Explore the vibrant world of Contemporary Japanese Art and discover how modern artists are reshaping Japan's aesthetic landscape.

The first of several posts featuring the master of the macabre, Hieronymus Bosch, whose meticulous paintings influenced the behaviour, reinforced the faith and fed the fear of the people of his tim…

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Todos sabemos el tipo de belleza y maravilla que la naturaleza puede brindarnos e inspirarnos. Lito Leaf Art, ha estado haciendo olas en el mundo del arte de Instagram con su increíble arte de hojas.

I was recently searching the internet for images on the theme of Mermaids, Nereids, and/or Sea Nymphs for some ideas relating to a painting I am currently plotting out. Unfortunately the vast majority of the images that I came upon were either of the sickly-sweet “Little Mermaid” variety… … or one of the equally kitsch adolescent sci-fi/fantasy portrayals of an overly sexualized mermaid or sea nymph (as in nympho) pin-up rendered in airbrush or CGI: What I was thinking was something a bit more more sophisticated… especially something along the lines of Gustav Klimt’s Water Serpents… Among the few paintings of any real merit, there was Herbert Draper’s Sea Nymphs… … and Icarus’ Lament: There was also Gennady Spirin’s Little Mermaid… … with the shimmering brushwork that reminds me of the paintings of the 19th century French Symbolist, Henri Fantin-Latour: Unfortunately, the face of the drowned sailor in Spirin’s painting lacks Fantin-Latour’s classicism. Instead it has something of the cheesy look of of Japanese anime. Another fascinating image was that of Mermaid by Adrian Borda: The idea of the mermaid hung upside down like the latest catch at the fish market is quite unique. The cross from which she is hung obviously suggests Christ… an allusion reinforced by the fish image, although one might also think of St. Peter, the “fisher of men” whose martyrdom involved being crucified upside-down. The arrow is at once phallic… but also suggests still another martyrdom: that of St. Sebastian. Unfortunately, much of the strength of these allusions and their potential as a work of visual art is wholly undermined by the juvenile obsession with perfect surgically enhanced boobs and the fashion model’s face. One of the most interesting images I happened upon was that of a painting of a Mermaid by the Indian artist, Ashok Bhowmick: Many of Bhowmick’s paintings are rooted in Middle-Eastern and Indian mythology, and looking at this painting in particular, I cannot help but think of the famous Babylonian sculpture of Ishtar, the Goddess of Fertility, Love, War and Sex: The most fortuitous discovery during this entire search, however, was that of this Mermaid by Enoki Toshiyuki: It isn’t that this particular painting of a mermaid is something truly outstanding (it isn’t)… nor even the fact that Toshiyuki painted more than a single image of the theme: No… rather it is that delving deeper into Toshiyuki’s work I discovered a truly marvelous painter and illustrator hitherto unknown to me. ***** Enoki Toshiyuki: Most of the information available on Toshiyuki on the internet is in Japanese. What I have been able to uncover concerning his biography is quite minimal. He was born in 1961 in Tokyo. He earned both a Bachelors and Masters of Arts degree from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, and continued on with a post-graduate fellowship at the same institution. Since 2001 he has taught design at the school and worked as an artist and illustrator. His training… and subsequent work has involved employing both traditional Japanese and Western painting methods. He favors using old worn brushes and a palette of colors that suggest something at once weathered and antique… as well as new. His light, often transparent touch and his use of gold leaf dispersed throughout the paintings creates a magical atmospheric effect. Toshiyuki can be a marvelous portraitist: He has done a number of quite lovely self-portraits: His painting of a young girl in traditional Japanese folk garb is quite beautiful: However, it is his reveries… daydreams… nocturnes… fantasies that are the most intriguing among his figurative work: The ethereal and tenuous nature of these paintings owe much to the artist’s use of traditional Japanese methods of painting with dry pigment, while there are also elements suggestive more of the Momoyama period Japanese screen paintings with their bold, flat, graphic imagery and use of gold leaf. Toshiyuki also claims influences from Western artists such as Gustav Klimt and late 19th century illustrators such as Arthur Rackham. The artist spent a deal of time working at a zoo, and this experience helped to inspire a fascination with animals that has fueled many of his paintings: A great many of Toshiyuki’s paintings involve the exploration of mythological themes… Eastern and Western. His interest in animals carries over into this exploration of mythology with images of a variety of mythological beasts: Among the mythological beasts that Toshiyuki has repeatedly explored in his work we find the traditional Asian dragon… And the Peacock/Phoenix/Firebird: The decorative nature of these paintings… and the manner in which they are seen as part of an entire architectural space suggests the famous “Peacock Room” of James Whistler: This may be a case of the cyclical nature of cultural influence, as Whistler was profoundly inspired by Japanese art and design. Toshiyuki has also explored Western mythological themes… such as Eve and the garden of Eden: … or even the Western folk-tale of Little Red Riding Hood: In this marvelous painting, Toshiyuki employs a disjointed space that owes both to Asian concepts of a tilted point of view, and Western post-Cubist ideas. In the top right we see a delicious still-life/landscape detail: catfish swimming in a small pond… while directly to the left our view changes and we are looking up at birds in the spiraling sky. Below, Red Riding Hood seemingly lies on the grass… taking a break on her trek to grandma’s house… while almost hidden beneath the foliage at the bottom right the wolf peers out hungrily. Nature… and the landscape… common traditional obsessions of Japanese art are major themes for Toshiyuki. This is true whether he is exploring images of human beings confronted by the overwhelming nature of the cosmos… … or the deep, dark secrets of the forests at night: Then he can turn around and explore the beauty of a waterfall with a Zen-like simplicity… and near abstraction: Perhaps the most intriguing painting by Toshiyuki (of that which I’ve seen) is his triptych: Rainy Forest; Water’s Edge; Story Teller: This work combines several of Toshiyuki’s thematic obsessions: landscape, mythology, and animals. In the left panel, Rainy Forest, the title say it all… as we are presented with an image of a tropical rain forest… spider monkeys in the trees above… and a tarantula on the ground below: In the center panel, Water’s Edge (River’s Head) we are presented with another view of nature… this one being more suggestive of traditional Japanese and Chinese landscape painting with the image stacked up vertically, a view of a waterfall, and a vines twisting and turning in an almost calligraphic manner. In the final painting, Story Teller, two figures (are they human or ape?) sit on a mountain top looking up at the stars which are seen as a shimmer of scattered gold dust. The title suggests that the elder figure is telling stories of the nature of the stars… creation… the gods… and the cosmos. As a result, the stars begin to take form… in the manner of the Western astrological symbols: Toshiyuki is certainly an artist I will be keeping my eye upon. It seems that I am not alone in this as this last triptych was recently sold for more than a decent sum of money at a Christie’s auction of Modern and Contemporary Asian Art.

Nara Enjyou-ji temple , JAPAN , Canon EOS 5D Mark II , Leica Elmarit-R 180mm(Type I)

Das Foto hat Notizen. Pieter Bruegel d. Ä. (Breda zwischen1525 und 1530 - Brüssel 1569) Kinderspiele (1560) Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien

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