生きている絵 (living pictures Vol.1)

Turn off notifications and raise the volume: relax for a few seconds and press the play button to be teleported to Japan in the 19th Century. What you will see are ten ancient Japanese paintings (created between 1786 and 1900, scanned and published by the Library of Congress) that I animated.

生きている絵 (living pictures Vol.2)

Small Tribute to Hiroshige  (1797 - 1858)

生きている絵 (living pictures Vol.3)

Tribute to Utagawa, Kunisada (1786 - 1865)

生きている絵 (living pictures Vol.4)

Utagawa Hiroshige - Eight Shadow Figures (1842)

The three prints in Hiroshige’s New Edition of Shadow Making series were probably considered omocha-e (toy pictures) intended for children. Creating shadows through hand gestures was a common pastime for children, and such pictures would have helped them build their repertoire. The eight patterns presented here (clockwise from upper right) are a turtle on a rock, a man wearing a Chinese-style hat, a rabbit, a shachihoko (a legendary creature with the head of dragon and the body of a dolphin), an owl, a fox, a snail, and a crow. Three include written instructions on how to make the shadows move: “open your fingers within your sleeve to move the owl’s wings,” “draw up your knee for the fox’s back,” “move the chopsticks up and down.”

生きている絵 (living pictures Vol.5)

Yōkai (妖怪, ghost, phantom, strange apparition) are a class of supernatural monsters, spirits and demons in Japanese folklore.
In this video I animate a selection of Ukiyo-e made by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798/1861).
I hope they help us to exorcise the fears we are facing in this absurd historical period.

生きている絵 (living pictures Vol.6)

生きている絵 vol.6 - Toshi Yoshida (1911-1995)

Yoshida Toshi 吉田 遠志 was born in Tokyo to a family of artists. His father, Hiroshi Yoshida, educated him in art and fostered his interest in landscapes and animals. Despite the influence of Hiroshi, Toshi's style is distinct in its daring color schemes and composition. The subject matter of Toshi’s woodblock prints largely draws upon his travels, which went as far afield as Antarctica. He briefly experimented in abstract painting in the aftermath of his father’s death in 1950, but returned to his more traditional style. Yoshida Toshi's work has received great acclaim and is included in prestigious museums such as Museum of Modern Art New York and the British Museum.
In collaboration with floatingworld.com/