アーカイブ: Exhibitions

100th Anniversary of Chihiro Iwasaki’s Birth: Japanese Fairy Tales

I think the cost of steady economic growth has been the gradual loss of spiritual enrichment. I hope people will soon realize this and deeply consider what this richness means. I am thinking about depicting in my picture books the various forms of kindness and beauty that Japan has lost. Presenting this to children is what gives meaning to my life.

— Chihiro Iwasaki, 1972

Chihiro Iwasaki created many illustrations based on Japanese fairy tales and literature. Those set in Japan express an emotional richness, a result of the artist’s intimate familiarity with the climate, the quality of the light, the feel of the wind. The subtle demeanor of the subjects wearing kimono in the works convey their personalities and their emotions, while the generous use of water in the application of the watercolors produces a blurring effect that almost enables the viewer to feel the humidity in the air and the texture of the snow. In this exhibition, we showcase piezographic artwork from picture books based on such Japanese tales as Tsuru no Ongaeshi (The Crane’s Reward) by Miyoko Matsutani, an interpretation of the Japanese “crane wife” folktale; Onita no Boshi (Onita’s Hat) by Kimiko Aman, which depicts the friendship between a child demon and a young girl on the night of the Japanese Setsubun holiday marking the end of winter; and Akai Rosoku to Ningyo (The Red Candles and the Mermaid) by Mimei Ogawa, Chihiro’s unfinished posthumous work.

*Piezography is a modern print technology used by the Chihiro Art Museum to digitally archive and create high-quality reproductions, called piezographic artwork, as a means of preserving the colors and textures of Chihiro’s artwork in its current state. Enabling highly detailed image representation using light-fast micro ink-dots, the technology greatly enhances the reproducibility of subtle watercolor paintings while also making possible the viewing of works under bright lighting.

100th Anniversary of Chihiro Iwasaki’s Birth: The Path of Chihiro Iwasaki-An Exhibition of Piezographic Artwork

Chihiro Iwasaki was born on December 15, 1918, in Takefu (currently Echizen City), where her mother was living and working away from her husband. Accordingly, 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of Chihiro’s birth. Throughout her career, she never tired of creating illustrations of children, producing works that remain timeless and are still loved by many.

In this exhibition, we showcase the course of Chihiro Iwasaki’s life through approximately 100 items comprising piezographic artwork* and materials. The exhibition will be presented in two parts—Part 1 and Part 2—with featured works being rotated during the transition. Part 1, under the theme “Chihiro As an Artist who Depicted Children,” will feature works with a focus on children, presenting pieces spanning from the early stage through the later years of Chihiro’s career. In Part 2, we will showcase illustrations the artist created for picture book under the theme “Pursuing the Potential of Expression in Picture Books.”
We hope you will enjoy this comprehensive view of the artistic endeavors of Chihiro, who lived her life as both an artist and a mother.

For additional details, please refer to the Echizen City Takefu Memorial Hall website (in Japanese only).

The 100th anniversary of birth , I am Chihiro Iwasaki, a painter

For details, please see the Museum “Eki” kyoto website.

100th Anniversary of Chihiro Iwasaki’s Birth: I Dreamed a Dream

We are pleased to announce the holding of the 100th Anniversary of Chihiro Iwasaki’s Birth: I Dreamed a Dream exhibition, which celebrates the 100th anniversary of Chihiro Iwasaki’s birth, at 誠品R79 eslite Underground from September 15 (Sat) to November 11 (Sun).
Through this exhibition, in addition to showcasing a range of Chihiro’s artwork based on the theme of “dreams,” we hope to introduce visitors to the enjoyment of the world of picture books. Offering something for everyone, other featured exhibits include “Children’s Room” by TORAFU ARCHITECTS Inc., Shuntaro Tanikawa’s poetry combined with Chihiro Iwasaki’s illustrations, and a collaborative exhibition with Taiwanese artists. Admission is free and original merchandise produced especially for the show will be available for purchase to visitors.
Additionally, a mini shop will be opened at the Eslite bookstore in the Kaohsiung Far Eastern department store and sections introducing Chihiro’s books and picture books have also been opened at Eslite bookstore branches across Taiwan.
For more information, please refer to the special page within the Eslite bookstore website (in Taiwanese).

100th Anniversary of Chihiro Iwasaki’s Birth: Hope for Peace—An Exhibition of Piezographic Artwork

My experience of war, an experience that smashed all of the tender dreams of youth, greatly affected the course of my life. I genuinely love peace, abundance and lovely, pretty things and with all my being, I abhor the power that seeks to destroy them”

Chihiro Iwasaki, 1972

Chihiro Iwasaki spent her youth during a period when all of Japan was rushing headlong into war. As such, she confronted the reality that war destroys not only people’s lives, but also their hearts. Following World War II, Chihiro became an artist and, by creating illustrations of children throughout her life, continued to inquire into the nature of true abundance, kindness and beauty. Although her illustrations of children surrounded by love contrast with those of children exposed to warfare, both convey the artist’s wish for “peace and happiness for all the children of the world.”
In this exhibition we showcase piezographic artwork from Chihiro’s picture books based on the theme of war, including Watashi ga Chiisakatta Toki Ni (When I Was a Child) and Senka no Naka no Kodomo-tachi (Children in the Flames of War), along with Pochi no Kita Umi (What’s Fun without a Friend?), a picture book set at the seashore in summer.

