Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists

Rating:
Summary: An extraordinary experience
Review: To view the Minneapolis Institute of Arts current exhibit, "A Japanese Legacy: Four Generations of Yoshida Family Artists," is like entering into 100 years of modernization in Japanese art history. The catalogue for the exhibit, being sold here, conveys the same sense. What we see is not artists who repeat traditional cultural forms in spite of Japan's modernization. But just the opposite, members of a single family who step confidently into Japan's future, using their artistic genius to bring the modern world into Japan and Japanese sense of beauty to the rest of world. What an astonishing exchange and transformation takes place from one generation to the next. Maybe art history itself is on display in an exhibition like this. In any case this is a really interesting read.