Two of Bryn Mawr College’s prized Mary Cassatt prints are now on view in Yokohama, Japan. The artist’s retrospective at the Yokohama Museum of Art includes 80 works, many of which are on loan from museums all over the world. The exhibition travels to a second venue, The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, in September.

Bryn Mawr has loaned Afternoon Tea Party and Woman Bathing (see below). Both are part of a series of ten color prints exploring the domestic activities and roles of women in the nineteenth century. Cassatt translated her admiration of Japanese ukiyo-e prints into this series, all ten of which are included in the current retrospective.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bryn Mawr’s Collections Manager, Marianne Weldon, couriered the prints to Japan, ensuring their safe arrival. The crate had to be inspected in Philadelphia by TSA, after which point it was never left alone.  Either Marianne, or a US Customs-assigned security agent, was with the works of art as they traveled first from Philadelphia to JFK airport, where they were placed on a pallet with works from other institutions, and then onto Tokyo, Japan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once in Tokyo the works were transported by truck to the Yokohama Museum of Art (along with couriers from the represented institutions) to await Japanese Customs Agents, who authorized opening the crate for installation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, the prints have arrived safely and are a wonderful addition to the exhibition.

For more information about the exhibition, visit:
http://yokohama.art.museum/eng/exhibition/index/20160625-466.html