February 2012
Media Contacts
Leslie Denk, Director of Public Affairs
Sara Engebrits, Public Affairs Coordinator
media@nortonsimon.org; 626-844-6900
Norton Simon Museum Presents
Lessons of the Cherry Blossom: Japanese Woodblock Prints
On View April 20 – Sept. 3, 2012
Pasadena, CA—The Norton Simon Museum presents Lessons of the Cherry
Blossom: Japanese Woodblock Prints, an exhibition featuring 16 prints from the
Museum’s permanent collection, several of which have not been on view
before, including three rare sets of uncut double prints by Utagawa Hiroshige
and works by Totoya Hokkei and Chōbunsai Eishi. Two prints from
Katsushika Hokusai’s Rare Views of Famous Bridges series, which have been in
storage for over 30 years, are also being exhibited.
In 1912, over 3,000 cherry trees were bestowed upon Washington, D.C., by
Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797–1858)
Noto Province, Waterfall Bay, from the Famous
Tokyo in an effort to enhance the growing friendship between the United
Views of the (Sixty-odd) Provinces series, 1856
Color woodblock print, vertical ōban
States and Japan. The trees were planted along the Tidal Basin in West
Norton Simon Museum
Gift of Barbara Steele Williams, 1967
Potomac Park, where they continue to be admired every spring during
cherry–blossom season. In celebration of the 100th anniversary of this diplomatic gift, Lessons of the
Cherry Blossom explores the significance of the cherry blossom (sakura) in Japan. The sakura has long
been an important symbol in Japanese art and literature, so much so that by the eighth century, the
general term for flower (hana) in poetry referred to the cherry blossom. Its significance in Japan is due,
in part, to its evanescent beauty, which resonates with the Buddhist ethos of life’s illusory nature. The
cherry tree blooms en masse during the spring, and its blossoms die within a week of their flowering,
making their beauty both intense and short-lived. It is during this time that friends and family gather to
take part in hanami, or “flower viewing,” by traveling to districts populated by cherry trees.
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Cherry trees typically grew in remote mountain areas; however, under Shogun Yoshimune (1716–45),
cherry trees were planted in cities as a means of urban beautification and of demonstrating the
government’s benevolence. Areas such as the city at Asuka Mountain, Goten Mountain at Shinagawa and
along the banks of the Sumida River and the upper Tama River became famous for cherry-blossom
viewing. The history of the sakura reveals that almost all of Japan’s famous cherry-blossom spots were not
natural, but the result of human effort to beautify the landscape.
Prints featuring cherry-blossom viewing became popular in the early 19th century, when increased
travel, combined with the desire of publishers to find a new subject not based on changes in the clothing
fashions of courtesans and geisha, resulted in a commercial market for landscape prints depicting famous
places, or meisho. While most of the prints included in the exhibition focus on images of meisho, a few
prints feature bijin, or beautiful women. Artists often conflated beautiful women and cherry blossoms, as
both were symbols of the temporary nature of beauty and life.
Lessons of the Cherry Blossom: Japanese Woodblock Prints is on view in the Museum’s small rotating
exhibitions gallery on the main level from April 20 through Sept. 3. During its presentation, the Museum
is coordinating a series of events, including a lecture, performances, tours and family programs. The
exhibition is organized by Melody Rod-ari, Assistant Curator of the Norton Simon Museum.
About the Norton Simon Museum
The Norton Simon Museum is known around the world as one of the most remarkable private art
collections ever assembled. Over a 30-year period, industrialist Norton Simon (1907–1993) amassed an
astonishing collection of European art from the Renaissance to the 20th century, and a stellar collection
of South and Southeast Asian art spanning 2,000 years. Modern and Contemporary Art from Europe and
the United States, acquired by the former Pasadena Art Museum, also occupies an important place in the
Museum’s collections. The Museum houses more than 12,000 objects, roughly 1,000 of which are on
view in the galleries and gardens. Two temporary exhibition spaces feature rotating installations of
artworks not on permanent display.
Location: The Norton Simon Museum is located at 411 W. Colorado Blvd. at Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena, Calif., at
the intersection of the Foothill (210) and Ventura (134) freeways. For general Museum information, please call (626) 449-6840
or visit www.nortonsimon.org. Hours: The Museum is open from noon to 6 p.m. every day except Tuesday and noon to 9 p.m.
on Friday. Admission: General admission is $10 for adults and $7 for seniors. Members, students with I.D., and patrons age 18
and under are admitted free of charge. Admission is free for everyone on the first Friday of every month from 6 to 9 p.m. All
public programs, unless stated otherwise, are free with admission. The Museum is wheelchair accessible. Parking: Parking is
free, and no reservations are necessary. Public Transportation: The City of Pasadena provides a shuttle bus to transport
passengers through the Pasadena Playhouse district, the Lake Avenue shopping district and Old Pasadena. A shuttle stop is
located in front of the Museum. Please visit www.cityofpasadena.net/artsbus for schedules. The MTA bus line #180/181 stops
in front of the Museum. The Memorial Park Station on the MTA Gold Line, the closest Metro Rail station to the Museum, is
located at 125 E. Holly St. at Arroyo Parkway. Please visit www.metro.net for schedule.
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