The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Presents “Unfolding Worlds: Japanese Screens and Contemporary Ceramics from the Gitter-Yelen Collection” in March 2015

Exhibition features more than 25 large-scale screens along with important contemporary ceramics

HOUSTON—January 22, 2014—In March, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, presents Unfolding Worlds: Japanese Screens and Contemporary Ceramics from the Gitter-Yelen Collection, a remarkable selection of paintings and decorative arts that reveal three centuries of artistic traditions and styles. Amassed over a period of 50 years by Dr. Kurt A. Gitter and his wife, Alice Yelen Gitter, the exhibition features more than 25 large-scale painted screens from leading artists active in Japan between the 17th and 20th centuries, exhibited together with some 35 ceramic works created by master and emerging ceramists in Japan from the 1950s to today. These masterpieces from the New Orleans-based Gitter-Yelen Collection—one of the most comprehensive private holdings of Japanese art in the United States—are on view in Houston from March 1 to May 10, 2015.

Among the works are outstanding examples of six-panel folding screens commissioned during the Edo period (1615–1868) and the Meiji period (1868–1912). The selection spotlights monumental screens by artists from the Zenga, Rinpa, Maruyama-Shijō, and Ukiyo-e schools, demonstrating the important role of individuals in the transition from the classical to the modern period in Japanese painting. The exhibition also includes works by 18th-century artists who were considered “eccentrics,” and works by artists active during the 20th century.

In a unique installation that combines these worlds, the screens are complemented by contemporary Japanese ceramics. Ceramic art has been prized in Japan for centuries and remains a vital artistic endeavor today. Displayed in concentrated groups and in relation to the painted screens, the ceramics demonstrate the breadth of aesthetics seen in the contemporary period. Some objects echo historical Japanese ceramics with traditional forms and glazes; additional works reflect currents in Western abstraction and decoration; and still others reveal new avenues of creativity in form and technique.

“The Gitter-Yelen Collection is unparalleled in its scope, and we are delighted to share a selection of these exquisite screens and ceramics with Houston audiences,” said Gary Tinterow, Museum director. “Representing two distinctive and exceptional forms of Japanese art, these outstanding works exemplify the brilliant artistic achievements of the Edo and Meiji periods, as well as the modern era for ceramic art.”

“The screens displayed in this exhibition celebrate the inventiveness of individual artists active from the 18th to 20th century in Japan,” said Christine Starkman, curator of Asian art. “The innovative brushwork and new color palettes transformed and created new painting movements.”

“When I was first drafted into the United States Air Force as a flight surgeon in 1963,” said Dr. Gitter, “I had no idea that the two years I spent stationed in Japan would spark a lifelong passion. My interest in collecting Japanese art began with ceramics, both ancient and modern, and developed into a fascination with other art-forms like paintings, screens, and sculpture. Through annual visits to Japan, Alice and I are continually discovering new artists and new areas of interest. We display the works side-by-side in our home and do not consider them separate collections, but see in them all the qualities of Japanese aesthetics and craftsmanship that first drew me to collecting more than 50 years ago.”

“The ceramics in the exhibition demonstrate the incredible craftsmanship and glazing techniques of contemporary Japanese artists,” said Cindi Strauss, curator of modern and contemporary arts and design. “Each work, whether functional or sculptural, invites close inspection, illuminating the legacy of tradition or new artistic visions. The extraordinary Gitter-Yelen works will provide our audiences with the opportunity for in-depth study of this important field and its practitioners.”

Catalogue
The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated, 112-page catalogue, Unfolding Worlds: Japanese Screens from the Gitter-Yelen Collection, published by the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, where the exhibition was on view from June 7 to November 8, 2014.

Organization and Funding
Unfolding Worlds: Japanese Screens and Contemporary Ceramics from the Gitter-Yelen Collection is organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, in collaboration with the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

Generous funding is provided by Luther King Capital Management.

About the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH)
Founded in 1900, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, is among the 10 largest art museums in the United States. Located in the heart of Houston’s Museum District, the MFAH comprises two gallery buildings, a sculpture garden, theater, two art schools, and two libraries, with two house museums, for American and European decorative arts, nearby. The encyclopedic collection of the MFAH numbers some 65,000 works and spans the art of antiquity to the present.

About the Gitter-Yelen Foundation
The Gitter-Yelen Foundation, a private nonprofit foundation, was established in 1997 by Dr. Kurt A. Gitter and Alice Yelen Gitter. Its mission is to educate and encourage interest and scholarship in the fields of Japanese art and self-taught American art through direct viewing, exhibitions, digital media, publications, lectures, and symposia. The Gitter-Yelen Art Study Center, an initiative of the Gitter-Yelen Foundation, is dedicated to the research and study of Japanese art and American self-taught art. The center was conceived as an institution where interested visitors, students, and scholars can learn about these art forms in an inviting atmosphere.

MFAH Media Contacts
Mary Haus, head of marketing and communications
Whitney Radley, publicist
Laine Lieberman, associate publicist
Vanessa Ramirez-Sparrow, marketing and communications coordinator
vramirez-sparrow@mfah.org / 713.639.7554