Kawase Hasui (1883-1957), Seaside Cottage, Himi, Etchu from “Souvenirs of Travels, Second Series”, 1921, Japanese color woodblock print

Love of Place: The Landscapes of Kawase Hasui (1883-1957)
March 15 – 16, 2025
Exhibiting at: The Luxury Collection Hotel Manhattan Midtown (formerly the Conrad), 151 W 54th Street, Sky Suite
Asia Week Hours: 11am-6pm (otherwise by appointment)

Egenolf Gallery is looking forward to presenting Love of Place: The Landscapes of Kawase Hasui (1883-1957) during this season’s Asia Week New York. Exhibiting at The Luxury Collection Hotel Manhattan Midtown (formerly the Conrad Hotel), they look forward to welcoming you to their Sky Suite to browse the curated selection of fine original Japanese prints in this relaxed setting with beautiful views.

Kawase Hasui (1883-1957) was the undisputed master of 20th century Japanese woodblock print landscapes. Over a career lasting forty years (1918-1957) the artist traveled throughout Japan, sketching and painting hundreds of scenes in every season. These were translated into woodblock prints by artisans whose now-lost expertise has never been equaled.

Hasui’s deeply rooted connection to the timeless beauty of Japan brings the viewer a distinct sense of place, whether the views are of a famous temple or an everyday village scene. His details capture a specific time of day or night as well as the exact weather and season, which combines with Hasui’s stellar design viewpoint that is unique to the artist. These images effortlessly create a nostalgic feeling for beautiful places that have been lost to development, but this nostalgia also lacks sentimentality. Similar to Hiroshige in the 19th century, his works have an effortlessly peaceful effect.

This exhibition draws from several private collections that Egenolf Gallery has helped to assemble through our decades of specializing in this artist, and they are pleased to feature early edition works in pristine condition, including a number of pre-earthquake (pre-1923) works. Landscapes by Hasui are becoming more scarce and at the same time more sought-after by collectors in both Japan and the west, leading to scarcity and still-climbing prices.

They look forward to welcoming you soon!

To learn more, click here.

Fujimoto Yoshimichi (Nodo), Small Covered Jar

Mingei Modern: Japanese Ceramics, Aesthetics, and Practice
March 13 – 21, 2025
Opening Reception: Thursday, March 13 from 5-7pm
Asia Week Hours: 11am-5pm, daily (otherwise by appointment)
18 East 64th Street, Suite 1F

On the occasion of Asia Week New York, Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd. is delighted to present Mingei Modern, a curated selection of significant ceramic, textile, and painted works by the pioneers of the Mingei Movement in 20th century Japan.  Exhibited artists include Kawai Kanjiro, Hamada Shoji, Bernard Leach, Shimaoka Tatsuzo, Murata Gen, Munakata Shiko, Serizawa Keisuke, and others.

Over a century ago, the Japanese term Mingei was a direct translation of “crafts for ordinary people” (minshuteki kogei). Mingei was adopted by philosopher and potter Yanagi Sōetsu to define a now-revered folk-craft movement in Japan that celebrated the beauty of anonymous, utilitarian craftsmanship. The movement values simplicity, humility, and natural grace, challenging the Western focus on individual authorship and historical narrative.

Despite the Mingei Movement’s emphasis on anonymity, its movement has paradoxically elevated figures such as Yanagi Sōetsu, Bernard Leach, Kawai Kanjirō, and Hamada Shōji as its key proponents. This exhibition examines the tension between Mingei’s ideals and its legacy, inviting viewers to closely examine how the ceramic objects of the Mingei Movement embody its philosophy and why their forms remain profoundly beautiful today.

They look forward to welcoming you soon to their gallery during Asia Week!

To learn more and RSVP, click here.

 

Installation view, Miné Okubo: Portraits, Seizan Gallery, New York

Miné Okubo: Portraits
And
Life Studies: Vincent Chong, Aya Fujioka, Alex Ito, Charlie Mai, Homer Shew
Closing Saturday, March 1, 2025
525 West 26th Street

There’s still time to experience Seizan Gallery‘s two captivating exhibitions, Miné Okubo: Portraits and Life Studies before they close on Saturday, March 1!

Miné Okubo: Portraits is the gallery’s first solo exhibition featuring work by one of the most influential Japanese-American artists of the 20th century. Born in 1912 in Riverside, California, Okubo gained early success and remained prolific until her death in 2001. She is best known for Citizen 13660, a memoir documenting her experience in WWII Japanese-American internment camps. After her release from Topaz Camp in 1944, she moved to New York, working as a commercial illustrator while continuing her painting practice. Portraits—especially of women and children—remained a central focus of her work, with eleven portraits from the late 1940s featured in this exhibit. These bold, powerful works share stylistic connections with her earlier charcoal drawings from the internment period, which are also displayed in the gallery. While her camp drawings often convey the despair and trauma of the incarcerated, the later portraits—rendered in colorful pastel—capture energy, strength, and compassion.

