From Yumeji Takeshi to Gary Panter

I was overwhelmed by TAB's updates today, so I decided to take the two most appealing to me and put them together.
First off, I have never heard of Yumeji Takeshi, but she was a Romantic artist, working mostly in the early 1900s. I like her style, because it combines the elegant techniques required for Japanese Chinese Style Ink Paintings with the more spontaneous style seen in Western Romanticism in the 1800s. Very beautiful.
Gary Panter is one of my favorite underground artists, and I thoroughly enjoyed Jimbo in Purgatory. Apparently, along with doing Red Hot Chili Peppers album covers, he also did this year's BAPE T-shirt (and pajamas!) designs! This guy has been around for years and years, but his style remains completely chaotic and always fun, so I am happy to see that he has a show in Tokyo!

Back to Yumeji Takeshi.
I never thought about it until now, but I always assumed that Japan never really went through any artistic movements. Although I liked the woodblock prints they used to do, I always thought that they were very comic book looking, and not incredibly artistic in any regard. I've seen a great deal of Japanese modern art, but never anything in between, and because of this, I find Ms. Takeshi's work to be even more interesting.