The Minneapolis Institute of Art’s collection of Japanese works has suddenly expanded thanks to a combined gift and purchase from the California businessman Willard “Bill†Clark and his wife Elizabeth.
The Clarks’ collection of nearly 1,700 works of Japanese art is currently housed at a nonprofit museum in Hanford, California that the Clarks founded in 1995, and also in their own home. But they are transferring the collection of paintings, sculpture, woodblock prints, ceramics, bamboo, baskets and textiles to the Minneapolis Institute, which will pay the Clarks $5 million. The museum estimated the collection’s worth at $25 million.
“With this collection, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts will become one of the principal centers for the study, display, and research of Japanese art in this country,†said Kaywin Feldman, the director and president.
Minneapolis already has a 12,500-piece collection of art from Asia. Some of the newest additions will be on display in October, with a special highlights exhibition, “The Audacious Eye: Japanese Art from the Clark Collections,†which will run through January 12, 2014.
The Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture in Hanford, which also has an outdoor sculpture and Bonsai garden, will remain open and host exhibitions. As part of the gift and purchase, the Minneapolis Institute will loan items back to the Clark twice a year, an Institute spokeswoman said.
