-Rin- Nihombashi Mitsukoshi Art Market 2018
I visited the annual art market “Rin” at Nihombashi Mitsukoshi. It is a project featuring 11 domestic galleries and 7 projects by Mitsukoshi, offering exhibitions and sales.
It’s a fun project bringing together a wide range of genres and many works.
Photography is permitted, so you can enjoy it even without purchasing works. It’s also a valuable opportunity to view (or, if you’re inclined, purchase) works by masters normally shown in museums, complete with price tags.
Realism
In one corner of “Rin” was a display space called “Realism” featuring realist works.
I saw a large work I had also seen previously at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum and immediately understood, “This is Ryo Shiotani!”
It turned out to be a joint exhibition of Ryo Shiotani together with Kenichiro Ishiguro.
Ryo Shiotani
How can I put it — the sense of atmosphere is stunning. There’s a sensual quality that lies beyond realism.
There was a work I had also seen previously at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. It’s a large work titled “Kusane.” The subtle relationship between the two figures is what draws you in.
The female nude works are beautifully rendered — pure art works without a hint of eroticism.
The two works above are too expensive to list here. The prices are in the tens of millions of yen…
Next to the striking beauty paintings, a landscape painting was quietly displayed. This one already had a red-dot sticker.
Kenichiro Ishiguro
Displayed alongside Ryo Shiotani were portrait paintings by Kenichiro Ishiguro.
Though both are small works, they too come with quite substantial price tags.
Amid the current boom in hyperrealist paintings and beauty paintings, I left the venue feeling grateful — as if I had received a welcome blessing from being able to encounter the works of these two veteran artists.
