Let It Snow in Ukiyo-e Prints
We have had several snowfalls in the past couple of weeks. On Presidents’ Day I found myself staring at a snow-laden tree across the street and thinking, that looks like a Japanese woodcut of a ...
Read More
< Back to Curator's Corner
Curator's Corner
Surimono Time for the New Year
I did it before and I’m doing it again: surimono to celebrate the New Year. In the West, we don’t really make little works of fine art to celebrate the New Year. In Japan, the surimono&mda ...
Read More
Curator's Corner
Whose Mod Is It? Emilio Pucci and Japanese Kimono
I’ve posted before about how the idea of abstraction has been around since the earliest art produced by humans. However, somehow in the West we think that Western artists “invented” ...
Read More
Curator's Corner
"Hmm, Ginko Leaf or Toothbrush?"
I just got a crown on a tooth this week, so I thought I’d do a teeth-themed posting. Goodness knows I don’t love going to the dentist, but he’s a really good one, so I’m no lon ...
Read More
Curator's Corner
Artists with August Birthdays: Sakai Hōitsu and George Bellows
Monthly artists’ birthdays are a good way to introduce you to a variety of artists I actually adore, while contrasting art from vastly different cultures. I’m not going to call it “i ...
Read More
Curator's Corner
Mobility Awareness Month: Kawasaki Kazuo and Rainer Küschall
By the early 21st century, it is certainly no longer questioned that industrial design and art have learned how to go hand-in-hand. I think we also agree that most creative efforts—from chefs to ...
Read More
Curator's Corner
Women's (Art) History Month: Kajiwara Aya
I like to feature pioneering women during National Women’s (Art) History Month. The arts are obviously no exception to the fields in which women have pioneered and excelled. This is as true in J ...
Read More
Curator's Corner
An Art Ode to Labor Day Week: Okumura Masanobu
My Labor Day Week series continues with this ukiyo-e woodcut. ...
Read More
Curator's Corner
Sumidagawa in July: Japanese Woodcuts
The actual festival of Sumidagawa (“Sumida River”) occurs in Tokyo in the last week of August, but there are fireworks in Tokyo from May through August, starting with the Opening of the Su ...
Read More
Curator's Corner
Not an Easter Egg
On our planet, the egg has been almost universally viewed as a symbol of rebirth and fertility since ancient times (imagine ancient eyes seeing something living come out of something hard and apparent ...
Read More