Lacquer: Japanese Negoro Ware
The art of lacquer has long fascinated me. When I was in an Asian Art seminar in college (decades ago), I learned that ancient Chinese bodies coated in lacquer still had supple skin. Now that’s ...
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Curator's Corner
Thoughts About Abstraction: Totoya Hokkei
Abstraction is any art that does not represent observed aspects of nature or transforms visible forms into a stylized image. Another definition (which I prefer) is that abstraction is the extreme simp ...
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Curator's Corner
What is "Contemporary Art"? Yoshitomo Nara
What comes to mind when you think “contemporary art”? I find it interesting that Picasso and Abstract Expressionism are still considered, by some, to be “contemporary” in ...
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Curator's Corner
A Great Tradition Endures: Shoko Koike
As I’ve written before, ceramic arts in Japan are among the oldest on Earth, dating back to the Jomon Culture (dates to ca. 11000 BCE, flourished ca. 3000 – 200 BCE). The reason I bring up ...
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Curator's Corner
Mask for Theater: Deme Mitsunori
There are so many aspects of Japanese culture that I find absolutely fascinating; I could keep writing this blog for years! As with many countries around the world and throughout history, art is an in ...
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Curator's Corner
Aizuri-e = Wonderful: Kunisada
Aizuri-e means blue printed picture. Traditionally, the blue was derived from the dayflower. However, via the Dutch in Osaka, Prussian blue was imported from Europe as early as the 1790s. It did ...
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Curator's Corner
Mezzotints of Hamaguchi Yozo
I’ve tried lithography, woodcut, linoleum cut, and etching (on a plastic plate, yuck!), but have never succeeded as a printmaker. I would gladly do color lithography if I could have a press in m ...
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Curator's Corner
Yakimono: Sugiura Yasuyoshi
Yakimono in Japanese refers to a “fired thing.” A reverence for nature has historically been part of Japanese art since ancient times. Interestingly, the evocation of the respect for natur ...
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Curator's Corner
Today = Tradition: Michikawa Shōzō
I’m able to trace my mother’s side of the family back to the Middle Ages in Switzerland, hence (love using that word whenever I can), I’m totally appreciative of tradition. As you kn ...
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Curator's Corner
Kacho-e: Ohara Koson
Today’s post is about my epiphany of the week. In a previous post I introduced you to the early 1900s phenomenon in Japanese woodblock prints called sosaku hanga. That was the continuation of th ...
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