Mitsuru Watanabe's "Shiro"
Oil and gold leaf on canvas
45.75 x 35.75 inches
Rehs Contemporary Galleries is honored to present the intriguing work of Mitsuru Watanabe to collectors in American and throughout the world.
Janet Whitmore, in her biography of the artist (which will be posted on our site very soon) notes that: the combination of humor and serious cultural commentary is characteristic of Mitsuru’s painting. He notes that this too is based on an older Japanese trope, Honka-dori, in which new tanka poetry is created by quoting from famous older tanka poems. Mitsuru has used iconic western paintings coupled with very contemporary Japanese images to initiate a discussion about the cross-cultural influences of each tradition. And his children have become the ambassadors of that conversation.
We trust you will enjoy Natasha Gural-Maiello's article for Forbes.com discussing Mitsuru Watanabe's work.