Tag - art

 
 

ART

Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 3, 2014
'Welcome to Edo! Children Depicted in Ukiyo-e Prints'
Though the most famous of ukiyo-e prints and paintings often feature women, actors and scenery, children were also a common subject. In fact, in Japan, images of children, usually depicted in everyday activities, were some of the top-sellers of the 17th to 19th centuries.
Events / Events In Tokyo
Jun 26, 2014
Everyone's having a laugh in Kinokuniya
Rakugo, a traditional form of comic storytelling in Japan, deals with anecdotes about human nature. Described as a "performance of imagination," it is usually done on an empty stage with the artist kneeling on a large cushion and acting out the roles of all characters in the tales, expressing their actions...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 25, 2014
Kids' stuff that adults need to see
Perhaps in the wake of this attack on seriousness, many artists have since taken refuge in childishness, whimsy or playfulness, though these values have been carefully rationed in 'Go-Betweens: The World Seen through Children,' with the emphasis being more on showing childhood as a state of vulnerability and transformation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 25, 2014
The evolution of Seiki Kuroda
In all too-common sophomoric slight to artists is: 'A child could have done that.' Seiki Kuroda (1866-1924), the most significant Western-style painter in Japan's early modern history, however, shows that even some young adults can not accomplish what takes years to hone.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 25, 2014
'Specters, Ghosts and Sorcerers in Ukiyo-e'
Ghouls, monsters, specters, ghosts — all manner of the supernatural have long fascinated and frightened in all cultures, but the Japanese have historically enjoyed a particularly entertaining, and pictorial, relationship with the eerie and uncanny.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 25, 2014
'Looking East: Western Artists and the Allure of Japan from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston'
After Japan finally opened up to foreign trade during the mid- to late 1800s, many of the West's well-known 20th-century art movements were, perhaps surprisingly, strongly influenced by Japanese art. Japonism became a part of Impressionism, Aestheticism and Art Nouveau, with Japanese aesthetics, themes...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 25, 2014
'Presents from Eiji Mitooka: Designs to Make People and Cities Happier'
Through his train designs and station-building plans for Japan Rail's Kyushu Line, industrial designer Eiji Mitooka has won multiple awards for work that harmoniously reflects locals and their lives.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 19, 2014
Yokohama's French connection
Around 150 years ago, silk traders from Lyon in France went all the way to Yokohama to buy silkworm eggs that they heard could resist an epidemic disease that was ravaging the French silk industry. Since then, the two cities have built a strong business variegated relationship and friendship.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 18, 2014
The Uemuras were not quite like mother, like son
Shoko Uemura (1902-2001) was born to Shoen Uemura, the most revered and financially successful female painter of the early modern period, who arguably did more to popularize the bijinga genre (pictures of beautiful women) than any other. Artistically, however, his mother is said to have taught him nothing.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 18, 2014
'Guess What? Hardcore Contemporary Art's Truly a World Treasure'
Contemporary artworks are rarely described as "world treasures," but here The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo has come up with its own definition of the phrase. These are works that are literally "treasures" in terms of their high market value, but also because of their ability to convey universal...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 18, 2014
'Treasured Masterpieces from the National Palace Museum, Taipei'
The National Palace Museum, Taipei, is one of the world's largest collections of ancient Chinese artifacts and artworks, housing more than 696,000 items, many of which are outstanding masterpieces.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 18, 2014
'Koji Suzuki'
"Where the Wild Things Are," "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and "Where's Waldo?" — these world-renowned children's books feature some of the most vivid and unforgettable illustrations that retain places in the hearts of readers all the way into adulthood.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 11, 2014
Imagination runs wild in Japanese contemporary art
"Nostalgia and Fantasy: Imagination and its Origins in Contemporary Art" is a ragtag grouping of nine individual artists and one unit, each of whom focus on extremely different things. It is difficult to say, in fact, where "nostalgia" and "fantasy" come into play in some instances. With only minimal...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 11, 2014
Nature prevails at the Hakone Open Air Museum
The Hakone Open Air Museum, located on the slopes of Mount Hakone in Fuji Hakone Izu National Park, is built in a beautiful natural setting of over 70,000 sq. meters. It is perfect for a day trip from the city or an extended weekend excursion, and its expansive grounds showcase more than 100 monumental...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 11, 2014
'Ballets Russes: The Art of Costume'
Russian ballet group Ballets Russes, founded by renown impresario and art critic Sergei Diaghilev (1872-1929) was not an ordinary troupe. It collaborated with many young individuals from various disciplines, including artists Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Georges Braque, composer Igor Stravinsky and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 11, 2014
'Beauty on the Edge: Contemporary Art Nara — Magic of Materials and Wisdom'
Sculptors Takashi Kikuchi and Kei Takemata, stone artist Kota Kinutani, print artist Chihiro Shimotani, wood artist Chuichi Fuji, video artist Yutaka Moriguchi and painter Natsunosuke Mise are all connected by their strong afflilliation to Nara Prefecture.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jun 6, 2014
Fans go nuts for Shiga banana carver
An electrician by day and banana artist by night, Keisuke Yamada has attained renown at home and abroad for his banana sculptures.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 6, 2014
Calculating the ethical cost of high-priced art
If artists, art critics and art buyers really had any interest in reducing the widening gap between the rich and the poor, they would spend time in developing countries, where spending a few thousand dollars on the works of indigenous artists can make a real difference to the wellbeing of whole villages.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Jun 6, 2014
Gallery proves a hit with young critic
The art critic wanders purposefully around the gallery, passing instant, scathing judgment on the surrounding artworks.

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