Portfolio by Brenna Reistad
From the Collection of Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller
April 20, 2024 – August 4, 2024
All Photos by Brenna Reistad
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All text and information in this series is copied from the exhibit and its supporting material, not my writing.
All photos are by Brenna Reistad.
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It is the combination of art and armor, the boundless creativity of the objects’ forms, and the aesthetics used by these fierce and cultivated warriors that drew us in.
—Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller
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The son and grandson of art collectors, Gabriel Barbier-Mueller has been fascinated by samurai armor since adolescence and acquired his first piece in the early 1990s. In the following three decades, he and his wife, Ann, have continued to expand their collection, admiring the sculptural quality of the objects and the compelling feats of imagination that went into their creation.
This fascination led them to establish The Ann & Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Museum: The Samurai Collection, in Dallas, Texas. The Barbier-Muellers have assembled an exceptional collection consisting of more than a thousand works, including a number of unique masterpieces. Since 2011, their collection has traveled to Europe, Canada, Chile, and the United States.
This exhibition represents only a fraction of their remarkable holdings and is developed from the collectors’ wish to share these works and the samurai culture from which they emerged. All works featured in the exhibition are from the Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Collection
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Videos from VMFA
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​Samurai Armor | The Experience
Samurai Armor | Exhibition at VMFA
​Talk I Lethal Beauty: Design Elements in Samurai Suits of Armor
Talk | Samurai: From War to Peace
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Introduction
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This exhibition dedicated to Japanese armor and components showcases more than 140 works from the Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Collection, one of the world’s largest and most refined collections of samurai armor in private hands. On view in this exhibition are seventeen full suits of armor and more than fifty helmets and masks, in addition to weapons and garments spanning from the 14th to the 19th century. Made for samurai elites in combat or ceremonies, these works display craftsmen’s creativity and masterful techniques.
The samurai class is associated with military elites who rose to power in Japan during the 12th century. After the shogun (military general) established the first military government in 1185, samurai continued to dominate the nation’s political and social realms until the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1868, when imperial rule was restored. Over centuries, the samurai emulated Japanese courtiers, adopted aspects of Buddhism and Confucianism, and conceived their own distinctive culture. Through tracing the evolution of armor from medieval to early modern Japan, this exhibition explores the artistic legacy of the samurai and offers a glimpse of samurai history spanning more than seven hundred years.