Some art I like

The internet introduced me to a couple of new artists last week, whose snapshots of regular life resonate with me.

Hasui Kawase (via Jason Kottke) was a woodblock engraver who produced hundreds of prints through the Taisho and Showa eras depicting landscapes in vivid colour and detail. Apparently he was a big influence on Miyazaki, which I guess endears him automatically to me as a white guy approaching middle age.

Woodblock print of three people with umbrellas standing in the snow before the massive honden of a Buddhist temple
Woodblock print of two people taking shelter from the rain under the gate of a Buddhist temple
Woodblock print of Japanese houses on the waterside, with a couple of boatmen in the water in the foreground and a big green tree in the background

Elin Danielson-Gambogi was a Finnish artist of about the same period, actually, who produced realist portraits of life and work in Finland and Italy. Her paintings are expressive without being dramatic, which is exactly how I like my art.

An oil painting of a woman sitting on a chair, with a book in her hand, overlooking a landscape of green and purple
A painting of a woman smoking and staring into the distance, leaning on her elbow on a breakfast table with some tea and eggs, staring into the middle distance

Art Japan

Next

Dia browser

Here are some bad ideas that you could wage your company on, if only you can drum up the adequate hype.

Previous

Slam of the North

Going to a poetry slam in Durham, because 2025 is the Year of Appreciating Art.