Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Tokyo Closes June 17 Since being featured at the Venice Biennale in 2003, Italian oil painter Alessandro Papetti has started to gather a critical mass of interest in the art world, leading many to see the 52-year-old as ...

The typical white cube gallery is not unlike a sumo ring. Both are bare, sanctified spaces, where we can stare intently at the participants' strenous efforts to impress. While the dohyo is purified by salt, the antiseptic agents in the case of the white ...

Sompo Japan Museum of Art Closes July 4 Maurice Utrillo is one of those artists who seem to defy gravity. When you take a good, long look at his canvases and notice the repetitiveness of subject matter (Parisian street corners and buildings apparently chosen at random) ...

The original U.S. TV series "CSI (Crime Scene Investigation)," set in Las Vegas, has been so successful that it has almost grown into a franchise, with "CSI: Miami," "CSI: NY," and "CSI: Triology." After visiting the "Ryoma Den" exhibition at the Edo-Tokyo Museum, which ...

In the Christian era that succeeded the pagan one, the destruction of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD was always thought of in apocalyptic terms, much like the Biblical destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah ...

I'm not sure what Lady Gaga — who arrives in Japan shortly — has in her art collection, but given time (and the millions produced by her phenomenal success) I think it is highly likely that a lady of her strong aesthetic drives will ...

There are two main arguments to support censorship. One is that it protects the tender sensibilities of a weak-minded public prone to be led astray into immorality and depravity. The other is that it actually stirs the creative powers of artists to new heights ...

As I write, the British pound is in sharp decline against a wide range of currencies, including even the Zimbabwean dollar! No, there hasn't been an editorial mishap and this is not the financial section of The Japan Times. I just mention these facts ...

The Tokyo National Museum in Ueno isn't merely a convenient place for old folks to while away an afternoon, or a safe venue to take parties of schoolchildren to on excursions. It's also a very symbolic and ritualistic space, where the final seal is ...

Yumeji Takehisa Museum Closes on March 28 Located next to Tokyo University, the Yumeji Takehisa Museum is dedicated to one of the unique painters of the late Meiji (1868-1912) and Taisho (1912-28) eras. One of the reasons his art was so distinctive was because he ...