100th Anniversary of Chihiro Iwasaki’s Birth The World of H. C. Andersen—An Exhibition of Piezographic Artwork

Transcending a century-long time difference, H.C. Andersen brings to my heart an enduring beauty. Though his writing may be old-fashioned, he is an author whose stories convey the sadness of ordinary people, a melancholy that still resonates in today’s society, offering much from which I can learn. H.C. Andersen’s fairy tales hold dreams that are quite real, which may be why they still speak to our hearts today.

Chihiro Iwasaki, 1964

Chihiro Iwasaki made illustrations for H.C. Andersen’s fairy tales almost every year since she first created the picture-story show The Story of a Mother in her late twenties. Some of the stories, such as Thumbelina, The Little Mermaid, and What the Moon Saw, she illustrated repeatedly. Chihiro was attracted to and deeply empathized with the beauty, sadness, dreams and truth contained within the world that H.C. Andersen depicted, qualities that do not fade with the passing of time. Chihiro’s illustrations of these fairy tales, which fill the imagination and innovatively depict the stories’ characters and foreign settings, offer a unique perspective of Chihiro’s artwork that differs from her well-known depictions of children.

In this exhibition we showcase the world of H.C. Andersen’s fairy tales that Chihiro loved through piezographic artwork.*

*Piezography is a modern print technology used by the Chihiro Art Museum to digitally archive and create high-quality reproductions, called piezographic artwork, as a means of preserving the colors and textures of Chihiro’s artwork in its current state. Enabling highly detailed image representation using light-fast micro ink-dots, the technology greatly enhances the reproducibility of subtle watercolor paintings while also making possible the viewing of works under bright lighting.

Exhibition Chihiro Iwasaki

Chihiro Iwasaki (1918-1974) was a female master painter and illustrator of Japan. In her youth, she began to learn sketching and oil painting. When she was eighteen, she began to learn calligraphy. The work I Can Do it All by Myself of 1956 was her first picture book. The Pretty Bird won the Graphic Prize Fiera di Bologna in 1971 while Children in the Flames of War won the bronze medal of the Leipzig International Book Fair in 1974. Chihiro passed away at the age of 55 in 1974.

The year 2018 marks the centennial of Chihiro Iwasaki’s birth. To celebrate this occasion, we will present 100 pieces of her original works in Chihiro Iwasaki Exhibition. These works include works from the famous book Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window, those from classic fairy tales like Thumbelina and Children in the Flames of War, and many pencil drawings and watercolor paintings created between 1940s and 1970s. These works of various periods introduce the life story of Chihiro and her distinctive techniques, bringing the audience closer to her close observation of children’s hearts and minds.

This is Chihiro’s first-ever, large-scale original works’ exhibition in Asia(except Japan).Please do look forward to this exhibition.

Play

Using various media such as video images and space, plaplax, who continues to develop interactive art focusing on children’s play, will produce a display with the keyword “play.” It will achieve a new frontier in picture book-making while enjoying Chihiro Iwasaki’s watercolor technique and innovative methods.

With the special sponsorship of :

Where the Gaze Falls

Shinji Ohmaki is known for his installations that combine a delicate sensibility and dynamic scale to vividly bring out the inherent atmosphere of the installation’s location. In this exhibition, Ohmaki makes use of the entire space of the Chihiro Art Museum Tokyo to provide visitors with the opportunity experience a journey through the world of Chihiro Iwasaki illustrations. His art infuses visitors with the “energy to live” from a never-before-seen perspective.

With the special sponsorship of :

ひろしま / Hiroshima

Miyako Ishiuchi continues to photograph selected relics of victims of the 1945 atomic bombing that are preserved in the Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima, particularly items that were in direct contact with the victims’ bodies. The dresses, shoes and blouses featured in the photographs, shot in natural light, almost appear as though they are floating, enabling viewers to almost sense the breath of life of those who wore them. Chihiro Iwasaki created three picture books based on the theme of war, the first of which was Watashi ga Chiisakatta Toki Ni (When I was a Child) (1967), which combined illustrations with poetry and essays written by children survivors of the Hiroshima bombing. Employing a monochrome palette, Chihiro endearingly portrayed the children in a pitiful state. We hope that you will enjoy the work of these two female artists based on “Hiroshima.”

With the special sponsorship of :