The Aula Magliabechiana of the Uffizi Gallery is currently spotlighting what many consider to be the golden age of Japanese art in an exhibition titled “The Japanese Renaissance: Nature on Painted Screens from the 15th to the 17th Centuries,” spanning the Muromachi to the Edo eras. Comprising 39 pieces on loan from a selection of 14 temples and museums, and carried out in collaboration with Japan’s Agency of Cultural Affairs, the exhibition explores stylistic conventions that have come to define quintessential Japanese aesthetics to the Western world.
Curator Rossella Menegazzo focused on the exhibition’s portrayal of two “faces” of Japanese art: “One is {rooted in} ink, black painting on white spaces with a silent sort of atmosphere,” she commented, briefly mentioning its connections to Chinese and Zen Buddhism traditions. “And the other “face” is more linked to a traditional {type} of painting, more colorful, more based on design, and what you see as the basis for contemporary graphic design and manga.”
The Japanese Renaissance: Nature on Painted Screens from the 15th to the 17th Centuries
Uffizi Gallery, Aula Magliabechiana
October 3, 2017 until January 7, 2018