Specialists to lecture on Japanese prints at Bates

Specialists in Japanese art will speak at Bates College in conjunction with an exhibit, Making Japanese Color Woodcuts, on display at the Museum of Art at Bates College. The public is invited to attend both of the talks free of charge.

Art conservator Elizabeth Coombs will lecture on the restoration of the museum’s rare 19th-century Toyokuni Kuniyoshi zatsuga-ch™ album of keyblock prints at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27 in Room 104 of the Olin Arts Center, 75 Russell St. The album was donated to the museum by Weston and Mary Naef.

Coombs’ experience reaches from studying first-hand with Japanese paper makers to working at major U.S. museums. Her specialization in the conservation of Japanese works on paper and intimate familiarity with the album will shed new light on both the album and the process of conservation.

Roger Keyes will lecture on rediscovering the Toyokuni Kuniyoshi zatsuga-ch™ keyblock print album at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28 in Room 104 of the Olin Arts Center.

Keyes, a widely published scholar, has steeped himself in the history and tradition of ukiyo-e woodblock printing. His vast knowledge of Japanese art will place the museum’s album into historical context and underscore its significance.

Making Japanese Color Woodcuts, is on display through March 23 in the lower gallery of the museum. Also on display are the works of German-born photographer Elke Morris, a member of the Bates arts faculty, in an upper gallery exhibit, Photographs: German Sites, through March 23. and, in the lower gallery, Contemporary Women Printmakers, a show curated by Bates alumna Susannah C. Shaw.

The lectures are co-sponsored by The Bates College Museum of Art, the college’s art and history departments, Multicultural Center and the Japan America Society.

The Museum of Art at Bates, closed Mondays and major holidays, is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is free.

For tour scheduling and general information, call 207-786 6158.