Archives For Modernism

Japan and Modernism

October 5, 2015 — Leave a comment

Rediscovered the Japanese Tea Rooms at the Philadelphia Museum of Art yesterday and reminded why my first love was Japanese Scroll Painting & Ceramics.  My early series Nature Morte & Desert, are especially informed by this aesthetic. Some of my Nocturnes are (visually) based on Japanese Garden views from ancient Tea Rooms. Looking back, the ancient Japanese artists and craftsman were some of first Modernist’s it seems. I am always shocked how contemporary their ancient visual language actually was.  

Detail of Japanese Tea Room Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Screen shot 2015-10-05 at 9.37.37 AM

Lions at the Stone Bridge of Tendaisan Artist: Soga Shōhaku (Japanese, 1730–1781) Period: Edo period (1615–1868) Date: 1779 Culture: Japan Medium: Hanging scroll; ink on silk Dimensions: Image: 44 7/8 in. × 20 in. (114 × 50.8 cm) via http://www.metmuseum.org/

 

Suzuki Kiitsu’s ‘Cranes’ (19th century Edo Period) | THE FEINBERG COLLECTION via http://www.metmuseum.org/

 

Mino ware, Oribe style; glazed stoneware, 1 7/8 x 7 3/4 in. (4.76 x 19.69 cm) via Seattle Art Museum