the exhibition was on view at the National Gallery of Art Washington (June 2–August 18, 2019).

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