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“Seated Dainichi Nyorai” is on view at MFA’s new Arts of Japan Gallery starting Feb. 19.

Art News: Asian Invasion!

by Constance Shook | Houston magazine | February 13, 2012

It’s a big month for the Museum of Fine Arts (1001 Bissonnet St., 713.639.7300, mfah.org)! New Director Gary Tinterow started Feb. 2, and on Feb. 19 the MFA officially caps a five-year-long project, the 12,000-square-foot Arts of Asia wing, with the completion of the Arts of Japan Gallery.

Joining spaces dedicated to China, India, Korea and Indonesia, the gallery’s first exhibit touts objects dating back centuries, on loan from Tokyo. Highlights of Elegant Perfection: Masterpieces of Courtly and Religious Art from the Tokyo National Museum include a rare 11th-century edition of one of the oldest existing collections of Japanese poetry, calligraphy by 16th-17th century Emperor Goyozei, and such masterworks of Japanese Buddhist art as a 14th century painting depicting the Buddha’s departure from this world. The exhibit will run through April 8.

With the big show set to bow this weekend and the new wing now complete, Asian art curator Christine Starkman says the real work is just beginning. “Now that we have the space,” she says, “we work on the [permanent] collection.” Indian paintings and ceramic pieces from China and Japan top the wish list.