Cornell University: Johnson Museum of Art

Opened in 1973, the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art has offered free admission since opening. The building was designed by I. M. Pei, a Chinese American architect often called the master of modern architecture. The Museum currently has approximately 40,000 items with nearly 22,000 available to view online.

The Johnson Museum's About page lists Asian art as its first strength, with Japanese art being the second largest of its Asian collections. The museum renovated the I. M. Pei building in 2011, giving the entire fifth floor to the Asian collection. The renovation allowed for space to display Japanese room-sized folding screens, Buddhist art, and objects related to the tea ceremony.

For more information about the Japanese collection, please contact Ellen Avril at 607-254-4509 or by email.

Collection size: as of January 2014

• Over 8,000 Asia-related items in the Asia & Pacific Collection.
• Over 1,000 items in the Luna Insight Image Database from the Japanese Collection.
• The Japanese Collection includes: ceramics from the Jomon and Yayoi Period through today, photographs, sacred paintings and sculpture, folding screens, scroll paintings, and woodblock prints and ukiyo-e (浮世絵).

Notable Collections:

• Ceramics collection includes ranges from Jomon- and Yayoi-period pieces, to Edo-period tea wares and porcelains, through to contemporary ceramics.
• Meiji Photographic Collection: a collection of photographs from Japanese and foreign photographers taken during the late-nineteenth century.

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For all comments and questions about the Guide, please e-mail us:

mlaguide@nccjapan.net