Installation view, Life Studies: Vincent Chong, Aya Fujioka, Alex Ito, Charlie Mai, Homer Shew, Seizan Gallery, New York

LIFE STUDIES is a group exhibition featuring works by five emerging artists—Vincent Chong, Aya Fujioka, Alex Ito, Charlie Mai, and Homer Shew—that explores the diverse varieties of contemporary life and identity as experienced by individuals of Asian descent and diaspora in New York and beyond.

To learn more about both shows, click here.

Unknown maker, Tea Caddy, ca. 1698, glazed earthenware, Brooklyn Museum, purchased with funds given by anonymous donors, 64.3.4a-b, photo: Brooklyn Museum

Breaking the Mold: Brooklyn Museum at 200
February 28, 2025 – February 22, 2026
Curator-led Member Tour: March 20, 2025, 6–7:30pm
Decorative Arts and Design Galleries, 4th Floor

From groundbreaking early acquisitions to striking new additions, the Brooklyn Museum’s collection has always championed artists and artworks that catalyze imaginative storytelling and brave conversations. As they ring in their 200th anniversary, Breaking the Mold: Brooklyn Museum at 200 celebrates this unique legacy. Comprising three chapters that boast both longtime favorites and brand-new standouts, the exhibition brings fresh narratives to the fore while exploring the collection’s rich history and future evolution.

Brooklyn Made is an homage to art and design created in the borough from the 17th century to today. Beginning with a pair of Delaware youth moccasins that acknowledge the land’s original inhabitants, this chapter journeys through time to spotlight works by active Brooklyn artists such as KAWS, Duke Riley, and Tourmaline. Building the Brooklyn Museum and Its Collection features transformational artworks and archival materials that trace the development of the collection as well as the Beaux-Arts building that houses it. Gifts of Art in Honor of the 200th showcases extraordinary contemporary works—paintings, photographs, video, sculpture, ceramics, and more—given to the Museum by valued donors in honor of their bicentennial. Exemplary pieces by well-established artists such as Julie Mehretu, Robert Frank, Alex Katz, and Coco Fusco are joined by contributions from influential artists working today, many in Brooklyn. Telling the Museum’s story along with their own, these works reveal how the collection continues to reflect our changing world.

To learn more and view upcoming related programs, click here.

Utamaro, Series: Comparing the Charms 0f Five Beauties, The Hirono-ya at Yatsuyama, publ. Omi-ya Gonkuro, 1795-96

250 Years of Japanese Woodblock Prints
March 14 – 16, 2025
Exhibiting at: The Mark Hotel, 25 East 77th Street, Meeting Room 215
Asia Week Hours: 10am-6pm (otherwise by appointment)

For our 16th season of Asia Week New York, The Art of Japan is delighted to return to New York with 250 Years of Japanese Woodblock Prints—a captivating showcase of this timeless art form.

Discover their remarkable recent acquisitions, including a unique impression of Hiroaki’s Awabi Diver in very fine condition, a complete set of Hiroshi Yoshida’s Sailboat capturing six different phases of the day, and several important okubi-e portraits by Utamaro. Highlights also include Kuniyoshi’s masterpiece Yoshitsune’s Ship Attacked by Taira Ghosts at Daimatsu Bay, select works from Hokusai’s Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, and an array of figurative, genre, and landscape masterpieces spanning the 18th to 20th centuries.

They look forward to welcoming you to The Mark Hotel during Asia Week next month!

To learn more, click here.

Installation view, Hybrid Nature, Alisan Fine Arts, New York

Hybrid Nature
Closing Saturday, March 1, 2025
120 East 65th Street, NYC

This is the final week to experience Hybrid Nature at Alisan Fine Arts before the exhibition closes on March 1. Featuring works by Bouie Choi, Chu Chu, and Jia Sung, the show brings together three distinct artistic voices, each exploring hybridity through both theme and medium.

To learn more, click here.

Reconstructed Realities: Gu Gan, Lee Chun-yi, Wucius Wong
March 6 –  April 26, 2025
Opening Reception: Thursday, March 6 from 6-8pm
Special Asia Week Reception: Thursday, March 13 from 6-8pm

Then mark your calendars for their next exhibit, Reconstructed Realities, featuring the work of Gu Gan, Lee Chun-Yi, and Wucius Wong opening on March 6th with an evening reception. True pioneers of ink art, these three artists took radical approaches to traditional styles of calligraphy, composition and methodology in their work. Their practices have been instrumental in bringing the ink tradition into the global contemporary art conversation.

