Gem of the Month: Kumi Sugaï
Abstraction was not an invention of Western artists in the early 1900s. The following definitions indicate that abstraction has been part of art throughout the world since the cave paintings of pre-hi ...
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Curator's Corner
Happy New Year: Kamisaka Sekka
What better way to wish "Happy New Year" to all than with a beautiful painting of the sacred Mount Fuji! ...
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Curator's Corner
Japanese Fashion: Yamamoto Kansai
Having studied fashion history in college, I’m always keen on researching unconventional designers. Kansai Yamamoto certainly fills that bill. His outstandingly avant-garde designs helped advanc ...
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Curator's Corner
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
The Intangible in Japanese Photography
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
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
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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