Patrick Lennox Tierney
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Patrick Lennox Tierney (January 28, 1914 – June 12, 2015) was an American
Japanologist Japanese studies (Japanese: ) or Japan studies (sometimes 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 ...
academic in the field of
art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...
, an emeritus professor of the
University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
, a former Curator of Japanese Art at the
Utah Museum of Fine Arts The Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) is the region's primary resource for culture and visual arts. It is located in the Marcia and John Price Museum Building in Salt Lake City, Utah on the University of Utah campus near Rice-Eccles Stadium. Works ...
, "Honorable Mention — Achievements of U of U Faculty, Staff, and Students,"
U-News & Views.'' November 2006.
a former Director of the
Pacific Asia Museum USC Pacific Asia Museum is an Asian art museum located at 46 N. Los Robles Avenue, Pasadena, California, United States. The museum was founded in 1971 by the Pacificulture Foundation, which purchased "The Grace Nicholson Treasure House of Orienta ...
, 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 land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
; and he was awarded a
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
degree from
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. He became a Professor in the Art Department at
Pasadena City College Pasadena City College (PCC) is a Public college, public community college in Pasadena, California. History Pasadena, California, Pasadena City College was founded in 1924 as Pasadena Junior College. From 1928 to 1953, it operated as a four- ...
. Later, he taught at the
University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
.


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, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...
. General
Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...
'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 Sherman Emery Lee (April 19, 1918 – July 9, 2008) was an American academic, writer, art historian and expert on Asian art. He was Director of the Cleveland Museum of Art from 1958 to 1983.Weber, Bruce "Sherman Lee, Who Led Cleveland Museum, Di ...
and
Laurence Sickman Laurence Chalfant Stevens Sickman (1907–1988) was an American academic, art historian, sinologist and Director of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. Education As a high school student, Sickman became interested in Japanese and C ...
.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 was the title held by General Douglas MacArthur during the United States-led Allied occupation of Japan following World War II. It issued SCAP Directives (alias SCAPIN, SCAP Index Number) to the Japanese government, aiming to suppress its "milita ...
(SCAP), Gen.
Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...
, 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 Herbert P. Bix (born 1938) is an American historian. He wrote ''Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan'', an account of the Japanese Emperor and the events which shaped modern Japanese imperialism, which won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonficti ...
in ''
Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan ''Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan'' is a book by Herbert P. Bix covering the reign of Emperor Hirohito of Japan from 1926 until his death in 1989. It won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for General N ...
,'' "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 The J. Willard Marriott Library is the main academic library of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. The university library has had multiple homes since the first University of Utah librarian was appointed in 1850. The current building ...
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 is currently serving on the Board of Directors of Japanese Friendship Garden at San Diego. His participation has contributed to the preservation and maintenance of the garden. His involvement has 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 tradition dates back to Heian period, when floral offerings were made at altars. Later, flower arrangements were instead used to adorn the (alcove) of a traditional Japan ...
at the
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes (OLLI) offer noncredit courses with no assignments or grades to adults over age 50. Since 2001 philanthropist Bernard Osher has made grants from the Bernard Osher Foundation to launch OLLI programs at 120 univers ...
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. *_2006_--_Edwin_O._Reischauer.html" ;"title="eprinted 1961
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. * 2006 -- Edwin O. Reischauer">Reischauer International Education Award, Japan Society of San Diego and Tijuana (JSSDT) * 2013 --Monuments men Robert Edsel monument men foundation http://www.monumentsmenfoundation.org/the-heroes/the-monuments-men/patrick-lennox-tierney


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 The United States Government Publishing Office (USGPO or GPO; formerly the United States Government Printing Office) is an agency of the legislative branch of the United States Federal government. The office produces and distributes information ...
. * Bix, Herbert P. (2000). ''
Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan ''Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan'' is a book by Herbert P. Bix covering the reign of Emperor Hirohito of Japan from 1926 until his death in 1989. It won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for General N ...
''. New York:
HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...
. ; * 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 and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
. * 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 centenarians American art historians American Japanologists University of Utah faculty American art curators Men centenarians Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd class United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army officers