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Flower Market, Tokyo by Robert Frederick Blum, c. 1892.
Blum was born in Cincinnati where he worked for a lithographer before he began to take classes in drawing. He had a strong interest in all things Japanese as did many other artists at the time such as Whistler and Monet. Blum's preferred medium was pastels and he and W.M. Chase founded the Society of Painters in Pastel in New York.
Yomeimon Gate by Hasui Kawase. The gate is from the early 17th century.
Yomeimon Gate is a a very famous site in Japan at Nikko. It is considered one of Japan's most beautiful buildings. The gate has over 500 carvings and to look at them all can fill the better part of a day. The gate is part of the Toshogu Shrine, which also houses a famous sculpture of a sleeping cat.
Symphony in White No.2: Little White Girl by James Abbot McNeill Whistler, Tate Gallery, London.
The Japanese theme in Whistler's art can be seen in the decorations around the figure of the woman. Around the mid 19th century Japanese influences began to appear in Europe and became quite fashionable.
Kusama with Pumpkin by Yayoi Kusama, currently at David Zwirner Gallery NYC
I got to see the Kusama exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art in 2018 and I found it to be one of the most exciting and interactive exhibitions I had seen in a long time. Her work is so colorful and uplifting that is the perfect art for the social media age. Hi neighbors: The Phoenix Museum of Art has a Kusama Infinity Room too (see it when they re-open).