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Marie Omata
For Marie Omata's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 2, 2014
'Collection of Museo Poldi Pezzoli: The Aristocratic Palace and its Beauty
Founded in Milan in 1881, the Poldi Pezzoli Museum houses the extensive collection of an aristocratic art collector. Nobleman Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli (1822-1879) devoted his life to decorating his home with artworks of the Renaissance, amassing around 3,000 pieces, including paintings by Botticelli, Piero della Francesca and Piero del Pollaiolo, as well as porcelain works, Murano glass and other decorative items. Now a residential museum, his home has become an important display and reflection of Milanese 19th-century high-society taste.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 2, 2014
'French Ceramics at the Time of Impressionism 1866-1886: Maturity of Japonisme'
Most people associate Impressionism with the famous colorful impasto paintings of Renoir, Monet or Manet. Few, however, are familiar with its influence on 19th-century ceramics.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 8, 2014
'Tokutechikai Buddhism Art'
Pure Land Buddhism, which began in India around the 2nd century B.C., offered a path to salvation for those who found difficulties with the more rigorous forms of Buddhist practice. It later spread to China and, by the 6th century, to Japan, where it is now the second most popular form of Buddhism.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 25, 2013
'Arcadia on the Shore: Puvis de Chavannes's Mythic World'
French painter Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (1824-1898) is best known as a leading mural painter whose masterpieces are displayed on many monumental buildings in France. His paintings often use delicate colors suggestive of Italian Renaissance fresco painting, and though he trained with Romanticists, such as Eugène Delacroix, he is considered one of the pioneers of Symbolism. His work is known to have influenced not only Japanese modern Western painters but also major artists such as Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Georges Seurat.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 18, 2013
'16th Domani: The Art of Tomorrow Exhibition'
This is the 16th annual show of up-and-coming Japanese artists who have studied on the Overseas Study Program for Artists, funded by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs. This program has offered young, promising artists in all genres overseas opportunities since 1967, and the "Domani" exhibitions present the results of participants' research and work.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 18, 2013
'Hokusai from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston'
Hokusai Katsushika (1760-1849), one of Japan's best-known Edo Period ukiyo-e (woodblock print) artists, has garnered admiration from across the world for more than a century. His prints are still sought after by collectors and he was the only Japanese to be selected by Life Magazine to be included in its publication "Life millennium: the 100 most important events and people of the past 1,000 years."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 4, 2013
'Illusion of light: Museum of the Magic, Art in Wonderland'
"Museum of the Magic, Art in Wonderland" has already visited 18 locations across Japan, drawing in a total of more than 500,000 visitors. Due to popular demand, it was even repeated at some of its venues. This is the 23rd showing of the exhibition and its first time in Tokyo. An interactive show, the artworks make use of light, shadows and reflections, allowing visitors to participate through watching, touching and "joining in," making this a particularly good show for kids.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 4, 2013
'Special Exhibition: Momoyama Ceramic Masterpieces — Shino, Ki-seto, Seto-guro and Oribe Wares'
The ceramics in this exhibition date to the late-Momoyama Period (1573-1615) and all hail from the Mino Province in modern-day Gifu Prefecture. Four kinds of Mino ceramic ware became representative of the Momoyama Period — Shino (thick white glaze with red marks), Ki-Seto (yellow glaze and green blemishes), Seto-guro (black glaze) and Oribe-yaki (various colors but predominantly green glaze).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 4, 2013
'Gustave Moreau et Georges Rouault: Filiation"
Gustave Moreau (1826-1898), the leading French Symbolist painter, was also a professor at Paris Ecole des Beaux Arts. He taught many well-known artists but he was particularly enamored with Georges Rouault (1871-1958), who he sometimes referred to as his "son." Moreau encouraged Rouault throughout his life and even appointed him as the director of the Gustave Moreau Museum in his will.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 4, 2013
'Reading Cinema, Finding Words: Art after Marcel Broodthaers'
Marcel Broodthaers (1924-1976) was a man of many talents — a poet, filmmaker and artist — whose cerebral and witty approach to art often resulted in unusual and amusing works. He used found objects, everyday items, photography and text to create visual puns in collages and installations.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 28, 2013
'Takeuchi Seiho: The Master of Modern Nihonga'
As a founder of nihonga (Japanese-style painting), Takeuchi Seiho (1864-1942)was a pioneer in modernizing traditional Kyoto art. His works were a major influence on many of his younger peers, including Tsuchida Bakusen (1887-1936), and continue to inspire today.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 28, 2013
'Commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the Relocation of the Mitsuo Aida Museum: Even One Simple Thing'
Poet and calligrapher Mitsuo Aida (1924-1991) is well-known in Japan for his tanka poetry and original style of handwriting. He spent his life developing and honing his craft, focusing on the preciousness of the life as a subject.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 28, 2013
'ADC 91st Annual Awards Traveling Exhibition at Tokyo'
In 1920, the Art Directors Club (ADC) was established in New York as an organization that brought together advertising talent, and promoted their work as "art." Each year it holds the ADC Annual Awards competition, judging media, broadcast, print and graphic design from international entries, offering prizes in 220 categories.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 28, 2013
'Negoro: Efflorescence of Medieval Japanese lacquerware'
Negoro lacquerware was originally developed at the Neguro-ji Temple in Wakayama Prefecture, where lacquered utensils were used by priests in daily life. It involved covering a layer of black lacquer with another of vermilion, a technique that spread across Japan after the temple's craftsmen fled the area during Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Siege of Negoro-ji in 1585.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 21, 2013
'Czech Posters for Films From the Collection of Terry Posters'
The Czech Republic is often admired for its high-quality picture books, puppetry and animation, but it is perhaps less well-known as a nation that has produced many great movie-poster designs.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 21, 2013
'Beauties of Nature: Rimpa, Jakuchu and Japanese Painting'
In Japanese, the term "kacho fugetsu" consists of the kanji for "flower," "bird," "wind" and "moon," and it refers to "the beauties of nature" — that ever-popular subject of nihonga (Japanese-style painting).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 20, 2013
'Special exhibition on the 120th anniversary of Ryukyu Shimpo; 42 tumultuous years in Okinawa, as seen through the eyes of photojournalists'
Hiroaki Yamashiro, three-time winner of the Kyushu-Okinawa photojournalist association award, has been documenting Okinawa's history, its vanishing culture and rare aspects of its nature for more than 40 years.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 20, 2013
'Let's go to the museum'
Miffy — the iconic cartoon rabbit — is Dick Bruna's most famous character to date and is the the focus of the Himeji Museum of Art's exhibition, which aims to introduce visitors to modern art in a fun way.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 13, 2013
'Edo's Four Seasons: Seasonal Events and Scenes of Daily Life in Ukiyo-e'
During the Edo Period (1603-1867), celebrating the characteristics of the four seasons was a popular past time, and it involved hosting traditional events that people still enjoy today. These include hanami (cherry-blossom viewing) in the spring, the Tanabata star festival in summer, tsukimi (moon viewing) in autumn, and yukimi (snow-viewing) in winter.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 30, 2013
'The Exhibition of Otani Collection'
The New Otani Art Museum has chosen 30 seasonal works from its own collection for this year's summer show. Known for acquiring impressive Edo Period and modern works, the museum is showcasing nihonga (Japanese-style) painting, such as Jippo Araki's "Swallows in Summer" and Gyokudo Kawai's "Breeze in the Pines, the Sound of the Waves."

Longform

A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world