20th Century Rimpa: Ikko Tanaka
The Kyoto ddd gallery recently opened an exhibition showcasing the work of the iconic Ikko Tanaka.
“There was Sotatsu Tawaraya in the seventeenth century, Korin Ogata in the eighteenth century, Hoitsu Sakai in the nineteenth century, and Ikko Tanaka in the twentieth century. Tanaka is not Rimpa-like. He is the very person that embodies Rimpa.” This is how the art historian Yuji Yamashita comments on Tanaka.
This exhibition is held in commemoration of the quadricentennial of Rimpa (400 years since Koetsu Honami established Koetsu-mura, a community in Takagamine in the northern part of Kyoto, in 1615). 123 works by Ikko Tanaka from the DNP Graphic Design Archives Collection have been carefully selected from the points of view of subjects, techniques, compositinos, colors and attitudes towards creativity identifiable in Rimpa works to trace the path that led to the birth of Ikko Tanaka as a twentieth century representative of Rimpa.
The exhibition will be on display until October 29, 2015.