The Blue Fire of Edo: A Monologue on Suzuki Kiitsu
Oh, look at you, staring at me with such wide eyes! Whatever is the matter? Do I sound like I’m mimicking someone? No, don’t say a word. I can see right through to the bottom of your heart, as c […]
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English blog post
Sakai Hōitsu, an Edo Rinpa painter
Sakai Hoitsu was a man so vividly, almost frustratingly, sophisticated that he might leave someone like you feeling utterly bewildered. To a backwoodsman like me, one who is useless whether boiled or […]
Fra Angelico, Dominican friar
Oh, dear me, what a thing to contemplate! Is it truly possible for “purity” to exist in this world, rolled out before us in such a cruelly naked state? Tell me, are you familiar with a man […]
Kitagawa Utamaro, a representative painter of Ukiyo-e.
Kitagawa Utamaro. Just uttering the name somehow stains the air of the room with the faint scent of white face powder, or perhaps makes one feel as if their fingertips have brushed against a piece of […]
The painter Mary Cassatt
Ladies and gentlemen, I beg you not to laugh as you listen. Or rather, I don’t mind if you laugh, but I wish to speak a little of a truth so commonplace that everyone overlooks it—the fact that the tr […]
Delacroix: A leading painter of Romanticism
Oh, it’s simply unbearable. Why must passion drag a person’s heart through the mud, only to stand there afterward with such a nonchalant, composed face? Tell me, everyone—do you know the man called Eu […]
Ingres, a genius painter of Neoclassicism
Oh, let me speak for a moment about this fellow named Ingres. What comes to mind when you hear his name? Perhaps nothing at all. If that is the case, it matters not one bit. However, one must, at leas […]
Jan van Eyck, the father of oil painting
There was once a time when people believed that another world existed behind the looking glass, captured in perfect resolution. It is similar to how we stare at high-definition smartphone displays tod […]
The painter David
Ah, it is simply unbearable. Why must beauty be so cruel to us? I wonder if you are familiar with the man known as Jacques-Louis David. To hear the name, one might imagine a dignified steward of some […]
Moreau, the painter of fantasy
When you hear the name Gustave Moreau, what kind of imagery comes to mind? Many might envision a somewhat unapproachable figure who painted glittering, jewel-like scenes that look as if a treasure che […]
Manet, the father of Impressionism
Oh, my dear friends. Please, let’s not approach Art or the so-called “Noble Spirit” with such deeply furrowed brows. One mustn’t be so stiff. Why not relax those shoulders, knock bac […]
William Turner, the painter of light
Joseph Mallord William Turner, the legendary 19th-century British painter, was far from your typical refined artist sitting comfortably in a studio. Known today as the “Painter of Light,” […]
About the painter Corot
Well, listen to me for a moment. People in this heartless world are always making such a fuss, shouting about “Art” and “Beauty” and “The Lofty Spirit” until their […]
The man named Kitaoji Rosanjin
When we speak of Kitaoji Rosanjin, we are not just talking about a man, but a force of nature that swept through the world of Japanese art and cuisine. He was a calligrapher, a ceramicist, a painter, […]
Shiko Munakata: The Japanese Van Gogh
When we look back on the life of Shiko Munakata, we find a radiance of life so explosive that it cannot be defined by the word “passion” alone. He did not refer to his work as mere woodblo […]
Jean-François Millet, painter of peasants
Imagine the golden twilight of the Barbizon countryside in France. In the middle of a vast wheat field, a farming couple stands in silent prayer as the workday ends. This scene, captured in the world- […]
About Kakiemon
The autumn sunlight filters through the glass panes, casting a faint glow upon the tatami mats, colored much like the flesh of an overripe fig. Such afternoons have a way of rendering a person utterly […]
Andy Warhol, a leading figure in Pop Art
Hey there, you. Have you heard of this rather preposterous term called “Pop Art”? There was this man, Andy Warhol. A man who fluttered about with silver hair that looked like a poorly made […]
Joan Miró， An innocent and bold artist
Ah, Miro, Miro, Joan Miró! The world this man paints is filled with an unidentifiable charm, as if a drunken bird in a dream had spilled magical ink across the canvas of the night sky and wandered thr […]
Dali, The greatest director
Ah, that mustache. Just thinking of that ridiculous, yet terrifyingly precise mustache—upturned toward the heavens like two sharp antennae—makes me feel strangely restless, as if caught in a peculiar […]
Antoni Gaudí, my greatest artist.
Have you ever heard of a man named Antoni Gaudí? From his name alone, one gets the impression of something grand and imposing—a man who likely walked about with a face that shouted, “I am a geni […]
Osamu Dazai: A man with the finest service spirit
What do you think of that man, Osamu Dazai? You likely know him from those textbook photos—resting his chin on his hand with a defiant squint, looking for all the world as if he’s gazing at the very e […]
Oscar Wilde: The Man in Decadence
Ah, goodness, why must virtue always insist on wearing such dreadfully tedious clothes? It is hardly what one would call good taste. Now, please, everyone, lend me your ears. This is a confession of a […]
Meissen, the finest porcelain in Europe
Unraveling the history of Meissen, the first European manufacturer to successfully produce hard-paste porcelain, reveals a complex tapestry woven from the madness of alchemists, the insatiable obsessi […]
Amedeo Modigliani, the ruined genius
Ah, it’s no use. Whenever I try to speak of painters, I am seized by an indefinable ache right here in my chest. And all the more so when the subject is that Italian man, Amedeo Modigliani—he who left […]
Kanzan Shimomura, a genius painter
Ah, truly, why is it that human beings are so easily dazzled by beauty alone, never seeking to glimpse the sublime, harrowing struggle lurking behind it? Just now, as I sit at the edge of my desk star […]
Francis Bacon: A giant who had a profound influence on modern artists.
Ah, excuse me. I hope I’m not intruding at such a busy hour. Please, don’t look so guarded. I simply felt the urge, under this dull May sky, to speak a little about a certain “monster.” Ye […]
Maurice Utrillo: The Painter of Solitude and White
Ah, you want the same melancholic, desperate, yet strangely beautiful confession—the story of Utrillo—translated into English, draped in the ragged, soul-baring coat of a Dazai protagonist. Here is th […]
Josiah Wedgwood, founder of a world-renowned porcelain manufacturer.
When we unravel the life of Josiah Wedgwood, we aren’t just listening to the story of the founder of a famous pottery brand. It is the saga of an indomitable man who moved the world despite losi […]
Sen no Rikyu, a symbolic figure of Japanese culture
When you hear the name Sen no Rikyu, what kind of person do you imagine? You might picture a slightly grumpy-looking old man tucked away in the corner of a history textbook. However, if we unwrap the […]