Sunday, April 2, 2017
Back again, an opportunity to tour with museum docent, and alum, Mark Sendrow. This year we will tour the exhibit:
SAMURAI - Armor from the Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Collection. One of our board members has seen this exhibit, and shares that it is beautifully collected and displayed. Mark is always well-versed and engaging when he leads these tours!
Because there are so many ticket variations, you will purchase your tickets at the museum, or, before the event, on the museum website: http://www.phxart.org/Samurai. Tickets for this special exhibit is only $5.00, plus the cost of admission.
We will start the tour at exactly 12:00; there is a public tour that day at 1:00 PM, and we want to beat the rush. Please join fellow alumni for lunch after the tour. We will have tables reserved together at Pallette, the cafe at the Phoenix Art Museum. You will order off the menu, and we will be provided separate checks.
***IMPORTANT - PLEASE RSVP - WE HAVE A LIMIT ON THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE FOR THE TOUR, AND WE ALWAYS SELL OUT***
ABOUT THE EXHIBIT . . .
Samurai: Armor from The Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Collection takes visitors on a journey back in time to discover the life, culture, and pageantry of the revered and feared Japanese samurai warriors through remarkable objects from one of the best and largest collections in the world. The exhibition, organized by The Ann & Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Museum in Dallas, Texas, features more than 140 objects of warrior regalia, with full suits of armor, helmets and masks, weapons, horse tack, and other battle gear. It traces the evolution of the distinctive appearance and equipment of the samurai through the centuries and examines the warriors’ history through works of consummate craftsmanship and exquisite design.
During the centuries covered by the exhibition, warfare evolved from combat between small bands of equestrian archers to the clash of vast armies of infantry and cavalry equipped with swords, spears, and even matchlock guns. Arms and armor were needed in unprecedented quantities, and craftsmen responded with an astonishingly varied array of armor that was both functional and visually spectacular, a celebration of the warrior’s prowess.
Even after 1615, when the Tokugawa military dictatorship brought an end to battle, samurai families continued to commission splendid arms and armor for ceremonial purposes. Because the social rank, income, and prestige of a samurai family were strictly determined by the battlefield valor of their ancestors, armor became even more sumptuous as the embodiment of an elite warrior family’s heritage.
