World Museum is turning Japanese this autumn

Liverpool’s World Museum stages a UK premiere this autumn.

The venue will host the first ever exhibition of the work of celebrated Japanese artist Taki Katei outside his home country.

Drawing on Nature, which runs from October 4 to April 2020, formed part of the wider UK-Japan Season of Culture.

Senior curator Emma Martin said: “We’re excited to be showing the highlights of this important collection for the first time.

“We hope visitors have the same reaction as we did as we unrolled each piece for the first time, and full, flouncy peonies in blushing pinks and strutting cockerels with iridescent feathers suddenly unfurled before our eyes.

“There were gasps of amazement and smiles of delight from members of the team who were unfamiliar with Katei’s work and we knew straight away that these works would make an incredible exhibition.”

Born in 1830, Taki Katei was a master of the genre of bird and flower paintings. He had the honour of his paintings being displayed in the imperial court, and his impressive works travelled to international expositions.

After his death in 1901, one of his pupils, Ishibashi Kazunori, took charge of a large group of sketches and brought them to Britain when he came here to study in 1907.

Drawing on Nature will show a selection from Katei’s collection of drawings that he used for teaching, for preparing some of his major commissions, and as an aide-mémoire.

Katei produced a large body of work in various formats, including hanging scrolls, albums, sliding doors, ceiling paintings and folding screens. Some of his designs were made into lacquerwares and metalwork.

The exhibition will be separated in to five themes, looking at the hidden meanings and the symbolism that were prevalent in his works, the techniques he used and his practice towards perfection.

It will also tell the story of how this astonishing collection of ink drawings and watercolours travelled from an artist’s studio in Tokyo to a museum in Liverpool.

The UK-Japan Season of Culture is an international initiative which runs from the Rugby World Cup in Japan in autumn 2019 to the end of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics in 2020.

Drawing on Nature is at World Museum Liverpool from October 4 to April 13 2020.

Tickets are £6 with £5 concessions and £2 for six to 17-year-olds. More from the website HERE