Kato Kiyoyuki 加藤清之, (from L-R): No. 1 Flower vessel with white glaze on black clay 花入, stoneware, h:4 1/8 × w:1 5/8 in.; No. 4 Flower vessel オリベ花入, stoneware, h:4 5/8 × w:1 3/4 in.; No. 3 Flower vessel with white glaze on black clay, stoneware, h:4 3/8 × w:1 5/8 in.

Spring Collection: The Art of Flower Vessels
April 3 – 10, 2025
Online & By Appointment Only

This spring, Dai Ichi Arts is delighted to present a selection of exquisite flower vases by contemporary Japanese ceramic artists, celebrating the cherished tradition of Hanami—the art of flower viewing in Japan. Close by in New York city’s Central Park, the gallery shares in the joy of the season’s fleeting beauty, as the timeless Yoshino cherry blossoms (sakura), magnolias, and tulips come into bloom.

They warmly invite you to experience the art of flower gazing with these beautifully crafted vessels—each a tribute to the changing seasons and the arrival of spring in this virtual exhibition.

Though the gallery is closed for the month of April (otherwise open by appointment only), the team remains available to answer your queries virtually.

To learn more, click here.

Shima Tamami 島珠実 (1937–1999), Birds (Cranes)「憂いの鳥, Japan, 1959, ink and color on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Purchase and partial gift of the Kenneth and Kiyo Hitch Collection from Kiyo Hitch with funds from the Mary Griggs Burke Endowment, S2019.3.1605

Sneak Peek | Women of The Print Generation
Tuesday, April 8, 2025, 12-12:40pm
Free on Zoom

Japanese women have likely always been involved in printmaking throughout history, but only a few have been recognized as artists in the same way as their male counterparts. This online talk introduces some of the women who were active as printmakers in the twentieth century and considers how these artists expanded their professional opportunities. Dr. Lillian Wies, Harvard Art Museums, will examine the historical reasons for their lack of representation in scholarship and museum collections. She’ll also dive into the curatorial strategies used to include these often-overlooked artists in the current exhibition The Print Generation (open through April 27, 2025). Wies’ talk will conclude with a Q&A facilitated by The Print Generation curator, Kit Brooks, Princeton University Art Museum.

To learn more and register for free, click here.

Utagawa Kunisada (Japanese, 1786–1864), Cherry Blossoms and Three Swallows, 1800s, woodblock print; ink and color on paper, 8 ¾ x 11 1/8 in. (22.2 x 28.3 cm); The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Purchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust, 32-143/219

Lasting Impressions: The Art of Japanese Woodblock Prints
April 5 – July 6, 2025
Gallery 205

For over 1,200 years, woodblock printing has been a vital force in Japanese art, giving artists a powerful means to create multiple impressions of nearly identical works. In woodblock printing, artists cut images and patterns into wooden blocks, creating shapes and lines they can ink and print numerous times. This technique’s ability to reproduce images made it essential for spreading ideas and cultural values across centuries. This exhibition highlights 38 woodblock prints created between 770 C.E. and 1970s, alongside paintings and carved woodblocks, highlighting the evolution of techniques and themes in Japanese art.

To learn more, click here.

Sages and Heroes: Storytelling in Asian Art
April 12 – November 30, 2025
Gallery 222

Storytelling is a vital part of many Asian cultures. The works in this gallery were created by Japanese, Chinese, Burmese, Indian, Persian, and Armenian artists from the 1200s to 1800s. Drawing inspiration from Asian literature, religion, and history, these artists enliven stories with their dynamic visual narratives.

Visual storytelling comes alive via the artists’ skillful hands. Their portrayals convey each story’s intent to entertain, provide advice, promote a set of beliefs, or commemorate people or events. Similarly, the artists’ choices of format and material enhance the viewing experience in public or private. These treasures from the museum’s collection connect us to the joy of storytelling through art.

To learn more, click here.

