It's Still Autumn: Noguchi Shōhin
It may feel like winter, but technically it’s still autumn until the 21st of December. I like nothing better than celebrating autumn—my favorite season in New England—with an artist ...
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Curator’s Corner
Light, Air, and Contemplation: Photographing the Intangible
Traditional reverence for nature—a mainstay in most Japanese art forms throughout art history—continues in the work of contemporary Japanese artists. After a couple of beautifully foggy mo ...
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Curator’s Corner
Do Not Deface! Historic Sites to Visit Respectfully
As an art historian and artist, I am appalled by recent incidents of tourists defacing the Colosseum (72–80 CE) in Rome and Toshodai-ji (founded 759 CE) in Nara, Japan, with their initials. It i ...
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Curator’s Corner
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2023: Chan Chao
Photography was a groundbreaking art form when it was first introduced. Quite soon after its development, numerous Western photographers explored photography for documentary and journalistic purposes. ...
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Curator’s Corner
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2023: Walasse Ting
One of the great things about America is the fact that, since colonial times, awesome artists from all over the world have come here and made amazing contributions to American art history. As time has ...
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Curator’s Corner
Gems of the Month: Contemporary Japanese Tea Bowls
This month’s gems are contemporary artworks that serve the ages-old Japanese tea ceremony (chanoyu or sado). Tea drinking was first introduced in Japan during the Nara period (710–794) aft ...
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Curator’s Corner
A Young Wheat Plant for Spring: Hamada Shōji
As an avid learner of the thousands of years of Japanese ceramic arts history, I am always excited to contemplate an artist’s work that I had never studied carefully before. Shōji Hama ...
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Curator’s Corner
World Landscape Architecture Month: Ginkakuji Temple
Landscape architects around the world make works of art out of the natural environment. Every culture has aesthetics that guide this work. In the case of traditional dry gardens in Japan, Zen Buddhist ...
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Curator’s Corner
Gem of the Month: Lotus Ten-Panel Screen
In observance of National Korean American Day, which occurred on Friday, January 13th, I dedicate the January Gem of the Month to the singular beauty of Korean art through the centuries. Korean art co ...
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Curator’s Corner
Happy New Year 2023: Totoya Hokkei
Mekari Shinji at the Mekari Shrine in Japan is an annual ritual of cutting wakame seaweed—symbolizing wealth and good fortune—from the ocean at low tide on New Year’s day of the old ...
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