Additionally, a special reception will take place on Thursday, March 13, to celebrate the opening night of Asia Week New York.

They look forward to welcoming you soon!

To learn more, click here.

 

Incense burner in the form of a goose, China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644), early 15th century. Bronze. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, The Vincent Astor Foundation Gift, 2020

Recasting the Past: The Art of Chinese Bronzes, 1100–1900
February 28 – September 28, 2025
Curator Talk: Tuesday, March 11, 11am–12pm
The Met Fifth Avenue, Galleries 209–218

Chinese bronzes made from the 12th to the 19th century are an important but often overlooked category of Chinese art. In ancient China, bronze vessels were emblems of ritual and power. A millennium later, in the period from 1100 to 1900, such vessels were rediscovered as embodiments of a long-lost golden age that was worthy of study and emulation. This “return to the past” (fugu) was part of a widespread phenomenon across all the arts to reclaim the virtues of a classical tradition. An important aspect of this phenomenon was the revival of bronze casting as a major art form. While archaic bronzes were used as containers for food or wine, these so-called “later bronzes” adapted antique shapes and decorative motifs to serve new functions as incense burners, flower vases, and all types of scholar objects. Later Chinese bronzes, however, have long been stigmatized as poor imitations of ancient bronzes rather than being seen as fundamentally new creations with their own aesthetic and functional character.

From important bronzes to a complementary selection of works including painting, calligraphy, ceramics, lacquers, and jades, the exhibition draws on an international array of loans to redress the previous misunderstanding of later Chinese bronzes. Some 100 pieces from The Met collection will be augmented by nearly 100 loans from major institutions in China, Japan, Korea, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States to present the most comprehensive narrative of the ongoing importance of bronzes as an art medium throughout China’s long history.

Be sure to sign up for the Curator Talk, Beyond Emulation: Rethinking Chinese Archaistic Bronzes, 1100–1900, on March 11 with Pengliang Lu, Brooke Russell Astor Curator of Chinese Art, to explore the overlooked roles of so-called “later Chinese bronzes” from the 12th to 19th century. These essential works have long been stigmatized as imitations of ancient bronzes, the ultimate emblems of ritual legitimacy, rather than as fundamentally new creations with their own aesthetic and functional character. Learn more about the misunderstanding surrounding these bronzes and celebrate their artistic and cultural significance. To learn more and RVSP click here.

The exhibition is made possible by the Florence and Herbert Irving Fund for Asian Art Exhibitions and the Joseph Hotung Fund.

To learn more and view more related programs, click here.

Top Row (L-R): Tōshūsai Sharaku (active 1794–95), Segawa Kikunojō III as Ōshizu, the wife of Tanabe Bunzo, 1794, color woodblock print, courtesy Sebastian Izzard LLC Asian Art; Abraham Ortelius, Maris Pacifici, 1589, courtesy Lark Mason Associates; Bohnchang Koo (b. 1953), “VA 23,” 2017, archival pigment print, courtesy HK Art & Antiques LLC; Center Row: John Thomson, Rapids at Nanping, River Min, China, circa 1870, carbon print, courtesy Loewentheil Collection of Chinese Photography; Bottom Row (L-R): Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858), One Hundred Famous Views of Edo: Atagoshita and Yabu Lane, 1857, woodblock print, courtesy Scholten Japanese Art; Kawase Hasui (1883-1957), Komagata Embankment from the series Twelve Scenes of Tokyo, 1919, woodblock print, courtesy Egenolf Gallery Japanese Prints; Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806), Courtesan Applying Eyebrow Makeup, circa 1795-1796, courtesy The Art of Japan

The countdown to Asia Week New York continues! Our second preview showcases exceptional prints and photographs, highlighting the extraordinary collections offered by seven leading AWNY member dealers. Discover these rare and beautiful works arriving next month:

The Art of Japan
250 Years of Japanese Woodblock Prints
March 14–16, 2025
The Mark Hotel, 25 East 77th Street, Suite 215

250 Years of Japanese Woodblock Prints features a stunning array of works, including Kitagawa Utamaro’s (1753–1806) Courtesan Applying Eyebrow Makeup. Once revered as a sacred object of worship, the mirror evolved into a symbol of prestige, often given as a treasured gift.