Iinstallation view, Elegance and Simplicity: Bohnchang Koo and Geejo Lee

Elegance and Simplicity: Bohnchang Koo and Geejo Lee
Closing Tuesday, April 8, 2025
49 East 78th Street, Suite 4B
Mon-Fri, 11am-5:30pm, by appointment

This is the final week to view the exceptional Asia Week New York exhibit, Elegance and Simplicity: Bohnchang Koo and Geejo Lee, at HK Art & Antiques LLC before it closes on April 8! Featuring the renowned works of two masters in their respective fields: Bohnchang Koo, a celebrated photographer, and Geejo Lee, an established contemporary ceramic artist, this presentation offers a rare opportunity to experience the intersection of these two extraordinary artists’ practices.

Bohnchang Koo is internationally acclaimed for his evocative photography, which captures the passage of time and the fragile beauty of objects. His renowned Vessels series explores the delicate nature of Joseon-era baekja (white porcelains), highlighting the pure beauty of Korea’s cultural heritage. In creating this series, Koo photographed baekja from museum collections in Korea and around the world. With a career spanning over three decades, his still life photography – ranging from Joseon ceramics to objects collected during his travels – invites viewers to reflect on history, beauty, and the fleeting nature of time.

Geejo Lee is a contemporary ceramic artist known for his innovative take on traditional Korean ceramics. Lee works with traditional methods and materials, including the same clay used to create Moon Jars, crafting vessels that are prized for their simplicity and functionality. His ceramic creations embody a fusion of timeless traditions and contemporary design, producing works that are not only visually stunning but also suitable for everyday use. Lee’s mastery of ceramic techniques and his deep understanding of Korean ceramics have made him a key figure in South Korea’s contemporary ceramic movement.

Immerse yourself in the dialogue between Koo’s meditative photographs of Joseon ceramic vessels and Lee’s elegantly crafted ceramics. Together, their works evoke the quiet beauty of craftsmanship, time, and tradition, offering a profound and contemplative experience. Be sure to view this enthralling exhibition before it closes!

To learn more, click here.

(Top): Kawashima Shigeo, Dance of Shrine Maiden, 2024, madake bamboo, lacquer, 14.5 x 14.75 x 13.5 in.; (Bottom): Barbara Riley, Earth’s Roar, sumi-e ink on paper, 13.25 x 26.25 in.

Curatorial Vignette: Demons & Monsters at TAI… Oh My!
March 28 – April 26, 2025
Opening Reception: Friday, March 28, 5-7pm
1601 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, NM

TAI Modern is pleased to present Demons & Monsters at TAI… Oh My!, a curatorial vignette featuring the shapeshifting Japanese bamboo art of Kawashima Shigeo from the gallery’s collection, contemporary pop art paintings of Japanese monsters in their plastic worlds by Joel Nakamura, and Zen ink brush paintings of supernatural creatures and yōkai by Barbara Riley.

Although formal, scholarly research of yōkai is in its infancy (there isn’t even a fixed definition of what the term means: for their purposes, somewhere between a demon and a monster—the creatures of bedtime and fairytale stories), TAI Modern invites local New Mexican artists Joel Nakamura and Barbara Riley to showcase their interpretation of yōkai culture alongside the whisper-thin abstract bamboo works of Kawashima Shigeo.

Kawashima Shigeo admits that, when he was a young man, he wanted to “Live in a remote place like a mountain hermit.” But it wasn’t until he was twenty-seven years old that bamboo came into his life as an artistic expression. He generally doesn’t weave with it, as is the traditional technique, but allows it to find form through tying knots with rattan to hold the tangles into a form. The result is a feral, light, expressionistic take on contemporary Japanese bamboo sculpture.

Joel Nakamura is a multi-disciplinary artist who works with myths and legends within a blend of folk art and neo-primitive painting techniques. In addition to being an accomplished children’s book writer and illustrator, he has taken commissions from Time Magazine, US News & World Report, and the Los Angeles Times.

Barbara Riley worked as a freelance writer and editor for over half her life but spent time throughout working in a more formal sphere to copy paintings from hundreds of books in her library—from Korean Modernism, classical Chinese landscapes, to Japanese Zenga. This allowed her to find space for expression and originality in the traditional art of sumi-e ink painting.

