If You Live In Or Near Washington D. C.

and like Japanese art,

 this is the exhibition for you, unfortunately already closed, I only heard about it today, many of the nearly 180 of the works traveling from Japan are also masterpieces, which rarely, if ever, leave the country, above Utagawa Hiroshige, “New Year’s Eve Foxfires at the Changing Tree, ji,” from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Edo period, 1857) (all images courtesy the National Gallery of Art, Washington),

 with more than 300 works drawn from 66 Japanese institutions and 30 American collections, the National Gallery of Art held the exhibition, above Utagawa Yoshitsuya, “Earth Spider” (Edo period, c. 1847-1852),

 Yogetsu, “Gibbon Reaching for the Reflection of the Moon” (Muromachi period, early 16th century),

 Utagawa Yoshitora, “Picture of the Twelve Animals to Protect the Safety of the Home” (Edo period, 1858),

 Utagawa Kuniyoshi, “Bravery Matched with the Twelve Zodiac Signs: Tiger and Kashiwade no Omi Hatebe” (Edo period, c. 1840),

 unknown Artist, “Deer Bearing Symbols of the Kasuga Deities” (Nanbokuch period, 14th century),

attributed to Kanō Naizen, “Southern Barbarians Come to Trade” (Momoyama period, c. 1600),

unknown Artist, “Uchikake with Shell-Matching Game” (Edo period, mid-19th century), The Life of Animals in Japanese Art received a makeover halfway through its run switching out 47 works for 40 new pieces, (“Out with the horses, in with the tigers,” announced the Washington Post.), the exhibition, which closed on August 18, was one of the largest shows ever displayed at the museum, and includes sculptures, paintings, lacquerworks, ceramics, metalworks, textiles, and the woodblock prints. The collection is a magnificent, vibrant illustration of Japanese culture spanning 17 centuries of history, The Life of Animals in Japanese Art is being held at the National Gallery of Art (Constitution Ave NW, Washington, DC 20565). The exhibition is curated by Robert T. Singer, curator and department head, Japanese art, LACMA, and Masatomo Kawai, director, Chiba City Museum of Art, in consultation with a team of Japanese art historians, a true once in a lifetime exhibition, if you like Japanese art it is still possible to see the exhibits on the museums web site, I am just sorry I did not find out about it until now.