Local collectors exhibit Japanese prints at Oglethorpe
BI MARTHA NODAR
Sandy Springs art collectors Terry and Julia Taylor dis
covered Hiroshi Yoshidas woodblock prints in the late
1960s, during their first visit to Japan.
While there, they met Yoshidas cousin. They kept in
touch with him after returning to the U.S.
“He would send us the pieces over time,” Julia Taylor
said. “My husband and I are not art experts. We just like
these paintings and have been collecting them ever since.
They are very traditional. They look like watercolor.”
This summer, the Taylors are sharing their collec
tion through an exhibition at the Oglethorpe Universi
ty Museum of Art. “Jiki to Hanga: Japanese Porcelain and
Prints,” showing through Aug. 25, includes prints, mostly
from Yoshida, a 20th century Japanese artist, whose works
are part of the Taylors’ private collection.
“It was my husband’s idea to lend these compositions
to the university’s museum,” Taylor said. “We have so
many pieces and we don’t have enough room at home.”
Taylor said Yoshidas works remind her of paintings
by the Impressionists, members of an artistic movement
emerging during the second half of the 19th century. Im
pressionists were influenced by Japanese prints.
Yoshida, who mastered a water-based woodcut print
ing technique allowing a range of colors, is known for
landscapes and showing people in everyday life. His goal
was to appeal to the Western audience, while remaining
faithful to the Japanese culture.
Sandy Springs resident Jose Soriano said he did some
woodcut printing of his own as a hobby in his younger
days, and appreciates the work involved in the process.
He also was impressed by the museum’s display, which
used muted lighting and flowers resembling those found
in Japanese gardens.
The ambiance was further enhanced by a younger gen
eration of art enthusiasts who graced the galleries at the
exhibit’s recent opening. Students from first through fifth
grade from the Seigakuin Atlanta International School
sang for museum patrons both in English and in Japa
nese.
“These prints are really fantastic and the museum is
beautifully decorated—very minimalistic, very Japanese,”
Soriano said.
PHOTOS BY MARTHA NODAR
Above, students from
the Seigakuin Atlanta
International School
sing for Oglethorpe
Museum patrons
during the opening of
the exhibition, “Jiki
to Hanga: Japanese
Porcelain and Prints.”
Right, a student from
the school mingles
with art enthusiasts.
The exhibition runs
through Aug. 25.
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18 | MAY 31—JUNE 13, 2013 | www.ReporterNewspapers.net
