Tag: Asian Art

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Daily Art Moment: Kitao Shigemas

The First Month: New Year Visits, The Seven Herbs Ceremony, 9 12/16 x 7 ½ inches, color woodblock on paper. A vertical rectangular print divided into two scenes diagonally by a zigzagged line. The top half is further divided into a left half and a right half. The left shows a female figure dressed in a mauve and red kimono with her black hair pulled back in an elaborate hairstyle. She stands on a veranda looking through a doorway to an interior. Behind her are white gift boxes stacked on green tatami flooring. At right, a young man in a mauve and green patterned kimono writes on a sheaf of paper that is tied to a small pine tree. Behind him, another man, carries gifts while looking off to the right. This man is bald on top and wears a green kimono with a sword tucked under his arm. At top right, a rectangle contains Japanese writing. The lower half of the print is separated from the top by a zigzagged diagonal line that starts above center left and continues to below center right. The scene below shows a man at left seated in front of a low table while chopping vegetables. He is bald and wears a mauve patterned kimono and holds a chopping tool in his hand while gesturing to a guest that has arrived. Next to him are a pile of vegetables on one side and on the other, a candle in a tall stand. The guest, at right, is an older woman wearing a green kimono and holds a daikon radish. She is approaching a set of steps that leads to the area with green tatami flooring the man sits upon. Behind the man are two female figures, one kneeling and gesturing towards the visitor, the other standing. They both wear kimono and are positioned near an open doorway. Beyond the doorway a blossoming tree can be seen against a black night sky.

This print is one of 12 split-screen compositions that represent each month of the year. Much like writing resolutions or eating black-eyed peas, The First Month shows activities associated with New Year celebrations. At the top, a handsome young man writes New Year greetings on a sheaf of paper tied to the decorative pine. A…  Read more

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Write Around PAM: Katsumata Chieko

Akoda (Pumpkin), Katsumata Chieko, 16 ⅛ inches x 16 ⅛ inches x 16 ⅛ inches, stoneware with pigment. The ceramic object is pumpkin-like, laying on its side at a ¾ turn to the left. It has bulbous, ridged sections that wrap around to the center, which is open and caving in on itself. The bulging sections seem to taper off to small nubs and become freed from each other as they curl inward towards the dark hollow at the center. There is a pale, minty green underlayer of pigment with bright red pigment applied here and there to the bumpy ridges that gradually increases until all around the opening is completely red.

The arrival of a new year gives us an opportunity to pause, to set intentions, to be open to the expanse of time and space all around us. This piece by Katsumata Chieko, offers a way to enter into that expanse, that openness, that empty vessel of a fresh start, while also being mindful of…  Read more

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Daily Art Moment: Keisai Eisen

1. Ox figurine and writing desk, Keisai Eisen, 1 9/16 x 6 11/16 inches, color woodblock print with metallic pigments and embossing on paper. A vertical rectangular print featuring a black ox figurine resting on top of small futon mats atop a writing box near a writing table and other objects. The vignette is situated in the lower two thirds of the print. The sleeping ox figurine sits on three small multi-colored futon mats which in turn rests on a black and gold patterned writing box. In front of the box is a pale peach writing desk with short legs showing a fan shaped cut out on the sides. Folded fans lay near the desk and a blooming flower in a blue and white pot sits on the edge of the desk. Poems written in Japanese climb from the center left of the print to the upper center. 2. The print is seen in axial light showing the gold and silver details on the objects. The black ox now appears to be charcoal in color and outlined in black. 3. Detail of the ox figurine and futon mats. The ox’s legs, tail, skin folds and facial features are outlined in black. It has ivory-colored horns on either side of a gold disc on its forehead and gold eyes. The futon mats are each have a different pattern and color: silver on beige, gold on rust and silver on teal.

In 2021, the Year of the Ox begins. 1829 was also an ox year. Poets in Mino province commissioned the artist Keisai Eisen to design this special print to commemorate the new year. Privately commissioned prints like these are called surimono and feature expensive materials and techniques. This small ox figurine, sitting on layered futon…  Read more

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Jeannie Kenmotsu, Ph.D., appointed as Asian Art Curator of Portland Art Museum

The Portland Art Museum is pleased to announce that Jeannie Kenmotsu, Ph.D., has been appointed as The Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Curator of Asian Art.  Dr. Kenmotsu, who joined the Museum’s curatorial staff in 2017 as Japan Foundation Assistant Curator of Japanese Art and was promoted to Associate Curator in 2019, has also been serving…  Read more

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Write Around PAM: Miyashita Zenji

As we move towards the winter solstice and our nights continue to lengthen, we are exploring the gifts and challenges of the darkness, along with the expectant hope of the return of the light. This piece by Miyashita Zenji feels like the perfect companion for this time. We invite you to spend some time sitting…  Read more

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Daily Art Moment: Zhao Zongzao

Penglai Hermit, from the series Yellow Mountain, Zhao Zongzao, 18 5/8 x 15 ¾ inches, woodblock print on paper. A vertical rectangular print depicting a stylized mountain scene. Thin, elongated shapes in shades of taupe and gray jut upwards on cream ground and seem to float in the space. Each have different wood grain texture with darker irregular shapes decorating the tops, simulating vegetation. The edges around the shapes are soft and blurred where the ink has bled into the surrounding paper. The effect is a soft hazy view of steep mountains in the mist. Along the bottom edge is a handwritten line of text that includes the edition, the series title, the date and artist's signature, all in Roman numerals and Chinese.

