Kimono with pine, bamboo, and topiary holly trees
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.The kimono designs of Serizawa represent only a small portion of his overall production, which included folding screens, book illustrations, shop entrance curtains, and so forth. He emerged from the 1930s Mingei (Japanese Folk Crafts) movement to achieve the status of Living National Treasure in 1956. The depiction of pine, bamboo, and topiary holly on a deep indigo ground is emblematic of Serizawa’s participation, along with other members of the Mingei movement, in the revival of traditional forms and techniques. Serizawa studied Okinawa bingata, a stencil-dyeing technique with a colorful dye palette, and preferred cutting stencils and dyeing fabrics himself, rather than relying on a division of labor.
Artwork Details
- 藍地絹紬松竹刈込みヒイラギ模様着物
- Title: Kimono with pine, bamboo, and topiary holly trees
- Artist: Serizawa Keisuke (Japanese, 1895–1984)
- Period: Shōwa period (1926–89)
- Date: ca. 1962
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Plain-weave pongee silk with stencil-dyeing
- Dimensions: 64 × 48 5/8 in. (162.6 × 123.5 cm)
- Classification: Costumes
- Credit Line: Promised Gift of John C. Weber
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art