From February 6 until April 28 2001, The Ruth and Sherman Lee Center for Japanese Art at the Clark Center is hosting an exhibition of highlights from the permanent collection including Japanese sculpture, hanging scrolls and folding screen paintings.

Western artists such as Van Gogh and Monet were highly influenced by Japanese art in their paintings. The flat picture plane and absence of shading were particularly inspirational to the Post-Impressionists, yet they were exposed to a limited range of Japanese art. Reflections of Reality shows some other representations of "reality"—from 13th century Buddhist sculptures whose appearance is extremely life-like to 18th century images of landscapes, birds and flowers, which show more of a play of ink and paint on the paper and silk than an external reality, to paintings that illustrate a fusion of Western realist painting techniques with Japanese motifs and formats. Works will range from the naturalistic to the abstract in what promises to be a visually stunning exhibition.

This will be the final time these masterworks will be exhibited in California before they are sent for a five-museum tour of Japan beginning in the spring of 2002. These works will not be seen again in the Valley until 2004 at the earliest. (Visitor info)