Kiichi Tsutaya "Coloring Pictures"

Tenri Cultural Institute

poster for Kiichi Tsutaya "Coloring Pictures"

This event has ended.

Among the coloring pictures of the world, there is a strikingly beautiful set of coloring pictures and sheets. These are the "Kiichi's nurie" drawn by Kiichi Tsutaya, Japan's premiere coloring picture artist. He produced detailed, creative, culturally distinctive works of art that are among the most beautiful in the world. Kiichi is noted for his young girls. They have foreshortened bodies, only three to four heads high, bright eyes in large faces, and chubby legs.

"Kiichi's nurie" enjoyed robust sales between 1945 and 1965. Until around 1960 they were sold primarily in packaged sets of single-sheet images, not as bound books. In the 1950s an average of 1 million sheets were sold every month, with a peak of 1.6 million. In his coloring pictures Kiichi depicted brides, beautiful fashions, and a stylish, joyful way of life, stimulating the dreams and yearnings of young girls, and opening their lives to the world of art.

The appeal of "Kiichi's nurie" goes beyond the time and place in which they were created. Kiichi's images for coloring are creative and unique art works that partake of exquisite traditional Japanese sensibilities and capture the hearts of those who view and color the images.

Media

Schedule

from September 21, 2009 to October 03, 2009

Opening Reception on 2009-09-25 from 18:00 to 20:00

Artist(s)

Kiichi Tsutaya

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