Patrick Lennox Tierney (January 28, 1914 – June 12, 2015) was an American
Japanologist
, sometimes known as Japanology in Europe, is a sub-field of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on Japan. It incorporates fields such as the study of Japanese language, History of Japan, history, ...
academic in the field of
art history
Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history.
Tradit ...
, an emeritus professor of the
University of Utah, a former Curator of Japanese Art at the
Utah Museum of Fine Arts,
a former director of the
Pacific Asia Museum, and a former commissioner of art and monuments during the Allied occupation of Japan (1945–1952).
[Consulate General of Japan, Los Angeles]
Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon (3rd class).
In the fall of 2007, the Japanese government acknowledged Tierney's life's work by conferring the
Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, which represents the third highest of eight classes associated with this award. Accompanying the badge of the Order was a certificate explaining the award as recognition of the extent to which Tierney has "contributed to introducing Japanese fine arts." The efforts of a lifetime have assisted in the propagation of better understanding of traditional Japanese culture in the United States. His visits to Japan every year have cumulatively contributed to exchanges in the art field between the United States and Japan.
He
turned 100 in January 2014,
and died in 2015 at the age of 101.
Education and academic life
Tierney earned an undergraduate degree in Japanese Art at the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...
; and he was awarded a
Master of Arts degree from
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
.
He became a Professor in the Art Department at
Pasadena City College. Later, he taught at the
University of Utah.
Commissioner of Art and Monuments
As Representative Commissioner of Art and Monuments for General Headquarters during the Allied Occupation of Japan, Tierney was responsible for organizing and overseeing the repair and preservation of cultural sites, art, and monuments bombed and destroyed in Japan during the
Pacific War
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...
.
General
Douglas MacArthur's staff during the occupation of Japan included a
Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) section. Among those serving with Tierney in Tokyo were
Sherman Lee and
Laurence Sickman.
[Monuments Men Foundation]
Monuments Men> Sickman, Maj. Laurence.
After the end of his military service, Tierney stayed in Japan. In addition to engaging in research on Japanese art, he guided American schools in the study of art, which helped promote better understanding of Japanese history and culture amongst American children residing in Japan.
In the years which followed the war, Tierney found himself disagreeing with the conventional assessment that MacArthur should be construed as an expert in Japanese culture. Based on his experiences working with MacArthur, Tierney would many years later assess MacArthur as culturally insensitive.
Insults
As a staff officer working for the
Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP), Gen.
Douglas MacArthur, his was a somewhat unusual perspective on the occupation of Japan and on the events which unfolded in SCAP headquarters. His office was on the fifth floor of the Dai-Ichi Insurance Building in Tokyo, the same floor where MacArthur's suite of offices was located. He was there on the day the emperor came by; but when the emperor arrived, MacArthur refused to admit him or acknowledge him. Many years later, Tierney made an effort to explain his understanding of the significance of what he had personally witnessed: "Apology is a very important thing in Japan. With us, we don't apologize unless we get caught with our hand in the cookie jar, but for the Japanese, there is a very strong sense of what an apology means."
According to historian
Herbert Bix in ''
Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan,'' "MacArthur's truly extraordinary measures to save Hirohito from trial as a war criminal had a lasting and profoundly distorting impact on Japanese understanding of the lost war."
Japanese art
Across the span of decades, Tierney delved deeply into Japanese art. The University of Utah's
Marriott Library today holds close to 75,000 photographs taken by Tierney—all related to the art and architecture of the Far East, Southeast Asia, and especially Japan. He has also donated close to 1500 books related to Japanese art history and Japanese art to the
Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture. This gesture was consistent with a lifetime of contributions towards the development of understanding amongst students and United States citizens towards Japanese art. As one of the pioneers in California engaged in the study of Japanese art, Professor Tierney's achievements in the propagation of Japanese art are notable.
Japanese garden
Tierney was a member of the San Diego Japanese Garden Reconstruction Committee, and served on the Board of Directors of
Japanese Friendship Garden at San Diego. His participation contributed to the preservation and maintenance of the garden. His involvement helped introduce the beauty of the Japanese garden to those who visit the Japanese Friendship Garden at San Diego's
Balboa Park.
As of 2008 he continued to teach
Ikebana
is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. It is also known as . The origin of ikebana can be traced back to the ancient Japanese custom of erecting Evergreen, evergreen trees and decorating them with flowers as yorishiro () to invite the go ...
at the
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in Bountiful, Utah (Spring 2008).
[Osher Institute]
Ikebana, Spring 2008.
/ref>
Selected works
* Tierney, Lennox. (1975). "Chanoyu as a Form of Non-Literary Art Criticism,
''Chanoyu Quarterly,''
No. 11, pp. 12–16.
* _______________. (1962)
"Double Image Slide Projection Technique,"
''Art Education,'' Vol. 15, No. 8, pp. 17–28.
* _______________. (1945) ''Japan''. Tokyo
ASIN: B000SN9RXA
ASIN: B0007E4CIK
* _______________. (1999)
''Wabi Sabi: A New Look at Japanese Design.''
Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith Publishers. (cloth)
Honors
* 2007 -- Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon.
See also
* Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program
Notes
References
* American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas. (1946). ''Report of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas.'' Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
* Bix, Herbert P. (2000). '' Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan''. New York: HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...
. ;
* Lee, Sherman E. (1997). "My Work in Japan: Arts and Monuments 1946-48," in ''The Confusion Era: Art and Culture of Japan during the Allied Occupation 1945-52,'' ed. Mark Sandler. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...
.
* U.S. Department of State. ''Foreign Relations of the United States'' (FRUS) B. This is a publication of the State Department that serves as a key finding aid because the documents selected for printing include the source file designation.**__________________. (1944). "Interest of the United States in measures for the protection and salvage of artistic and historic monuments in war areas," ''FRUS.'' (Vol. II, pp. 1031–1068.
**__________________. (1945). "Interest of the United States in measures for the protection and salvage of artistic and historic monuments in war areas," ''FRUS.'' (Vol. II, pp. 933–957.
External links
* Japan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
"2007 Autumn Conferment of Decorations on Foreign Nationals," p. 3 (in English)
* Japan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
"2007 Autumn Conferment of Decorations on Foreign Nationals," p. 3 (in Japanese)
* United Nations Association of Utah
Lennox and Catherine Tierney Photograph Collection
a
University of Utah Digital LibraryMarriott Library Special Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tierney, Patrick Lennox
1914 births
2015 deaths
American art historians
American Japanologists
University of Utah faculty
American art curators
American men centenarians
Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd class
United States Army personnel of World War II
United States Army officers