'The Exhibition of Otani Collection'

May 30, 2013

'The Exhibition of Otani Collection'

by Marie Omata

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 ...

'Natsume Soseki and Arts'

May 9, 2013

'Natsume Soseki and Arts'

by Marie Omata

Natsume Soseki, one of Japan’s great Meiji Era (1868-1912) writers, is best known for the novels “Kokoro,” “Botchan,” ” I Am a Cat” and his unfinished work “Light and Darkness.” He was also a fan of, and particularly knowledgeable about, Japanese and British art, ...

'Yokote Sadami Exhibition'

May 9, 2013

'Yokote Sadami Exhibition'

by Marie Omata

This is part five of the Nagasaki Prefecture Museum’s “Art of Nagasaki” series of exhibitions, and it introduces the work of Western-style painter Sadami Yokote (1899-1931). Yokote moved to Paris during the 1920s after seeing the work of Yuzo Saeki, another Japanese artist who ...

The disconcerting unity of Raphael

May 2, 2013

The disconcerting unity of Raphael

by C.B. Liddell

Harmony can sometimes have a disconcerting side. This is one insight to emerge from the Raphael exhibition at the National Museum of Western Art, the centerpiece of which is one of the artist’s acknowledged great works, the “Madonna del Granduca” (c. 1505). In his ...

Apr 25, 2013

'Antonio López'

by Delilah Romasanta

Spanish artist Antonio López is renowned for the tediously slow pace of his creative process, sometimes touching up works 10 years after starting them. Some may be familiar with his unusual artistic method through Victor Erice’s 1992 documentary “The Quince Tree Sun,” which follows ...

Idiosyncrasies of the Kano school explored in Kyoto

Apr 11, 2013

Idiosyncrasies of the Kano school explored in Kyoto

by Matthew Larking

Kano Masanobu (1434-1530) founded the Chinese-art influenced painting school that bears his family name and flourished in different forms through to the Meiji Era (1868-1912). A familiar tale is that as it became the dominant hierarchical painting academy of political and military patronage, it ...

'Shohachi Kimura'

Mar 28, 2013

'Shohachi Kimura'

by Tomohiro Osaki

Shohachi Kimura (1893-1958) developed an early interest in foreign novels and other facets of Western culture. He first aspired to become a writer, but changed his mind at age 18 to pursue art and painting. Still interested in literature, however, he often contributed illustrations ...