Stendardo, agosto 1888 ©2022 Jeffrey Montgomery FCM
Art and life of Japan on display in Lugano
He began to collect for his own delight Jeffrey Montgomery: what was a passion, a “love story”, as he defines it, led him to collect over a thousand objects that hug more than five thousand years of Japanese history.
The collector, born in California in 1937 to a Norwegian mother and an English father, presents in the exhibition “Japan, Arts and Life” a selection of 170 works dating back to the period between the 12th and 20th centuries.
The unique exhibition, open from today to January 8 next year, runs along two floors of the historic Villa Malpensata, a building from the first half of the 18th century overlooking Lake Lugano. In 1969 Montgomery moved to the Municipality of the Canton of Ticino.
The rarefied refinement that characterizes certain genres of Japanese art is combined with the austere simplicity of everyday objects; a sort of combination capable of “producing masterpieces that fascinate because able to combine the deepest authenticity with the taste of the essential. Things that, if you do not pause carefully to look, may escape you but which, if you are able to observe them for a long time, as if to grasp their essence, generate an inexorable sensation of beauty inside the viewer ”, confides the collector.
Lanterna pensile, 1681 ©2022 Jeffrey Montgomery FCM
The journey begins with the bronze representation of Amida Buddha, the Buddha of light and infinite lifesitting in meditation pose, dated 1782. The itinerary is divided into sections.
Dai bedspreads and dresses rich in elaborate decorations, some with hand paintingEveryone votive tablets; from ceramic food storage jars to sake bottles and to the pannier with lid and rain protection, in wood and horsehair; from elegant hanging lanterns in perforated metal with spherical shape to those of folding paper – thanks to a frame of thin bamboo sticks -, to the carved masks in cypress wood, lacquered or painted, depicting gods or mythological beings – such as Chinese lions – people and animals.
Dai ceramic plates hand-painted lamp holders to the elegant wooden chest of drawers; from shop signs to cast iron or copper pots for tea ceremony to the sophisticated kimoni and men’s jackets used on festive occasions.
Bedspread, 19th century © 2022 Jeffrey Montgomery FCM
There is no shortage of animal sculpturesincluding that of a cat with the left paw raised, in clay and pigments, – “Maneki neku” – still placed today at the entrance of the commercial activities to welcome customers and wish everyone good luck.
It’s still…
A remarkable collection, although obviously partial, which testifies to Montgomery’s attitude towards the love of beauty, simplicity and small things. A true passion that makes his collection one of the largest and best known collections of Japanese art outside of Japan.
Maneki neko , fine XIX secolo ©2022 Jeffrey Montgomery FCM
Japan, Arts and Life: la Collezione Montgomery
MUSEC | Museum of Cultures – Villa Malpensata – Riva Caccia 5 – Lugano (Switzerland)
February 14, 2022 – January 8, 2023
Opening: every day from 11.00 to 18.00. Closed on Tuesday
Entrance fees: adults (from 16 years): CHF 15.00 – children (6-15 years): CHF 5.00
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