Exhibitions

The paintings of Shigeru Matsuzaki, like the illustrated fables in children's books, conduct us on a journey through an enchanted world of dreams.

Japan, the chain of islands off the East coast of Asia, is a land that nature has endowed with an abundance of sweet water to replenish her rivers and lakes, and her waterfalls.

Modern Japanese art is cosmopolitan, largely because of the current speed of information retrieval, the artists' ability to travel, and the international exhibition scene in which they participate.

The techniques of chromo-lithography printing first reached Japan at the beginning of the 20th century, when there appeared a series of posters of beautiful women. These posters were framed and exhibited in a closed hall, rather than being displayed on hoardings in the streets as is customary in the western world.

In Japan, the first sign of spring is the cherry blossom (sakura). The sakura flowers only for a short while, about a week, and has become the symbol of a transient world, its pink and white flowers conveying the traditional Japanese values of purity and simplicity.

Georges Weil was born in Vienna in 1938. His family moved to England one year later. Weil studied at the Central School of Art & Craft, and at St. Martin's School of Art in London. In 1956 he set up a studio for jewellery design and manufacture, while continuing his sculpture and painting.

Hashira-e ("pillar pictures") are woodblock prints with specific measurements - 70 cm. long and 12 cm. wide - and were widespread in Japan from the mid-18th to mid-19th centuries.

he term "manga" - "occasional paintings" - was first used in the 19th century. Since the manga, drawn freely and directly onto the page, are sketches full of humour, the term has been applied to comic works.