Our Thursday series features must-read books from each branch of art bookshop NADiff. This week's pick is "Nagasawa Rosetsu Exhibition: Kyoto's Entertainer, Commemorating the Museum's 25th Anniversary," the official catalog for the "Nagasawa Rosetsu" exhibition currently being held at the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art. NADiff Aichi, the Aichi/Nagoya branch, is located on the second basement floor of the Aichi Arts Center, 1-13-2 Higashisakura, Higashi-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture.



■ "25th Anniversary Nagasawa Rosetsu Exhibition: Entertainer of Kyoto"

This book is the official catalog for the "Nagasawa Rosetsu" exhibition currently being held at the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art. Nagasawa Rosetsu, an artist active in Kyoto in the mid-Edo period, was a student of Maruyama Okyo. Today, he is known, along with Ito Jakuchu and Soga Shohaku, as a painter of "eccentricities," and is one of the painters characterized by his qualities as an entertainer who surprises and entertains. The exhibition features over 80 works from his 46-year life, from his earliest works to his final years, and this book presents all of them in color.

The tiger featured on the cover of the catalogue and the exhibition poster is from a sliding door painting at Muryoji Temple (Wakayama Prefecture). While seemingly imposing, it actually depicts a kitten painted from the perspective of a fish beside the water. To explain the concept behind this, the exhibition room has been designed to allow visitors to view the painting in a state close to the original, with tatami mats, pillars, and lintels installed. The adorable puppy depicted at the feet of the black ox in Rosetsu's "White Elephant and Black Ox Screen" has garnered high popularity, and the puppy often appears as a guide during exhibitions. Rosetsu's paintings also feature many other animals, and their expressiveness is also noteworthy.

NADiff Aichi is currently hosting a fair featuring HANSA stuffed toys of animals featured in Rosetsu's paintings, along with related books and miscellaneous goods. Due to the closure of the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art for renovations, Nadiff Aichi will be closed from November 20th.