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Published on March 10, 2008

  Van Gogh's first large-scale appearance in South Korea includes 45 paintings and 22 drawings from the Dutch museums, which together own more than half of Van Gogh's oeuvre.

The exhibition is the second largest ever mounted, after the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam staged a mammoth show in 1990 to mark the 100th anniversary of the artist's death.

Visit www.VanGoghSeoul.com.

Art's role in European unity

"European Attitude" is the title of an art exhibition about how the continent is expanding both constitutionally and in its outlook. The common public perception is European economic and social unity depends on overcoming the differences among its composite nations.

Europe is unified by market forces, but divided by the complexities of regional history and the resulting financial and social poverty.

A significantly prejudicial framework sets the criteria for countries wishing to enter the European Union, and culture plays an important role.

The exhibition presents the work of 21 artists from 12 countries to initiate discussion on artistic identity within global political circumstances.

The show continues until Sunday at the Shanghai Zendai Museum of Modern Art.

Visit www.ZendaiArt.com.

 

When piety turns to mischief

Kyoto National Museum is presenting "An Old Man's Mischief: Playful Works by the Buddhist Sculptor Shimizu Ryukei" until March 30.

 This exhibition focuses on the four Edo-period sculptors active in Kyoto who shared the same name. Ryukei I (1659-1732) used the pseudonym Rinko, while Ryukei II (1729-95) went by the name Bishumontei.

Rather than Buddhist statues, the show highlights genre dolls, a sort of carver's hobby. Ryukei I referred to them as "an old man's mischief". Perhaps he felt self-conscious that he created worldly objects using the same skills that he used to carve sacred images.

However, compared to Buddhist statues - which had to be sculpted according to strict iconographic and technical rules and standards - Ryukei playfully created these figurines and demonstrated his abilities to the utmost.

Visit www.Kyohaku.go.jp.

The Nation