Egenolf Gallery Japanese Prints
Love of Place: The Landscapes of Kawase Hasui (1883-1957)
March 15–16, 2025
The Luxury Collection Hotel, 151 West 54th Street and Online

Kawase Hasui’s Komagata Embankment from the series Twelve Scenes of Tokyo (1919) captures a tranquil summer scene on the Sumida River, with a sleeping drayman and his horse framed by stacks of bamboo. The vibrant colors and bold composition reflect Tokyo’s charm during its late Taisho modernization (1912–26). Praised as one of Hasui’s finest summer designs, this scarce pre-earthquake print will be available in Love of Place: The Landscapes of Kawase Hasui (1883-1957) during this season’s Asia Week exhibition.

HK Art & Antiques LLC
Elegance and Simplicity: Bohnchang Koo and Geejo Lee
March 14–15 & 17–21, 2025
49 East 78th Street, Suite 4B

Among the standout works in this exhibition is Bohnchang Koo’s VA 23, a striking photograph of blue-and-white porcelain bottles from the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Korean collection. To Koo, these vessels embody the essence of the Joseon aesthetic. Bearing stains, cracks, and signs of wear from everyday use, they serve as poignant reminders of human presence. Through this series, he captures the timeless beauty of Korea’s cultural heritage.

Sebastian Izzard LLC Asian Art
Japanese Prints and Paintings: 1720-1820
March 14–15 & 17–21, 2025
17 East 76th Street, Floor 3

Segawa Kikunojō III as Ōshizu, the wife of Tanabe Bunzo by Tōshūsai Sharaku (active 1794–95), a color woodblock print, is one of twenty-eight exceptional half-length portraits of actors by the enigmatic artist Sharaku on view at Sebastian Izzard LLC Asian Art.

Loewentheil Photography of China Collection
Sun and Silver: Early Photographs of China by Lai Afong and John Thomson
March 13–15 & 18–21, 2025
Opening Reception: Tuesday, March 18,  6-8pm
10 West 18th Street, 7th Floor

This exhibition brings together masterpieces by two giants of 19th-century photography of China—Lai Afong and John Thomson—who originated many significant developments in early Chinese photography. Among the photographs is Rapids at Nanping, River Min, which first captured the imagination of Lai Afong in 1869 and later by John Thomson in 1870.

Lark Mason Associates
Maps of Asia and Works of Art
March 13–15 & 17–21, 2025
229 East 120th Street

Explore the cartographic history of Asia with Maps of Asia and Works of Art, featuring early western maps, including Abraham Ortelius’ groundbreaking Maris Pacifici (1589)—the first printed map of the Pacific and the first to depict the Americas. Also on view are masterpieces of Ming and Qing Dynasty Chinese art, including a painted and inlaid lacquer cabinet and a mother-of-pearl and gold foil inlaid blossom-shaped box from the Kangxi period.

Scholten Japanese Art
Landscape Escapes: Famous Views of the Floating World
March 13–21, 2025
145 West 58th Street, Suite 6D

Scholten Japanese Art will present Landscape Escapes: Famous Views of the Floating World, an exhibition focusing on landscape woodblock prints, primarily of the 19th century, including works by the two most beloved masters of the genre, Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) and his younger contemporary, Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858).

Courtesy Joan B Mirviss LTD

Zoom Webinar
Beyond the Surface: The Unity of Form and Pattern in the Work of Wada Morihiro
Thursday, February 27,  5:00-6:30 pm EST

Joan B Mirviss LTD is pleased to host a webinar focusing on Wada Morihiro (1944-2008), one of Japan’s most respected ceramists. Regarded as the successor to the legendary Kamoda Shōji, Wada’s exceptional oeuvre remains a stand-out among his contemporaries. His sold-out exhibitions were held not only at department store venues but also at fine art galleries with astonishing price tags during Japan’s “Bubble” era in the 1990s, a remarkable feat for a ceramic artist. Now major works have entered the collections of prestigious museums internationally.

This panel is organized ahead of the publication, Beyond the Surface: The Unity of Surface and Pattern in the Work of Wada Morihiro, due out in early March. Panelists will place his work within the broader context of Japanese twentieth-century ceramic history and explore Wada’s career and process.

Panelists include:
Meghen Jones, Associate Professor of Art History in the School of Art and Design at Alfred University
Aaron Rio, Tateuchi Foundation Curator of Japanese and Korean Art at the Seattle Art Museum
Sugiyama Michio, Former Deputy Secretary-General of Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park
Nicolle Bertozzi, PhD candidate at Columbia University in medieval and early modern Japanese history
Moderated by Joan Mirviss

To learn more and register, click here.