High Museum to Present Masterpieces of Samurai Armor 

This summer, the High Museum of Art will present “Samurai: Armor from the Collection of Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller.” The exhibition will run from June 23 through Sept. 17 and features one of the most important collections of its type outside of Japan. It will be presented in the Cousins Special Exhibition Galleries on the Second Level of the High’s Wieland Pavilion. 

With more than 150 objects, the collection includes an array of armor, helmets, and swords that span almost nine centuries. The exhibition illuminates the high level of design and craft dedicated to these instruments of ceremony and combat and reveals the culture, lifestyle and artistic legacy associated with the samurai warrior in Japanese society. 

Assembled over nearly four decades of collecting, the exhibition comes to Atlanta from The Ann & Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Museum in Dallas, Texas. The High is the first museum in the southeastern U.S. to present this exhibition, which has traveled to cities around the world. 

“While this exhibition explores a cultural history and artistic traditions not represented in our holdings, it nevertheless aligns with our mission to present work that serves as a complement or foil to our collection,” said Rand Suffolk, the Nancy and Holcombe T. Green, Jr. director of the High. “We are grateful for the opportunity to share these exquisite artworks with our audience.” 

The High’s chief curator, Kevin Tucker, added, “For centuries, the samurai in Japan provided a touchpoint for not only political change and military prowess, but importantly, an extensive range of artistic production in metals, textiles, lacquer work and the host of materials necessary to create these elaborately decorated statements of power and prestige. The legacy of samurai persists to this day in the often nearly mythological perception of their history and adoption of imagery in popular culture including by way of anime, manga, and contemporary film.” 

The exhibition includes nearly 20 complete sets of armor, many dating from the Edo period (1603-1868). These and related works dating to as early as the Kamakura period (1185-1333) will reflect upon the evolution of the “omote dogu” — the external appearance and equipment of the samurai warrior — and the legacy of such imagery across the centuries.