Gallery Displays Kimono as Art

Extraordinary examples of kimono created during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, one of the most dynamic periods in the history of Japan's national costume, comprise an exhibit at the Newcomb Art Gallery, Fashioning Kimono: Art Deco and Modernism in Japan.

Newcomb Art Gallery senior curator Sally Main narrates a tour of the Fashioning Kimono: Art Deco and Modernism in Japan exhibit, which runs through Jan. 9, in this video by Ryan Rivet.

“The biggest misconception we're dealing with is that we have a gallery full of robes,” says Sally Main, senior curator at the Newcomb Gallery. “They are so much more than that. These kimono are translations of nature on long, rectangular canvases.”

Included are formal, semi-formal, and casual kimono worn by men, women, and children. Some of the garments reflect historical continuity, while others show how Western visual themes began to eclipse Japanese motifs.