Keishi Sakurai, 1974 | Romantic painter

Keishi Sakurai / 桜井 敬史 graduated from the Tokyo University of Arts in 1999, with major in Nihonga (Japanese Painting).

Keishi applies natural mineral pigments, rock paint, natural stone and hide glue on Japanese paper to create his paintings.

Keishi’s works depicting scenes from Japan, Europe, Asia, and bring a gentle feeling of serenity, viewers experience a blissful sense of tranquility when appreciating his works.

At present Keishi lives and works in Tokyo.

La Farfalla bianca / The white Butterfly

In tutte le culture la farfalla è stata assunta come segno di rinascita e rigenerazione, come simbolo dell’anima umana capace di rinnovarsi e trasformarsi.

Il particolare ciclo vitale della farfalla ha indubbiamente contribuito a tale associazione simbolica: la vita è rappresentata dallo stadio di bruco; la morte dallo stadio di crisalide inerte racchiusa nel bozzolo; la rinascita dalla farfalla che esce dall’involucro e vola via libera, immagine vivente della rinascita dello spirito, dell’anima liberata dall’involucro della materia, che lascia il corpo al momento della morte e diventa immortale.

Nella sua Historia animalium, scritta nel 344 a.C., Aristotele, dà alla farfalla il nome di "Psyche": non a caso, nella lingua greca, la parola psyche significa sia "anima" che "farfalla"; il mito in questione fu interpretato basandosi su questo doppio significato: Psyche dunque, premiata dagli dei con il dono dell'immortalità, è l’anima-farfalla che superati vari stadi di trasformazione e maturazione raggiunge la perfezione finale col divenire immortale ed eterna.

Al mito di Amore e Psyche si ispirò lo scultore neoclassico Antonio Canova (1757-1822) che scelse una farfalla per rappresentare l’anima di Psyche in una delicatissima opera in marmo.

La Farfalla bianca | Leggenda giapponese

In una casetta dietro al cimitero del tempio di Sazanji viveva un vecchio di nome Takahama.

Questi era molto abile e piaceva a tutti i suoi vicini, anche se molti di essi lo consideravano un po' pazzo.

A quanto sembra la sua pazzia consisteva semplicemente nel fatto che non si era mai sposato e non aveva mai mostrato desiderio di restare in intimità con una donna.

Un giorno di estate si ammalò tanto gravemente, che mandò a chiamare la cognata e il figlio di lei.

Louise Abbéma | A butterfly fairy

Naoto Hattori, 1975 | Pop Surrealist painter

Japanese painter Naoto Hattori was born in Yokohama Japan.

He graduated with honors from the Illustration Department at School of Visual Arts in New York.

He received Awards from the Society of Illustrators and The New York Directors Club.

Akira Kusaka | Fly Me To the Moon

Akira Kusaka 日下 明 is a freelance illustrator and graphic designer based in Osaka, Japan.

Akira Kusaka only works with Photoshop where he creates all of his artwork.

He creates for advertisements, book covers, children's picture book, web design, and more.

His all works are drawn only with photoshop.

Kazuhiko Fukuōji, 1955

Born in Mitaka City, Tokyo, Japanese artist Kazuhiko Fukuōji (福王寺一彦) as the second son of the painter Horin Fukuoji (1920-2012).

After graduating from Seijo Gakuen High School in 1974, he was selected for the first time at the institute exhibition in 1978, and won the Nihon Bijutsuin Award and Grand Prize at the institute exhibition in 1987 and 1988.

In 1992, his institute exhibition work was purchased by the Agency for Cultural Affairs.

Asako Eguchi, 1952 | Children's Illustrator

Asako Eguchi / 江口あさ子 an incredibly talented artist, dotted with magic, has given us many illustrations that make us dream.

A beautiful world where people, animals, and plants all harmonize and resonate together.

Born in Sanjo City, Niigata Prefecture, artist Asako Eguchi graduated from the Tokyo Designer Academy in 1973.

She is conducting a method of overlapping the watercolor and drying them in order to present a fantasy world.

Kaoru Yamada | Illustratrice digitale / AI

Kaoru Yamada / 山田カオル è un artista nata a Kamakura, in Giappone.

Dopo la laurea, ha studiato in Francia per tre anni.

Tornata a casa, lavora come copywriter in una società di produzione pubblicitaria ed inizia l'attività come illustratrice freelance.

Dal 2023 esplora nuove forme di espressione che combinano l'Intelligenza Artificiale con la tecnologia digitale.

Atsushi Koyama, 1978 | Humans and Machines

Born in Tokyo, Atsushi Koyama / 小山 篤 is a visual artist from Japan. He holds both a BFA in art from Tama Art University and a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Tokyo University of Science in 2008.

Koyama’s work clearly uses the backgrounds of his tutelage as he beautifully blends anatomical illustration with mechanical diagrams.

METAMACHINE is his collaborative project at the border of visual art and electronic music.

Although the meaning behind these oil paintings by Atsushi Koyama is somewhat ambiguous, it’s easy to appreciate the exactness of his paintbrush that colorfully and elegantly depicts mechanical diagrams mixed with anatomical illustrations.

Kaoru Yamada | Digital / AI illustrator

Tokyo based illustrator and copywriter Kaoru Yamada / 山田カオル was born in Kamakura, Japan.

Yamada finds beauty in nature, in people's expressions and gestures, and in living things.

She believes that people find something beautiful when they are at peace and when they have the space to feel compassion.

- "As an illustrator, I enjoy drawing seasonal landscapes and illustrations of everyday life.

