NEWSWORTHY
Tanaka Isson: Better late than never
Limited success in Tokyo led Tanaka Isson (1908-77) to burn his sketchbooks, sell his house, and move to Oshima, where he lived in near poverty painting in a vibrant style that posthumously captured the nation's heart.
Yokoyama Taikan: Driven by loyalty
Yokoyama Taikan (1868-1958) is inarguably the definitive artist in creating pictorial and organizational frameworks inaugurating and furthering modern nihonga (Japanese painting.
When art met craft in Meiji Era Japan
The focus of "The 150th Anniversary of the Meiji Period: Making and Designing Meiji Arts and Crafts" at The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, concerns the relationship between nihonga (Japanese-style) painters of Kyoto and craft production during a time when craft and design ...
Motonobu: The father of Kano styles
A family-run enterprise, the Kano school of painting was a consistent force in Japan's art world for more than 300 years, from the Muromachi Period (1336-1573) up until its fortune waned in the 19th century. "Celebrating a Decade in Roppongi, Kano Motonobu: All Under ...
Straddling East and West in art
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 ...
'Kuniyoshi & Kunisada: From the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston'
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.
'Tomioka Tessai Retrospective'
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 ...
'The Entire Okada Collection of Rimpa: Hakone Joins the Rimpa 400 Year Celebration'
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 ...
Korin: the late bloomer with innovative in style
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 ...
Nihonga didn't ignore the West
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 ...
