LOS ANGELES—Kamisaka Sekka (1866–1942) is
considered one of the greatest Japanese artists of the first half of the
twentieth century. He was the final master of an historic Japanese artistic
tradition known as Rimpa, founded in the early seventeenth century, and
through his collaborative work in many media and as a proponent of the
development of modern crafts, he is known as the father of modern design in
Japan. From February 5 through April 25, LACMA presents Kamisaka Sekka: Rimpa
Master—Pioneer of Modern Design, the first large-scale retrospective of Sekka’s work. The exhibition, housed in LACMA’s unique Pavilion for Japanese
Art, surveys the range of his stunning originality and prolific creative
output.
Rimpa is the most “Japanese” of all the artistic schools in Japan’s history,
and its noteworthy elements include broad areas of brilliant mineral pigment,
lavish use of gold and silver leaf, “boneless style” brushwork in which
contour lines are simplified or eliminated, narrow pictorial space, and
abstracted composition. Rimpa school works seem both modern and timeless;
indeed, it is difficult to date a work purely on visual evidence. The Rimpa
style is immediately recognizable and has been popular in Japan for three
centuries, with masters appearing in every generation. Sekka reinvigorated
this 300-year-old tradition by inventing new compositions, employing newly
developed aniline dyes, and further abstracting traditional Rimpa themes such
as nature and illustrations of classical literature.
Rimpa artists are renowned for working in many mediums and formats, and Sekka
embraced this tradition as well. The exhibition, comprising approximately 150
works, includes painted screens and hanging scrolls, woodblock-printed books,
lacquers, textiles, and ceramics. Sekka alone created the paintings on screens
and hanging scrolls. When he worked in other mediums, he collaborated with
artisans who made objects based on his designs. He believed strongly in giving
credit to those who executed the woodblock, lacquer, textile, or ceramics he
designed, and Sekka often included the artisan’s name as co-creator.
Kamisaka Sekka: Rimpa Master—Pioneer of Modern Design is the first
comprehensive exhibition of the work of this famed artist, bringing together
for the first time the amazing array of his artistic output. LACMA, with the
National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto and the Birmingham Museum of Art, is
privileged to present this exhibition and to help portray Kamisaka Sekka as
one of the leading artistic forces of early-20th-century Japan.
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About LACMA:
Established as an independent institution in 1965, the Los Angeles County
Museum of Art has assembled a permanent collection that includes approximately
100,000 works of art spanning the history of art from ancient times to the
present, making it the premier encyclopedic visual arts museum in the western
United States. Located in the heart of one of the most culturally diverse
cities in the world, the museum uses its collection and resources to provide a
variety of educational, aesthetic, intellectual, and cultural experiences for
the people who live in, work in, and visit Los Angeles. LACMA offers an
outstanding schedule of special exhibitions, as well as lectures, classes,
family activities, film programs, and world-class musical events.
Credit Line:
This exhibition was organized by the Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama,
and the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, and is supported by the E.
Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, Japan Airlines (JAL), the National
Endowment for the Arts, the Blakemore Foundation, The Japan Foundation, and
the Metropolitan Center for Far Eastern Arts Studies.
LACMA Curator:
Robert Singer, Curator and Department Head, and, Hollis Goodall, Associate
Curator, Japanese Art
