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Curator's Corner

An Art Ode to Labor Day Week: Okumura Masanobu

Wednesday, September 6, 2017 | Karl Cole

My Labor Day Week series continues with this ukiyo-e woodcut. ...

Curator's Corner

Sumidagawa in July: Japanese Woodcuts

Monday, July 24, 2017 | Karl Cole

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 ...

Curator's Corner

Not an Easter Egg

Monday, April 17, 2017 | Karl Cole

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 ...

Curator's Corner

Hanami in Spring: Terasaki Kōgyō, Katsushika Hokusai, Shibata Zeshin

Tuesday, April 11, 2017 | Karl Cole

With warm weather finally starting to return, I’m going to continue to celebrate spring with ART. Hanami is Japanese for “blossom viewing,” and is the name given to the annual spring ...

Curator's Corner

New Year for the Sensibilities

Tuesday, January 3, 2017 | Karl Cole

Leave it to Honoré Daumier to sum up a personality that could be any number of jerks in our current narrow-minded, materialistic, me-me-me culture. In honor of the advent of 2017, I decided to ...

Curator's Corner

First Snow Response

Monday, December 19, 2016 | Karl Cole

In the last week we had our first measurable snow in Massachusetts. I’m totally the kind of dork who’s all “it’s so pretty to walk around when it’s snowing.” And si ...

Curator's Corner

Smoke

Monday, December 5, 2016 | Karl Cole

I happen to burn a lot of incense, because I think it’s nicer than any of those spray products that immediately fall to the floor and dissipate. And who wants a plug-in air freshener that runs u ...

Curator's Corner

An Autumn Idyll from Japan

Monday, October 31, 2016 | Karl Cole

One of the most fascinating things I learned (among many fascinating things) while studying Japanese culture and art when in college, was that Japanese scholars would routinely debate the virtues of a ...

Curator's Corner

A Look at Rainy May Days in Shin Hanga and Sosaku Hanga Prints

Monday, May 9, 2016 | Karl Cole

Most of May’s weather has been pretty cold and rainy so far, so I thought I’d look at art (which I do every day anyway) to take my mind off of it. Of course, a title including “May R ...

Curator's Corner

Winter

Monday, January 11, 2016 | Karl Cole

Well, it’s winter. Instead of ruefully awaiting spring, I prefer to look at works of art that evoke the idea of winter, one way or another. It’s always interesting to me how artists can ca ...

Curator's Corner

Happy New Year: Japanese Surimono

Monday, January 4, 2016 | Karl Cole

Since I’m feeling lazy this week, I’m showing you Japanese New Year cards (surimono) again. I think they’re lovely, and who wouldn’t want to receive one of these color woodcut ...

Curator's Corner

A Neglected Japanese Printmaker: Gosōtei Hirosada

Monday, July 27, 2015 | Karl Cole

I’m pretty sure there’s generally a misconception about the ukiyo-e phenomenon in Japanese art. It is certainly one I had until I recently came across hundreds of gorgeous woodblock prints ...

Curator's Corner

Survey No. 10: Ubiquitous Real

Monday, January 19, 2015 | Karl Cole

So far we have taken a look at Classicism and Romanticism around the world in the 1800s. Now let’s look at “realism,” which—like every other style—has been a trend somewh ...

Curator's Corner

Survey No. 9: What is Romanticism?

Monday, January 12, 2015 | Karl Cole

Last week I discussed the stylistic designation “classicism” in both Western and non-Western art produced in the 1800s. For today’s New Slant on Art History, I continue to look at th ...

Curator's Corner

Saturated Autumn Color: Meiji Period

Tuesday, November 4, 2014 | Karl Cole

I know I showed a Japanese artist’s work last week, but I got so excited when I came across this woodcut print that I just had to share it with you. It’s a perfect example of saturation&nb ...

Curator's Corner

Vacation: Leisure Time in Art

Monday, July 29, 2013 | Karl Cole

Since vacation is on everyone’s mind now that summer is in full swing, let’s just look at works of art that spout vacation, special day off, or festival. And, yes, this can be an art histo ...

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Ukiyo-e

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An Art Ode to Labor Day Week: Okumura Masanobu

Sumidagawa in July: Japanese Woodcuts

Not an Easter Egg

Hanami in Spring: Terasaki Kōgyō, Katsushika Hokusai, Shibata Zeshin

New Year for the Sensibilities

First Snow Response

Smoke

An Autumn Idyll from Japan

A Look at Rainy May Days in Shin Hanga and Sosaku Hanga Prints

Winter

Happy New Year: Japanese Surimono

A Neglected Japanese Printmaker: Gosōtei Hirosada

Survey No. 10: Ubiquitous Real

Survey No. 9: What is Romanticism?

Saturated Autumn Color: Meiji Period

Vacation: Leisure Time in Art

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