The One about the Okakura Tenshin Memorial Park Site of Okakura Tenshin’s Residence in Yanaka

Okakura Kakuzo (a.k.a. Okakura Tenshin) was a Japanese scholar who is known for the development of arts in Japan. Best known for his book “The Book of Tea”, Okakura was a scholar who learned English while attending a school which was operated by a Christian Read More …

The One about the National Museum of Western Art in Ueno

I visited the National Museum of Western Art in Ueno Park.  I  went to check out the exhibit of German Renaissance painter and printmaker, Lucas Cranach the Elder. The building of the National Museum of Western Art was designed by Le Corbusier (Charles-Edouard Jeanneret), one Read More …

The One about Design Toscano Art Nouveau Poppy Princess Wall Pocket Planter Sculpture

As I have become familiar with Design Toscano products, with spring coming around, I have been interested in sculptures to put in our front garden and possibly another to be kept indoors. For those not familiar with Design Toscano, the company is a popular mail Read More …

The One about the Golden Obelisk in Odaiba, designed by Phillipe Starck

French designer Philippe Starck is well-known for his interior, architectural, industrial and product design. Starck studied at the Ecole Camondo in Paris and he created an inflatable structure in 1969 that questioned materiality and would bring him to the attention of Pierre Cardin who offered Read More …

The One about the Portrait of Madame Paul Duchesne-Fournet, 1879 by Jean-Jacques Henner

When I visit LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), I’m often drawn to the oil on canvas painting of the “Portrait of Madame Paul Duchesne-Fournet, 1879” by Jean-Jacques Henner. Henner is a French painter who was known for using sfumato (one of the four Read More …