Hybridity and eclecticism may be key concepts in much contemporary art, yet they are not new phenomena. In the Taisho Era (1912-1926), Tetsugoro Yorozu virtually personified the idea of hybrid art: As Japan rushed toward modernization, he not only experimented with the very latest ...
Ukiyo-e prints were once the equivalent of today's TV shows and magazines. During the Edo Period (1603- 1868), they often illustrated kabuki theater stars and portrayed the latest fashion trends, even at times serving as cosmetics catalogs or tourist guidebooks.
March 12-May 8 Described as the last artist to paint bunjinga (literati painting, influenced by traditional Chinese culture) and as one of the first to pursue nihonga (Japanese style painting), Tessai Tomioka (1836-1924) left behind many masterpieces. These include shinkei-zu paintings of scenery that he ...
Sept. 5-March 31 Hakone, which is known for its landscapes of lakes, mountains and hot springs will join in the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Rimpa, one of the major schools of Japanese painting that excelled at depicting landscapes and nature. The Rimpa style is ...
Ask an art lover to name Japanese women artists active before the 20th century, and chances are they'll draw a blank, despite the fact that many highly accomplished women were painting in far-earlier times. Fortunately, there is now rising interest in understanding the lives and ...
One of the joys of visiting Tokyo's Nezu Museum in early May, is to catch the annual showing of one of the museum's most famous works, Ogata Korin's "Irises," before stepping outside to appreciate the real irises blooming in its garden. This spring, Korin's "Red ...
From the early 1880s, painting in Japan became bisected. Yōga was used to categorize works in oils that were inspired by European painting movements and nihonga became the umbrella term for a whole array of earlier Japanese painting traditions that were later modernized. The division ...
Last year marked the 150th anniversary of the birth of Seiho Takeuchi (1864-1942), a pioneer of nihonga (Japanese-style painting), whose influence on the genre helped it develop even further from its traditional restraints. Having traveled around Europe for seven months when he was 36, Takeuchi ...
It's no secret that the Japanese art world was going through major changes at the end of the 19th century. On the one hand, there was a flood of Western art styles, called yōga, offering exciting new possibilities, while, on the other, there was ...
Shoko Uemura (1902-2001) was born to Shoen Uemura, the most revered and financially successful female painter of the early modern period, who arguably did more to popularize the bijinga genre (pictures of beautiful women) than any other. Artistically, however, his mother is said to ...
Shoko Uemura (1902-2001) was the eldest son of renowned nihonga (Japanese-style) painter Shoen Uemura (1875-1949). Like his mother, Shoko trained in nihonga, and he became widely acclaimed for his kachō -ga (paintings of flowers and birds). Known to challenge the refined compositions of traditional ...
It is difficult to criticize Art Fair Tokyo, the commercial art fair that celebrates its ninth edition at Tokyo International Forum in Yurakucho this weekend. Truth be told, it's a wonder that the event has reached nine editions at all, what with the inherent ...
