Category Archives: Asian Art

Cherry Blossom – Damien Hirst – Joe Machine and… the Art of Japan

Posted on February 9, 2022 by toshidama

There is a minor furore in the UK press at the moment regarding the latest pictures by the British contemporary artist Damien Hirst. Mr Hirst has spent three years making lots of large paintings of cherry blossoms which of course … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian Art, Cherry Blossom, Chikanobu, Edo, Hiroshige, Impressionist Art, Kunisada, ukiyo-e | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Yeats, Pound, T S Eliot and Japanese Theatre

Posted on April 19, 2021 by toshidama

The first performance of At The Hawk’s Well was on 2nd April in the drawing room of Cunard’s Mayfair house. The work was performed in part by the Japanese dancer Michio Ito Continue reading →

Posted in Aesthetic Movement, Asian Art, Edo, Japanese Art, kabuki theatre, ukiyo-e, Uncategorized, Upside-down Man, Woodblock print, Wyndham Lewis, yakusha-e | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Wormholes in Japanese Prints

Posted on January 18, 2021 by toshidama

The print pictured below is a very rare warrior triptych by Kunisada; a musha-e. The worm damage is very minor but it set me thinking about the extraordinary history embodied in these three sheets of paper. Continue reading →

Posted in Asian Art, Floating World, japanese woodblock prints, Kunisada, musha-e, samurai, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Bandits and Warlords. Fighting men in Japanese prints.

Posted on September 27, 2019 by toshidama

The Toshidama Gallery is showing a collection of prints featuring aggressive and violent folk heroes and warlords. The selection looks at how the populace of Edo expressed their frustration with the government and with the increasingly corrupt samurai class. As … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian Art, Floating World, Japanese Art, Japanese gangster, Japanese prints, japanese woodblock prints, kabuki theatre, Kunisada, Kuniyoshi, Male Tragedy, Otokodate, Suikoden, yoshitoshi | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sugoroku Magic – Jiraiya

Posted on July 25, 2019 by toshidama

A series of magicians and ghosts all taken from squares on a nineteenth century sugoroku board by the artist Kunichika Continue reading →

Posted in Asian Art, Edo, Floating World, Japanese Art, kabuki theatre, Kunichika, Kunisada, Magical, Sugoroku, Toshidama Gallery., ukiyo-e, ukiyo-e art | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sugoroku Magic – The Ghost of Seigen

Posted on July 12, 2019 by toshidama

The picture above is the first detail in our series taken from the stunning supernatural Sugoroku board showing at the Toshidama Gallery. It is a sort of compendium  of ghosts, magicians, magic creatures and so on. This is the ‘last … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian Art, Edo, Floating World, ghosts, japanese woodblock prints, Sugoroku, supernatural Japanese print, Toshidama Gallery., Uncategorized, Vintage Board Games | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

War; Regret and Loss

Posted on June 3, 2019 by toshidama

There’s been a great deal of media discussion about war in the UK press this week because it is the seventy-fifth anniversary of D-Day. War, conflict slaughter… sacrifice and duty, these are all common themes in Japanese prints. Martial events … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian Art, Japanese Art, Japanese Art Gallery, Japanese Poetry, Japanese prints, japanese woodblock prints, Kiyochika, Male Tragedy, Male Tragedy in Japanese Prints, Meiji Art, musha-e, senso-e, Sino-Japanese War, ukiyo-e, ukiyo-e art, Uncategorized, yoshitoshi | Tagged , | 1 Comment

A Sunday Afternoon; Where?

Posted on October 22, 2018 by toshidama

This painting by the great Post-impressionist and Pointillist painter Georges Seurat (above) seems to be the very essence of Frenchness… A Sunday Afternoon at the Grande Jatte… what could be more Parisian, more moderne than this elegant display of European … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian Art, Edo, Floating World, Impressionist Art, japanese woodblock prints, Matisse, Seurat, Toshidama Gallery. | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Pesky Catfish – A Tsunami Averted

Posted on November 23, 2016 by toshidama

Japan is no stranger to natural disaster and earthquakes are perhaps one of the most devastating events that can befall a city. In previous centuries, Edo (now Tokyo), was plagued by earthquakes that caused destruction to the fragile straw and paper houses by disturbing open fires, lanterns, cooking stoves and other vulnerable objects Continue reading →

Posted in Asian Art, Earthquake, Floating World, Ichikawa Danjuro, Japanese Art, Japanese prints, japanese woodblock prints, kabuki theatre, Kunisada, Namazu-e, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Buying Japanese Woodblock Prints… a Print per Day at Toshidama Gallery

Posted on April 25, 2016 by toshidama

Chikanobu (1838 – 1912)  Jidai kagami (A mirror of the ages): The Bunsei era (1818 – 1830); Upper Inset: Dancer and people in front of a sign for nishiki-e, 1897 The photograph doesn’t do any justice at all to this … Continue reading →

Posted in Art Collector, Asian Art, Chikanobu, Edo, Hirosada, Japanese prints, japanese woodblock prints, kabuki theatre, Meiji Art, Toshidama Gallery., ukiyo-e, ukiyo-e art | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment