NYAB Event - “Japanese Paintings and Works of Art” Exhibition

“Japanese Paintings and Works of Art” Exhibition

Erik Thomsen LLC Asian Art

This event has ended.

Working with art in various media and from a wide range of periods is a remarkably energizing and rewarding process. In this fall’s Asia Week exhibition, Japanese Paintings and Works of Art, I am delighted to present an episodic grouping of works of art from several centuries.

Mastery of media is a theme common to many of the works in the exhibition, with a notable example being Herons in Summer Rain by Fujii Setsuden (active 1890s-1910s). The artist creates a wonderful asymmetry with the imposing and massive tree trunk, which he paints from a perspective near the base of the tree, looking up. The herons - their necks tucked down, huddled against the rain - meanwhile are seen almost from the side, a perspective that lets him render them with sharply defined and exquisite detail. In contrast, Setsuden displays the finest of touches in his use of wash to create the sensation of a steady, gentle drizzle and mist. Overall, the screens are a tour de force of both composition and artistic technique.

Another large pair of six-panel screens on view at our gallery exhibition is Pine Trees on a Beach by Kawashima Baikyu (born 1896). Both pairs of screens are examples of early 20th century artists exploring new approaches to traditional subjects during a period that brought remarkable energy and creativity to the arts of Japan.

Also in the exhibition is a group of elegant baskets by twentieth-century masters from the Kanto and Kansai regions. I am especially fond of the three baskets by the Iizuka family: Hosai II, Shoun, and Shokansai. In addition there are exquisite gold lacquers decorated with autumn motifs.

More in-depth discussions of the works on view are presented in Erik Thomsen 2013: Japanese Paintings and Works of Art, a fully illustrated publication that provides commentary and information about works in the current exhibition.

[Image: Herons in Summer Rain, a pair of six-panel folding screens by Fujii Setsuden, circa 1912 (detail)]