The Cleveland Museum of Art Special Exhibitions Visions of Japan

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Featured Cleveland Collectors

Mr. and Mrs. Kelvin Smith
Kelvin Smith (1899-1984) first became interested in the work of the 20th century master, Kiyoshi Saito (b. 1907) and generously gave the Museum 260 of his color woodcuts. By the early 1970s, Smith's interest shifted to 18th and 19 century Japanese prints and paintings, Ukiyo-e (pictures of the floating world). He developed a relationship with Sherman E. Lee, the Museum's director, who carefully guided him to acquire Ukiyo-e paintings, which were not widely collected by the same masters who designed the prints. Smith assembled one of the most important collections of Ukiyo-e paintings in this country which, after his death in 1984, his wife Eleanor gave to the Museum.

Dr. Daniel and Mitzie Verne
Michael Verne, The Verne Collection
Mitzie and Daniel Verne's collection of Japanese painting and prints evolved out of a personal journey to Japan in 1953. Dr. Verne, an oral surgeon in the Navy, served at a hospital in Yokosuka. While living in Kamakura, Mitzie Verne became a business partner of the fine-arts dealer, Itaru Tashiro. During their time in Japan, Mitzie and Daniel collected Otsu-e, paintings and prints from the city of Otsu, located near Kyoto. The freshness and humor of the lively caricatures of folk heroes appealed to them because of Daniel Verne's own talents as a caricaturist. After returning to Cleveland, the collection grew with advice from then Museum Director Sherman Lee. Under Mitzie Verne's leadership, the collection became a family business. In 1988, her son Michael established The Verne Collection at the Grasselli Library on the campus of John Carroll University. In 1993, the gallery moved to Cleveland's “Little Italy.” In 2004, Michael Verne and Mitzie Verne were acknowledged by the Cleveland Artists Association for their influential role in introducing Japan and its culture to Cleveland.

William E. Ward
Bill Ward began his career at the Cleveland Museum of Art in 1947, serving as the Museum's designer from 1957 until his retirement in 1993. A painter and calligrapher, Ward preferred Buddhist art from Southeast Asia, Indian and Mexican folk art and modern Japanese prints. He and his wife, Evelyn Sevc Ward (a noted fiber artist) were generous collectors, giving important works to the print department as early as 1974 and later establishing a fund to build the collection of 20th century Japanese prints. Over three decades, 75 Japanese prints have been donated, a wonderful legacy for two talented artists.






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