Zhao Zongzao’s mist-shrouded mountain landscape has reminded me of the foggy scenes of Oregon these last weeks. Zhao’s subject is the natural scenic area around Mount Huangshan (Yellow Mountain), south of the Yangtze River. One dramatic site is named for the celestial Mount Penglai, legendary island of the immortals. Here, the artist evokes the soaring…  Read more

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Write Around PAM: Shima Tamami

Tori B (Birds B), from James A. Michener, The Modern Japanese Print: An Appreciation, Shima Tamami, 15 1/16 x 10 9/16 inches, color woodblock print with embossing on torinoko paper. A vertical, rectangular print depicting three simple, stylized birds with long necks. A bird in the foreground is positioned so that its body, neck and head create a “J” shape that occupies much of the print. The upturned tail aligns with the left edge of the print, its body swoops down to touch the bottom edge and the neck and head with open beak rise up to the upper portion of the print at the right edge. This bird’s body is mostly a solid black with a gray and black-striped tail. Its eye and open beak are highlighted in white. Behind this bird are two more, both with the elongated necks and beaks of the first. They stand with bodies in the center of the print and heads and beaks at the top. The bird on the left is shown in profile with its beak facing left. It has a black body and a small striped tail. The bird at right overlaps its companion with its open beak and head facing right. Its body and wings are depicted in contrasting textures in black and very pale blue. All three birds overlap a background that is divided into three parts. The upper half and a wide strip of the lower part of the print have a medium gray wood grain texture. The section in the middle is a lighter gray with vertical, reed-like markings.

Oregonians have been asked to pause social gatherings to help curb the spike in COVID-19 cases across our state over the next two weeks. How can we step outside in our imaginations instead? Both the beauty found in this piece by Shima Tamami and the honking of geese and flitting of birds outside our windows…  Read more

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Write Around PAM: Yoshida Fujio

Nasturtium, Yoshida Fujio, 14 ¾ x 9 5/8, color woodblock print on paper. A vertical, rectangular print depicting an abstract, closeup view of a nasturtium flower’s petals. Undulating swirls of reds, rusts, yellows and green over a white background fill the print. Starting at top, a large petal folds over itself from the left towards the center. The petal is composed of stripes of yellows, peach, and rust that meet at a point toward the center leaving a large white teardrop shape and a crescent shape in white. At right, a large petal bows towards the center of the print in deep peach and red hues. Its shape is mirrored at left with another petal meeting the other at center in similar colors. Another large teardrop shape is positioned at bottom center. The overall effect is one of swirling, organic shapes and colors

As young children we are often asked what our favorite color is. Colors are some of the first words we learn and they help us describe the world around us. And while we may no longer commit to a “favorite” color, we recognize when we’re drawn to hues and how they make us feel. Colors…  Read more

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Daily Art Moment: Iwami Reika

“Iwami Reika passed away earlier this year, at the age of 93. I’ve been reflecting on her body of work for several months, and with rain pouring down in Portland today, the memory of wildfire smoke still fresh, her ‘Song of Water’ feels like an appropriate celebration of the drips and sloshes and susurrations. Iwami…  Read more

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Write Around PAM: Comb Chest

Comb Chest, 11 1/8 in x 10 1/2 in x 11 5/8 inches, persimmon wood with white brass (baekdong) fittings. A photo of a wooden, cube-shaped chest with numerous brass fittings decorating its edges. The chest is a warm brown with dark graining. On the front of the chest, near the top, is a latch in the shape of a turtle on a large smooth plate. The top of the latch is in the shape of the turtle’s head and is attached to the lid by a horizontal hinge. Below the plate, there are two, small drawers adjacent to each other, each with a flat, round pull with a small tail at the bottom pointing toward the outside edge of the chest. Below these drawers is a long drawer with a pull in the shape of a stylized bat, its wings outstretched. The edges of the chest are embellished with triangular fittings that have scalloped edges and tiny, pierced holes. The fittings sit over the corners and edges of the chest at right angles. The chest sits on raised feet connected by a decorative apron.

When crisis strikes, as it has in Oregon over these last weeks with wildfires ravaging communities and smoke blanketing the state, we are reminded of what is most important to us: family, friends, community, pets, items that hold memories and carry meaning, and more. This Comb Chest evokes this same feeling for us: of treasuring…  Read more