Masayo Odahashi, 1975 | Glass sculptor

Masayo Odahashi / 小田橋昌代 was born in Mie, Japan.

She earned Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from Aichi University of Education in Japan, Her master's degree was in fine arts, with an art education specialty.

In 2010, she had a solo exhibition, Inner Sight, at the Glasmuseet Ebeltoft in Denmark.

Her work is in the permanent collections of the Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung in Germany, and Glasmuseet Ebeltoft.

Kobayashi Noriyuki, 1986 | Nihonga style painter

Kobayashi Noriyuki / 小林範之, a contemporary Nihonga (Japanese-style) painter from Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, Japan.

Working from the belief that one thread connects all life, Noriyuki Kobayashi forms his subject matter with thin gold lines that intersect to create a woven pattern full of life.

The geometrically sublime results are graceful landscapes and dynamically posed animals that race across the sky.

Kobayashi's utilization of traditional materials and techniques mixed with vibrant subjects celebrates the brilliance and interconnected nature of all living things.

Torajirō Kojima | Impressionist painter

Torajirō Kojima / 児島虎次郎 (1881-1929), born in Shimohara Village, Kawakami-gun, Okayama Prefecture (now Naruha-cho, Takahashi City) in 1881, was a leading Impressionist painter in Japan.

Torajiro Kojima was first a disciple of Takeji Fujishima and then attended the University of Fine Arts and Music in Tokyo, and in 1908 went to Paris to continue his studies.

In 1909 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent, Belgium, where he trained in Luminism.

Legge di Murphy: "Dentro ogni grande problema ce nè uno più piccolo che sta lottando per venir fuori"!

Della Murfologia Applicata alla Ricerca | Capitolo Quinto

Prima legge di Gordon

• Se non vale la pena fare una ricerca, non vale neanche la pena farla bene.

Legge di Murphy sulla ricerca

• Una ricerca abbastanza lunga tenderà a confermare ogni teoria.

Legge di Maier

• Se i dati non corrispondono alla teoria, vanno eliminati.

Corollari:

• Più vasta è la teoria, meglio è.

Un esperimento è da considerarsi un successo

se non più del 50 per cento dei dati ottenuti

deve essere scartato per ottenere i risultati previsti con la teoria.

Maurits Cornelis Escher (Dutch graphic artist, 1898-1972) | Drawing hands, January, 1948 | Gemeentemuseum Den Haag The Hague the Netherlands

Legge di Murphy: "Si riesce a far funzionare qualsiasi cosa, se ci si pasticcia abbastanza".

Della Murfologia Applicata alla Meccanica | Capitolo 4

Legge della perversità della Natura

• Non si può prevedere con successo quale lato del pane andrebbe imburrato.

Legge della gravità selettiva

• Un oggetto cadrà sempre in modo da produrre il maggior danno possibile.

Corollario di Jenning

• Le probabilità che il pane cada sul lato imburrato sono direttamente proporzionali al costo del tappeto.

Atsushi Koyama (Artista giapponese, 1978)

Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川広重)

Hiroshige, in full Andō Hiroshige, professional names Utagawa Hiroshige and Ichiyūsai Hiroshige, original name Andō Tokutarō, (born 1797, Edo [now Tokyo], Japan - died October 12, 1858, Edo), Japanese artist, one of the last great ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") masters of the colour woodblock print.

His genius for landscape compositions was first recognized in the West by the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists.

His print series Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō (1833-34) is perhaps his finest achievement.

Hiroshige was the son of Andō Genemon, warden of the Edo fire brigade. Various episodes indicate that the young Hiroshige was fond of sketching and probably had the tutelage of a fireman who had studied under a master of the traditional Kanō school of painting.

In the spring of 1809, when Hiroshige was 12 years of age, his mother died.

Toshiyuki Enoki 榎俊幸, 1961 | Lacquer painter

Japanese artist🎨 Toshiyuki Enoki was born in Tokyo. Educated in several different genres of Lacquer painting, traditional Japanese painting and western painting, Toshiyuki Enoki's works are an amalgamation of the new and aged, reality and myth.

This artist strives to antiquate his works, not only in his thematic tribute to well known traditional artists such as Maruyama Oukyou also in his artist process.

Izumi Kogahara / 古河原泉, 1979 | Abstract painter

Izumi Kogahara / 川原泉 is an Japanese painter🎨, born in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. In 2000 she obtained her artistic diploma from the University with honors.

Artist statement

"I would like to describe human beings’ original and complex inner mind with my own “words” (the way of presentation) by feeling energy from them.

Either they are objective way or abstract way, I continue to describe them with same belief".

Reiji Hiramatsu, 1941 | Monet and Water Lilies

Reiji Hiramatsu 平松 礼二 is a Japanese🎨 Nihonga painter born in Tokyo.

His father was a civil servant who moved the family to Nagoya in 1946, where Reiji Hiramatsu would grow up.

Early on he developed interest in the traditional painting techniques of Nihonga, however on behest of his parents he first studied law and economics at the Aichi University.

Ikenaga Yasunari 池永康晟, 1965

Calm, subtle and dreamy portraits of contemporary women, decorated with floral patterns - this is how we can describe the illustrations by Ikenaga Yasunari.

The portraits are painted in the traditional Japanese style called Nihonga, slightly modified by the artist.

Yuko Nagayama 永山裕子, 1963 | Watercolor painter

Japanese artist🎨 Nagayama Yuka 永山裕子 is a leading watercolorist and teacher known for her easy-to-understand instructional style.

Her paintings are exhibited and sold in galleries across Japan, the United States, and France, and she is featured regularly in Watercolor Magazine.

Nagayama Yuka was born in Tokyo.