BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA.- The Birmingham Museum of Art presents Kamisaka Sekka: Rimpa Master - Pioneer of Modern Design, first rotation on view through June 27 and second rotation: June 30 - August 1, 2004. 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 17th 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.
Kamisaka Sekka: Rimpa Master - Pioneer of Modern Design is the premier comprehensive exhibition of his work, bringing together for the first time the amazing array of his stunning originality and artistic output. Some 350 paintings, prints, lacquers, furniture, ceramics and textiles will be on view, borrowed from 39 private collectors and 29 museums and foundations in Japan, the United States, France and Germany.
Due to the fragile nature of many of the works, there will be a complete rotation of objects halfway through the exhibition. The first rotation will occur through June 27, and the second, June 30 through August 1, 2004.
The exhibition is organized by the Birmingham Museum of Art and the National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto, where it opened to record crowds in 2003. It also traveled to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in February 2004.
The Rimpa Tradition - Rimpa is the most "Japanese" of all the artistic schools in Japans 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.
