Royal Academy of Arts

Sensation is the first definitive survey of work by the younger generation of British artists that has captivated the international art world with its vitality and inventiveness. As a constant and prodigious collector and patron of young British artists, Charles Saatchi has been unique in his commitment to British art as it is now being produced. His support extends far beyond those such as Damien Hirst and Rachel Whiteread, whose work has acquired wide notoriety, to dozens of others at the cutting edge of the current art scene. Sensation features the work of forty-two of the most exciting and radical artists working in Britain today. Many of them--such as Jenny Saville, Rachel Whiteread, or Jake & Dinos Chapman--are already internationally acclaimed; others are destined to be. The book's original and penetrating essays include the critical context of their work and trace the phenomenon of the British art scene since "Freeze," the 1988 exhibition that is now recognized as a defining moment in the story of British art. Cutting through tabloid headlines, controversial press coverage, and art-world debate, Sensation reveals the achievements of young British artists and the role played by courageous and imaginative patronage.… (más)

This is a catalogue of an exhibition by the Royal Academy of Arts in London. It features the arts of the Edo Period in Japan. In the preface, the President of the Japan Foundation says that an Exhibition on this scale of Japanese Art has never been held anywhere in the world, even in Japan. So it is rather special. The exhibition includes: painting, calligraphy, wood-block prints, lacquer, ceramics, armour, sword blades, sword mounts, sculpture, netsuke and textiles. So it is very comprehensive. Most of the pictures are in black and white but there is a large section with coloured photos...and for the time (1981) that is probably as much as one could expect.
I did attend another exhibition of Edo art in Tokyo ...about 5 years ago and it was also a bit overwhelming in quantity (and quality). Probably a larger exhibition than this London version. I recall being a bit overwhelmed by all the screen paintings. And there is now an entire museum in Tokyo dedicated to the Edo era. But I was fascinated to notice with the current book that the cover features a style of painting (by Watanabe Shiko...1683-1755) that seems to be resurrected by some of the modern Japanese painters ( I recall a number in the Shizuoka Art Museum, for example).
There are a number of essays on the history of the Edo period and on most of the arts represented. These are scholarly works and interesting in their own right. All in all this is a nice introduction to the art of the Edo period. I give it 3.5 stars.… (más)