Art Museums Present Symposium on Japanese Lacquer

The M. Victor Leventritt Symposium "The Art of Japanese Lacquer" will be held Saturday, Sept. 26, from 9:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., in conjunction with the special exhibition "Symbol and Substance: The Elaine Ehrenkranz Collection of Japanese Lacquer Boxes."

Focusing on one of the most elegant and diverse of such assemblages outside of Japan, the exhibition celebrates the University Art Museums' 1996 acquisition of this fine collection and presents these works to the Museum audience for the first time. "Symbol and Substance" features 56 lacquer boxes ranging in date from the Muromachi through the Edo periods (mid-14th through mid-19th century), and seeks to explain not only their aesthetic beauty and symbolism, but also the intricate planning, painstaking labor, and supreme artistry that determined their construction and elaborate decoration. The specialists brought together for the daylong symposium will present lectures and films on various aspects of East Asian lacquer, providing an in-depth introduction to this vitally important artistic medium.

On Saturday, museum visitors will be able to view the exhibition at 9 a.m., and complimentary coffee will be available in the Arthur M. Sackler Museum lobby.

The symposium is free and open to the public. For more information, please call 495-4544.

The M. Victor Leventritt Lecture Fund was established through the generosity of the wife, children, and friends of the late M. Victor Leventritt, Harvard Class of 1935. The purpose of the fund is to present outstanding scholars of the history and theory of art to the Harvard and Greater Boston communities.

The exhibition "Symbol and Substance: The Elaine Ehrenkranz Collection of Japanese Lacquer Boxes" is supported with funds from the David A. Ellis Oriental Art Fund and the John M. Rosenfield Teaching Exhibition Fund.

The Harvard University Art Museums' facilities are wheelchair accessible. For general information, please call 495-9400; World Wide Web: http://www.artmuseums.harvard.edu.

The Harvard University Art Museums comprise three museums (Busch-Reisinger Museum, Fogg Art Museum, Arthur M. Sackler Museum), all located on the Harvard University at the intersection of Quincy Street and Broadway, adjacent to Harvard Yard.

The Art Museums are open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday 1-5 p.m. Closed holidays. Admission is $5; $4 for senior citizens; $3 for students; free under 18, on Saturday mornings and, as of July 1, 1998, on Wednesdays. For special tour reservations, please call 496-8576. General tours are offered Monday through Friday from September through June; Wednesdays only in July and August. The Fogg tour is at 11 a.m.; the Busch-Reisinger tour is at 1 p.m.; and the Sackler is at 2 p.m.