Hillwood Estate Special Exhibit Tour of Deco Japan Shaping Art and Culture 1920-1945 on Sept. 13

On Tuesday, September 13 at 11:30 am, AAFSW/FBS  cordially invite you to join us to a guided tour of the Japanese Exhibit, including  the rest of the museum. You are welcome to visit the lovely gardens on your own before or after the tour.

The style that came to be known as art deco, which flourished from the 1920s to 1940s, was a vivid reflection of the modern era and the vitality of the machine age. Between the wars, as normalcy returned, jazz music blossomed, the flapper redefined the modern woman, and art deco left its mark on every form of visual art.

Originating in Europe, the art style, which is characterized by rectilinear shapes, geometric patterns, and bold colors, traveled the world as an ambassador for modernism and style. Deco Japan, a special exhibition on view at Hillwood beginning in June 2016, will explore how the Japanese interpreted the style and transformed it through their own rich art and craft traditions. The art deco creations of Japan are vivid translations of both tradition and innovation—a visual record of the artistic explosion that ushered Japan from its conventional artistic format into the Modern era.

Featuring a wide range of media—sculpture, painting, prints, ceramics, lacquer ware, jewelry, textiles, furniture, and graphic ephemera—this traveling exhibition brings Japanese art deco to Washington for the first time. It builds on the passion that Hillwood founder Marjorie Merriweather Post had for decorative art, focusing on her most transformative era, when she epitomized the flapper lifestyle and developed her own taste for finely-crafted objects. Displayed among multiple buildings upon the 25-acre campus, Deco Japan will also bring focus to the Japanese-style Garden, one of Hillwood’s most beloved feature.

RSVP by Monday, September 5 to office@aafsw.org. The cost for this event is $18.00 per person Please send your check to: AAFSW Reservations, 4001 North Ninth Street, Suite 214, Arlington, Virginia 22203.

The estate is located at 4155 Linnean Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008. You can park in the Visitor Center lot and check in at the Visitor Center to get your passes for the day.

We look forward to seeing you. Do not miss this lovely event!

Sheila Switzer, AAFSW Program Chair