“Painting Edo” at the Arnold Arboretum is a collaboration between the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University and the Harvard Art Museums, inspired by the exhibition “Painting Edo: Japanese Art from the Feinberg Collection.” Observing artworks from the exhibition alongside the living collections of the Arnold Arboretum, we invite you to marvel at the remarkable accuracy with which artists of the Edo period (1615–1868) in Japan rendered their botanical subjects.
In this online talk, Rachel Saunders, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Curator of Asian Art, and William (Ned) Friedman, Director of the Arnold Arboretum, discuss the striking Magnolia sieboldii, also known as Siebold’s magnolia or the Oyama magnolia. After a close look at a very rare painted specimen in the Feinberg Collection with Rachel, Ned brings viewers into the Arboretum’s landscape to learn about the live specimen’s unique biology and gorgeous bloom.
TAKE A CLOSER LOOK:
+ SPECIAL EXHIBITION/ “Painting Edo: Japanese Art from the Feinberg Collection.”
harvardartmuseums.org/paintingedo
+ ARTWORK/ Suzuki Kiitsu, “Magnolia (Kōboku), from a group of eight fans depicting flowers of the seasons,” Japanese Edo period, 1615-1868, Fan; ink, color, gold, silver on paper. Harvard Art Museums, Promised gift of Robert S. and Betsy G. Feinberg, TL42096.12.4. hvrd.art/o/353684
+ ARTICLE/ William Friedman, “Oyama magnolia in full bloom,” The Arnold Arboretum: arboretum.harvard.edu/oyama-magnolia-in-full-bloom/
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Speakers: Rachel Saunders, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Curator of Asian Art, Harvard Art Museums; William (Ned) Friedman, Director of the Arnold Arboretum.
Video recorded on Thursday, June 4, 2020. © President and Fellows of Harvard College. For questions related to permission for commercial use of this video, please contact the Department of Digital Imaging and Visual Resources at am_divr@harvard.edu.