Please join us for a special presentation of Japanese art as part of the Richard J. Wood Art Curators Series. The series brings attention to major collections of Japanese art in the U.S. and their role in the U.S.-Japan grassroots relationship.

Beyond his fame as Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of Tales of the South Pacific and Hawaii, James A. Michener is well remembered as an enthusiastic collector of fine art. He managed to assemble the third largest collection of ukiyo-e in the United States, which he then gifted to the Honolulu Museum of Art. His donation now comprises approximately half of the museum's collection of more than 10,000 Japanese ukiyo-e.  Join us at the Carnegie Museum of Art to learn about Michener's collecting journey with Stephen Salel, Robert F. Lange Foundation Curator of Japanese Art at the Honolulu Museum of Art.

Stephen Salel has been with the Honolulu Museum of Art for over eight years. Before he joined the museum, he managed Kagedo Japanese Art, an art gallery in Seattle, WA. Salel received his MA in Art History from the University of Washington, where he specialized in early modern Japanese painting. His exhibitions have included a series that he co-curated with Curator of Asian Art Shawn Eichman on Japanese erotic art (shunga), which earned him a nomination for an Excellence in Outstanding Small Exhibitions award and an Honorable Mention by the Association of Art Museum Curators.

The talk will begin at 6 PM and be followed by refreshment and a networking reception.  Registration is free but donations are encouraged.

Thank you to the Carnegie Museum of Art for their partnership and the National Association of Japan-America Societies and the Japan~United States Friendship Commission for their support of this series at Japan-America Societies nationwide.