Gregory Irvine
Gregory Irvine has worked with Olympia Auctions since 2022.
Gregory was formerly Japan curator at the British Museum, and then Senior Curator, Asian Department at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. He now holds the position of Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the V&A. As a curator, Gregory was principally responsible for the collections of Japanese metalwork including arms, armour and cloisonné enamels, and he continues to provide expertise in these areas. His research continues into enamels, collecting and exhibiting Japanese art in the UK and at International Exhibitions, and the changing western perceptions of Japanese art during the Meiji and Taishō periods. He retains strong worldwide links with museums, and collections held both privately and in universities. He provides curatorial advice and expertise to UK, European, Japanese and American museums, as well as lecturing in the UK, Europe, Japan and the USA for specialist and general interest groups.
Gregory’s work has been widely published and includes: Meiji, Splendors of Imperial Japan, 1868-1912, Musée des Arts Asiatiques–Guimet, 2019 ; Namikawa Yasuyuki and Japanese Cloisonne. Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, 2017; Beyond Imagination: Treasures of Imperial Japan from the Khalili Collection 19th to early 20th century, Moscow Kremlin Museums, 2017; Japanese Art and Design, V&A Publishing, 2016; The Dresden State Art Collections: collecting Japan in the 19th Century, Arts of Asia, 2014; ‘Diplomatic Gifts of Japanese Arms and Armour in the Nineteenth Century’ in East meets West, Diplomatic Gifts of Arms and Armour between Europe and Asia, Royal Armouries, 2014; Japonisme and the Rise of the Modern Art Movement: the Arts of the Meiji period, Thames and Hudson, 2013; Japanese Cloisonné Enamels, V&A Publishing, 2011; ‘Collecting Japanese arms and armour: a European perspective with an emphasis on the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum’ in Oriental Art, Volume LV, No. 1, 2005; Guide to Japanese Art Collections in the UK, Hotei Publications/Japan Society, 2004; ‘The Japanese Sword’ in Orientations, Vol. 32, No.9, November 2001; and The Japanese Sword, the Soul of the Samurai, V&A Publications, London, 2000.
