Tag - art

 
 

ART

Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 4, 2014
Tokihiro Sato: A breath of fresh photography
Using a penlight at night and a mirror during the day, the photographs in Tokihiro Sato's 'Photo-Respiration' series show trails or spots of light in darkened landscapes, of which probably the most audacious are scenes of central Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 4, 2014
How Japan crafted its modernization
When Japan ended its isolation in the mid-to-late-19th-century, it had lots of disadvantages compared to the other major powers. But one distinct advantage that its isolation had preserved was its craft industries and the skills of its craftsmen.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 4, 2014
'Essays in Idleness: Enjoying Classical Literature Through Art'
The collection of essays "Tsurezuregusa (Essays in Idleness)" written by Yoshida Kenko in 1330-31 is considered as one of the three greatest zuihitsu (collection of writings) in Japan, along with "Makura no Soshi (The Pillow book)" by Sei Shonagon and Kamo no Chomei's "Hojoki (An Account of My Hut)."...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 4, 2014
'Hirayama Ikuo: Message to the Next Generations'
Ikuo Hirayama (1930-2009), who experienced the World War II atomic bombing of Japan, based his artistic values on his strong Buddhist faith and his search for peace. He traveled along the Silk Road to research the history of Japanese art and worked on many bold and grand paintings with Buddhist themes,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 4, 2014
'Yasuyoshi Sugiura: A Natural History of Ceramics — Making Nature'
While attending college, Yasuyoshi Sugiura was moved by the words of his teacher, who told him, "ceramics are stones." This inspired the artist to explore the potential of clay as a medium, creating works such as the "Stones of Ceramics" series" that, as the title suggests, presented small, realistic...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 30, 2014
Photo series charts the family unit in changing Japan
Family photos in Japan, especially ones taken for formal occasions such as shichi-go-san (seven-five-three) ceremonies, are often as stiffly posed as 19th-century tintypes, with Mom, Dad and Junior never cracking a smile.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 28, 2014
The 'Great Wave' that reached the West
Ukiyo-e prints could be found in Europe from at least 1795 at the Cabinet des Estampes at the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. It was not until the 1850s, however, when trade between Japan and Europe began to flourish, that the craze for things Japanese began to crescendo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 28, 2014
'Go-Betweens: The World Seen Through Children'
A pioneer of social-documentary photojournalism, Danish American social reformer Jacob Riis (1849-1914) used photography to help reveal the plight of impoverished immigrants in New York during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He used the term "go-betweens" to describe the children of the immigrants,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 28, 2014
'Sumo Wrestlers in Ukiyo-e: Ishiguro Kazuyoshi Collection'
Sumo is not simply a sport: Like kabuki theater, it's a tradition and an important cultural heritage with a long history. This exhibition showcases nearly 100 sumo-e, ukiyo-e prints of sumo wrestlers, which date back to the early 19th century and are selected from the Kazuyoshi Ishiguro collection.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 28, 2014
'Mt. Fuji by Taikan: In Commemoration of the First Anniversary of the World Heritage Designation'
Alongside the likes of Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) and Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858), Taikan Yokoyama (1868-1958) has produced some of Japan's most famous painters of Mount Fuji. In his lifetime, he worked on more than 1,500 paintings of Japan's largest peak.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 21, 2014
Japan's isolation didn't stop the West lending its colors
A common misperception of sakoku, Japan's closed-door isolation policy gradually enacted from 1633 by Tokugawa Iemitsu and his successors, is that Japan forsook the outside world.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 21, 2014
Naonori Oshima: What you see is less than what you actually get
'ON Harmonic Balance' is a dark, claustrophobic collection of images that, although they illustrate many of the tropes that are often associated with the snapshot aesthetic, come across as guileless and unforced.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 21, 2014
'Shoko Uemura'
Shoko Uemura (1902-2001) was the eldest son of renowned nihonga (Japanese-style) painter Shoen Uemura (1875-1949). Like his mother, Shoko trained in nihonga, and he became widely acclaimed for his kachō -ga (paintings of flowers and birds). Known to challenge the refined compositions of traditional...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 19, 2014
Japanese galleries bank on Art Basel in Hong Kong
Whoever said the Swiss were boring? For Art Basel in Hong Kong, they put on a hell of a party, and the 20 participating galleries from Japan, while not exactly dominating the landscape, certainly made the most of it.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 18, 2014
As D-Day's 70th anniversary nears, race is on to save WWII artwork
They drew cartoons, graffiti, murals, glamor "pinups," combat scenes, mission records and maps. U.S. servicemen at bomber and fighter bases in central and eastern England between 1942 and 1945 created a huge but largely unrecorded body of wartime artwork, some of which has survived more than 70 years...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 14, 2014
Nagoya hosts works from one of the largest collections in the U.S.
For Malcolm Rogers, the Ann and Graham Gund Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), visiting Japan in mid-April had a special resonance. The MFA this year celebrates its 15th anniversary of ties with what is not only its very first sister museum, but also its sole sister museum in Asia: the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 14, 2014
Before the vividness of France came the simplicity of Holland
It must be something of a Faustian bargain buying a Post-Impressionist painting for a record-breaking price. In 1987, Yasuo Goto, president of Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance Co., bought Van Gogh's "Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers" (1888) for $39 million. Perhaps due to that daring purchase, his company,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 14, 2014
'Chic Gentlemen and Elegant Ladies: Fashion in Japanese Painting'
The concept behind Cool Japan fashion may go back further than you think. Shifts in fashion styles have been documented in art for centuries, and Japanese art history has much to reveal.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 14, 2014
'Watercolorist: Tojiro Oshita'
As a writer, editor, presenter and designer, Tojiro Oshita (1870-1911) possessed many talents that contributed to and influenced his more famous work as a painter. He is often referred to as the father of Japanese watercolor painting, and his 1901 publication "Suisaiga no Shiori" ("A Guidebook to Watercolor...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 7, 2014
Art Basel makes a difference in Asia
Magnus Renfrew, the director of Asia Art Basel, stopped by Tokyo in the lead up to this year's Art Basel in Hong Kong to talk about what it means to have Art Basel purchase Art HK.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?