Jeffrey Montgomery – A Collector’s Perspective
A passionate Swiss collector, Jeffrey Montgomery, who passed away last year, devoted more than forty years to assembling one of the most important collections of Japanese folk art outside Japan. Guided by a personal and discerning eye, he built a collection of around 1,100 works selected for their authenticity, their functional quality, and their formal strength, in the spirit of the mingei movement, where beauty and utility are inseparable.
This deeply sensitive and non-speculative approach quickly attracted the attention of institutions and scholars, leading to numerous international exhibitions and major publications.
The works by George Nakashima that he brought together naturally reflect this same philosophy: an absolute respect for the material, a celebration of craftsmanship, and a search for balance between function and sculptural presence. The group presented today reflects this coherence of vision and a lifetime devoted to works chosen to be lived with as much as admired.
