LONDON -- More so than in any previous era, the development of modern art has been characterized by a healthy international cross-pollination of styles and movements. I have on many occasions remarked, sometimes disparagingly, on the strong influences Japanese artists have absorbed from their Western contemporaries. But I am in London this week (researching the tradition of English stained glass, while also enjoying many pints of beer in pubs), and so I think it appropriate to look a little at the influence that Japan has had on some British artists.
Now, I was going to touch on the effect that the late 19th-century japonisme movement had on British or British-based artists such as Aubrey Beardsley and James A. McNeill Whistler, then track forward to the present and artists such as 2002 Turner Prize-nominee Catherine Yass, whose new work deals with Tokyo. I'd reckoned on wrapping up with a look ahead at the Japan-British Art Now series of exhibitions and workshops coming to Tokyo in May.
But my plans changed last week when I met, here in London and under the most extraordinary circumstances, an artist named Alan Dick.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.