NEW ORLEANS, LA.- This fall, the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) opens Second Nature: Japanese Rinpa Paintings from the Gitter-Yelen Collection, an immersive look at this influential tradition. One of the most distinctive schools of Japan’s Edo period (1615–1868), Rinpa artists combined specialized ink painting techniques with a shimmering, polychrome palette in compositions depicting natural scenes.

Second Nature includes an extraordinary collection of nearly 60 paintings in an array of formats, including hanging scrolls, folding screens, fans, albums, and handscrolls, as well as ceramics and decorative arts, to offer new insights and perspectives into Rinpa painting and the role of artist Sakai Hōitsu in defining the style from its disparate progenitors.

Second Nature is drawn primarily from the remarkable collection of Alice Yelen Gitter and the late Dr. Kurt A. Gitter, with additional works from NOMA’s collection. The exhibition is organized by NOMA with guest curator Yukio Lippit, Jeffrey T. Chambers and Andrea Okamura Professor of the History of Art and Architecture at Harvard University, in coordination with Dr. Gitter over the final years of his life.

“This exhibition reconsiders the influential and beautiful tradition of Rinpa painting,” said Susan M. Taylor, The Montine McDaniel Freeman Director. “We are grateful to Alice Yelen Gitter for sharing these works with NOMA and our visitors from around the world. It is a remarkable opportunity for visitors to immerse themselves in Edo-period painting.”

“Rinpa is one of the most widely admired traditions of Japanese painting from the early modern era. But it is a ’school’ in a very specific sense, developed by artists discovering and communing with much earlier artists from different backgrounds,” said curator Yukio Lippit. “The history of Rinpa was traditionally told in a fairly orthodox manner, but recent decades have highlighted new themes and the roles of previously overlooked artists. The Gitter-Yelen Collection anticipated these developments and allows us the opportunity to take a fresh look at a visually spectacular story of Japanese art.”





Second Nature positions Sakai Hōitsu (1757–1828) as a pivotal figure and “founder” of Rinpa, as it was his late 18th-century rediscovery and revival of the artistic achievements of Ogata Kōrin (1658–1716) from nearly a century earlier that formed the foundation of this style. “Rinpa” literally translates to “School of Kōrin.”

Kōrin excelled at ink painting and also introduced new approaches to the painting medium from other craft traditions such as textiles and lacquer. The result was an inter-media approach that combined picture and pattern in stylized, abstract ways that showcased the colors and materiality of the artwork. This renewed awareness of Kōrin’s contributions led, in turn, to an interest in his predecessors, most notably the Kyoto artists Hon’ami Kōetsu and Tawaraya Sōtatsu. Second Nature includes a selection of works by Kōrin, Kōetsu, Sōtatsu, and others who, due to Hōitsu’s scholarship, are now regarded as the originators of Rinpa painting.

Among the important artists who contributed to the early formulation of Rinpa is Nakamura Hōchū (d. 1819). Little is known about Hōchū’s biography other than that he was born in Kyoto, arrived in Edo sometime in 1799, and died in Osaka in 1819. He appears to have been a litterateur with impressive knowledge of Buddhist texts and haikai poetry. He was also among the earliest artists to call attention to Kōrin’s legacy, publishing an illustrated book on Kōrin in 1802, albeit one that consisted of his own copies or reinterpretations of Kōrin’s work.

In 1815, Hōitsu commemorated the centenary anniversary of Ogata Kōrin’s death with an exhibition and publication of one hundred of Kōrin’s paintings. Through his study of Kōrin, Hōitsu developed a similar style that was later transmitted and furthered by his many disciples in Edo.

One of the most celebrated works included in the exhibition is Hōitsu’s Triptych of Flowers and the Rising Sun, widely considered one of the most important Rinpa paintings outside of Japan. With its superlative composition, inkwork, and use of color, the triptych embodies the pictorial qualities that have characterized Rinpa for centuries.

Also on view are additional works by Hōitsu’s followers, including Suzuki Kiitsu, active during the first half of the 19th century. Particularly notable are the outstanding works by Sakai Ōho, who was adopted by Hōitsu at the age of ten and later became one of his most outstanding students.

Kamisaka Sekka (1866–1942) is the figure most responsible for the transmission of Rinpa style into the modern era. Sekka’s path to Rinpa was circuitous; he studied abroad in Glasgow and was drawn to Art Nouveau, which in turn was heavily influenced by Rinpa approaches. Upon his return to Japan, Sekka played an important role in reconceiving Rinpa artistry into the modern language of design, producing paintings, woodblock prints, and lacquerware of unique appeal.

In the modern era, the Rinpa legacy was reframed not only by Sekka, but also by practitioners of a neo-traditional form of painting, known as Nihonga, that arose in the late 19th century. While using traditional formats, materials and subjects, Nihonga artists selectively introduced aspects of European pictorialism to give their works greater legibility to international audiences and modern sensibilities.

Initially Nihonga artists based their understanding of traditional Japanese painting on Edo schools such as the Kano and Maruyama-Shijō. From the 1910s onward, however, a new generation of artists aspired to bring Nihonga closer to European Post-Impressionist movements and were drawn to the abstraction and visual dynamism of Rinpa. Second Nature features a twelve-panel album by Hirai Baisen celebrating the visual beauty of the landscape throughout the year.

“This exhibition demonstrates our longstanding commitment to presenting a full story of Edo-period art at NOMA,” said Lisa Rotondo-McCord, Deputy Director and Curator of Asian Art. “We are honored to share such an important collection of works that will reintroduce this influential tradition to many of our visitors.”

The exhibition will be accompanied by a newly published catalogue, which will include full color images as well as texts from Rotondo-McCord and Lippit.