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Saturday, July 16 to Sunday, August 21, 2005 Organized by MIHO MUSEUM and Asahi Shimbun. Sponsored by MIHO MUSEUM. Friends of the MUSEUM. With the cooperation of Tohoku Fukushi University Serizawa Keisuke Art and Craft Museum and Shizuoka City Serizawa Keisuke Art Museum.

This summer, MIHO MUSEUM will exhibit a retrospective on Serizawa Keisuke (1895-1984), the National Living Treasure for kataezome (hand-stenciled dyeing), through approximately 300 of the artist’s works and approximately 100 objects he collections. See many of Serizawa’s important works through the many episodes in his life as told by his friends that cultivated his many designs.

Lotus Flower, 1965    Skilled at painting from his childhood, Serizawa had considered studying in Paris. He took daily walks to sketch scenes of the ocean and mountains, small flowers, and countryside houses, and knew better than anyone else where to find the most elegant pine trees in his neighborhood.    At thirty-two, Serizawa met the founder of the Mingei (Japanese folk art) movement Yanagi Sôetsu (1889-1961) and was greatly inspired by the works Yanagi collected and by ideas of the movement. At the same time, Yanagi was also impressed by Serizawa’s collection of votive ema plaques.    The following year, Serizawa encountered a wrapping cloth dyed in the Okinawan bingata technique in a Mingei exhibition. Captivated by its vibrant colors and natural and lively design, he decided to enter the world of dyeing and trained in dye techniques in his hometown of Shizuoka and in Okinawa.

Okinawa fubutsu [Views of Okinawa], Scene of Bingata Dye Shop, 1948

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