Keen Vision — A Legacy of Susan Tosk

Born in Brooklyn, Susan Tosk (1944–2026) was a science major, left-handed, with AB-negative blood type. She spoke her mind directly, guided by a strong sense of justice and an unwavering commitment to honesty. Having studied biology, she brought that same scientific eye for observation into the world of Japanese art, developing an unwavering love for the Japanese people and culture, especially Japanese art, and devoting her life to collecting and researching Japanese crafts.

Her collecting grew into a vast holdings spanning the Edo through Showa periods, but her true passion was reserved for the cloisonné, metalwork, textiles, and sculpture of the Meiji era. As a longtime member of The Nippon Club, she held her own exhibitions at the Nippon Gallery for more than a decade, and generously lent works from her collection to other exhibitions there as well. She also helped bridge museums and scholars between New York and Japan, building deep, lasting relationships with institutions including Kyoto’s Namikawa Cloisonné Museum and the Kiyomizu Sannenzaka Museum, and contributing significantly to Japan–U.S. cultural exchange. In America, she became one of the few women of her time recognized as a leading scholar of Japanese art. This exhibition presents a selection of 44 Meiji-era works drawn from her collection.