Exhibitions at the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago frequently feature art of east asia and may be curated by Center affiliated faculty and graduate students. Major exhibitions include Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan, The Allure of Matter: Art and Materiality in China, and Performing Images: Opera in Chinese Visual Culture.
Future and Ongoing Exhibits
Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan
Smart Museum of Art, March 21–June 9, 2024
Co-curated by Dr Chelsea Foxwell, this landmark exhibition takes a fresh look at the art of Japan’s Meiji era (1868–1912), four remarkable decades that propelled the country into the modern era.
Comprising more than 130 artworks—including paintings, prints, photographs, sculptural works, and objects in various media, such as enamel, lacquer, embroidery, and textiles—the exhibition presents some of the finest examples of Meiji period artworks in American collections, both public and private. Organized around time-honored Japanese motifs, such as the sea and nature, Buddhist deities, and mythical animals, Meiji Modern highlights these themes as they are transformed with the introduction of newly imported techniques, materials, and audiences. The exhibition historically situates the period and transports the public to the latter 19th century—a time of political upheaval, imperial expansion, economic transformation and social unrest worldwide.
Meiji Modern emphasizes modern Japanese artists’ engagement with both European and Asian trends and the concurrent invention of “classical Japan” as a category. Showcasing Japan as a case of nonwestern modernity, the exhibition also addresses issues surrounding art and identity resonant with audiences today.
For more information, visit Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan
In conjunction with the exhibition, the University of Chicago’s Center for East Asian Studies (CEAS) and Center for the Art of East Asia (CAEA) will host a multi-day symposium on Meiji art and visual culture.
Past Exhibits
Museum as a Classroom
Curated by Chelsea Foxwell
Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, April 9–June 13, 2021
Museum as a Classroom, Smart Museum of Art, 2021. Featured works by Kawase Hasui, Utagawa (Andō) Hiroshige, and Katsushika Hokusai
The Allure of Matter: Material Art from China
Curated by Wu Hung and Orianna Cacchione
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art, June 2, 2019–January 5, 2020
- Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, February 7–May 3, 2020
Performing Images: Opera in Chinese Visual Culture
Curated by Judith Zeitlin and Yuhang Li
Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, February 13–June 15, 2014
Inspired by the Opera: Contemporary Chinese Photography and Video
Curated by Wu Hung
Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, February 13–June 15, 2014
Awash in Color: French and Japanese Prints
Curated by Anne Leonard and Chelsea Foxwell
Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, October 4, 2012–January 20, 2013
Echoes of the Past: The Buddhist Cave Temples of Xiangtangshan
Curated by Katherine Tsiang
- Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, Sept 30, 2010–Jan 16, 2011
- Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institute, Feb 26–Jul 31, 2011
- Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University, Sept 11, 2011–Jan 8, 2012
- San Diego Museum of Art, Feb 18–May 27, 2012
- Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University, Sept 11, 2012–Jan 6, 2013
Echoes of the Past: The Buddhist Cave Temples of Xiangtangshan
Displacement: The Three Gorges Dam Project and Contemporary Chinese Art
Curated by Wu Hung
Smart Museum of Art, October 2, 2008–January 25, 2009
Objects of Inquiry: The Buckley Collection of Japanese Art
Curated by Hans Thomsen
The Smart Museum of Art, October 4, 2007–January 6, 2008
Exported Visions: Early Twentieth-Century Japanese Woodblock Prints
Curated by Irene Backus
The Smart Museum of Art, March 17–June 10, 2007
Quiet Revolutions: Modernizing Traditional Art in East Asia
Curated by Kris Imants Ercums
The Smart Museum of Art, May 10–November 6, 2005
The Poetry of Shijo Surimono
Curated by Hans Thomsen
The Smart Museum of Art, September 17–December 11, 2005
Taisho Chic: Japanese Modernity, Nostalia, and Deco
Organized by the Honolulu Academy of Arts
The Smart Museum of Art, April 22–June 20, 2004
Visual Mantras: Meditative Traditions in Japanese Buddhist Art
Curated by Kris Imants Ercums
The Smart Museum of Art, October 2–February 22, 2004
Mapping the Sacred: Nineteenth-Century Japanese Buddhist Prints
Curated by Kris Imants Ercums
The Smart Museum of Art, December 13, 2003–March 28, 2004
Installation view, Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China, Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, 2004–2005. Courtesy of the Smart Museum of Art
Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China
Curated by Wu Hung and Christopher Phillips
- ICP and Asia Society, New York, June 11–September 5, 2004
- Smart Museum of Art and Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, October 2, 2004–January 16, 2005
- Seattle Art Museum, February 10–May 15, 2005
- Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, March–May, 2006
- Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Summer 2006
The Art of Mu Xin: Landscape Paintings and Prison Notes
The Smart Museum of Art, January 24–March 31, 2002
Canceled: Experimental Art in China
The Smart Museum of Art, November 19, 2000–January 7, 2001
Transience: Chinese Experimental Art at the End of the Twentieth Century
The Smart Museum of Art, February 18–April 18th, 1999