Art day
- May 24-2011
- Chikako Takemoto
- Kyoto
Isn’t it too early to start the “tsuyu” rainy season now? It’s still in the middle of May!
The weather forecast of this summer is reported , of course terribly hot, and a lot of rain (Oh~ no!!). I remember the crazy heat of last summer continued until the beginning of last October. But it was dry (compared to a regular summer in Japan!), few rain.
And What’s more, we have to save electricity this summer, which come from the accident of the nuclear plants. I want to save my work this summer! Don’t you think it’s a nice way?
Well, I enjoyed two styles of art last Sunday.
One is contemporary art at “Art Fair Kyoto”, which is the festival of art galleries. It was held at the hotel in downtown. Each gallery displayed some works and sell them.
It was so fun! I could see a lot of works in the same building, and so fun to stroll between the contemporary arts.
The galleries came from mainly Kyoto, and other prefecture such as Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka. I found a unique gallery from France there.
In the evening I moved to Jotenkaku Museum located at the Shokoku-ji Temple ground.
The exhibition was for Ukiyo-e wood block prints from the MKG (Museum fur Kunst und Gewebe) Hamburg. The works by Hiroshige, Hokusai, Harunobu and Kuniyoshi pleased my eyes. The colors used in the works of the Edo era are dull orange, moss green and yellow white (..what do I say..?), and each color was beautifully combined.
I am wondering that people in the Edo era really had a same face like the works of Ukiyo-e, means small, thin eyes and mouth. Or is it a kind of style when Ukiyo-e painters drew the face? At least me (their descendant) is quite different from them. It’s interesting!
150th Aniversary of Japan-German Treaty
Ukiyo-e collection from the MKG Hamburg
May 21st – July 18th and July 23rd – September 11th
At Shokoku-ji Jotenkaku Museum, 10:00-17:00 (entry by 16:30), ¥1000