In-Person Lecture Series

The Beauty of Japanese Sculpture
Modern and Contemporary

7PM - 8:30PM, Wednesday, May 20, 2026
Murasaki Hall at The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles
(5700 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 100, Los Angeles, CA 90036)

Admission FREE
Please register HERE

With the end of Japan's self-imposed isolation in the second half of the nineteenth century came an influx of new ideas and technologies from the West. The new Tokyo School of Fine Arts, established in 1887, selected sculpture instructors from both Japanese and international modes, such as Takamura Koun (1852-1934) and Vincenzo Ragusa (1841-1927). A growing interest in Japanese traditional art led to a small but significant resurgence of sculpture and sculpture-making that has continued to the present day.

This is the final session of six monthly classroom-style lectures that trace the historical development of sculpture in Japan. These lively conversations explore Japanese sculptures from various time periods and mediums through in-depth explanations about how and why they were made. Participants will also encounter obscure topics related to sculpture-making in Japan.

Michael VanHartingsveldt

A PhD candidate in Art History at the University of Kansas, Michael VanHartingsveldt is currently writing his dissertation about the Buddhist sculptor profession in medieval Japan. He has curated exhibitions, taught university courses, and presented public lectures about Japanese visual culture in California, Kansas, and Japan, and is now working as an Art and Culture Program Officer at the Japan Foundation, Los Angeles.

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