Bringing painting together with sculptural forms, Demons & Monsters at TAI… Oh My! explores the relationship between mythology and technique. It also promises to be a raucous time, containing the traditional Japanese Hyakki Yagyō (night procession of one hundred demons) parading on the walls of the gallery!

To learn more, click here.

Temple of Kamakura from David King Jr.’s souvenir album from Japan, circa 1871

The Preservation Society is delighted to present an exciting lineup of events this spring! The Lifting the Curtain lecture series offers a rare glimpse into the hidden treasures of Gilded Age photography, showcasing seldom-seen gems from the archives. Additionally, The Newport Piccolo Simposio, a day-long symposium, will bring together leading fine and decorative arts experts to explore the profound influence of Italian art and design on Gilded Age Newport. Be sure to sign up in-person or online via Zoom today!

Winter Program Series: Lifting the Curtain
Newport through a New Lens: Treasures of Photography at the Preservation Society
March 27, 2025 at 6pm (EST)
In-person Tickets: $20 Non-Member Adult; $15 Member Adult
Zoom Tickets: $10 Non-Member Adult; $0 Member Adult

Join Dr. Nicole Williams, Preservation Society Curator of Collections for a fascinating lecture on The Preservation Society’s extraordinary archive of Gilded Age photographs. Encompassing portraits of celebrities and families, transporting foreign views, and images of Newport landmarks, Dr. Williams will explore how pioneering photographers pushed the limits of the medium, often blurring the line between truth and artifice, to cultivate intimacy, critique injustice and convey knowledge and power.

She will also explore how these photographs offer fresh insights into Newport’s iconic architecture and art collections. A standout piece in the archive is an early photograph of Japan from an album purchased by Newporter David King Jr. (1839–1894) at the Yokohama studio of the trailblazing photographer Felice Beato. King’s firsthand experience in Japan likely influenced his decision to commission McKim, Mead & White to design Kingscote’s dining room in the 1880s, incorporating elegant Japanesque elements.

This lecture is available in-person and via Zoom. To learn more and register, click here.

The Breakers Great Hall, designed 1892 by Richard Morris Hunt

The Newport Piccolo Simposio: Italian Influence in Newport
April 3, 2025 from 8:30am–4pm (EST)
Zoom Tickets: $25

The Preservation Society is excited to bring back the Newport Symposium after a 5-year hiatus. Piccolo Simposio (Italian for “little symposium”) will be a daylong immersion into Italian art and design in Gilded Age Newport, and their continuing influence today. From Chateau-sur-Mer to The Elms to The Breakers and beyond, the Gilded Age elite were enamored with Italian or Italian-inspired architecture, interiors, landscapes and art. Join a panel of experts as they examine this many-faceted topic.

While in-person attendance for this program is sold out, you can join the waitlist by emailing [email protected] or secure your spot for the live online event by purchasing Zoom tickets today.

To learn more and register, click here.

Zoom webinar, Shifting Landscapes: New Approaches to Modern + Contemporary South Asian Art

If you missed our recent Zoom webinar, Shifting Landscapes: New Approaches to Modern + Contemporary South Asian Art, you can watch it now on our site!

Over the last decade, the global interest in modern and contemporary art from South Asia and its wide diaspora has grown exponentially. Our esteemed panel of experts unpacked some of the new and innovative approaches to modern and contemporary South Asian art that have characterized this period of growth, exploring significant changes in the local, regional and global landscapes of the category, particularly at the institutional level.

Following an engaging Q&A session, our audience sought further insights through recommended reading. Our panelists suggested two essential titles: “Moving Focus: India – New Perspectives on Modern & Contemporary Art” and “20th Century Indian Art: Modern, Post-Independence, Contemporary,” both of which can be found at online retailers such as Abebooks, eBay, and Amazon.

Panelists included:

Shanay Jhaveri, Head of Visual Arts at the Barbican in London
Deepanjana Klein, Director of Acquisitions and Development at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in New Delhi
Moderate by Nishad Avari, Specialist and Head of Department for Indian Art at Christie’s New York

Watch this insightful discussion here!