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Americans in Japan: Japanese Art, Woodblock Printmaking, and Cultural Exchange Across 250 Years
This Fourth of July, as America celebrates its 250th anniversary, Ronin Gallery is pleased to highlight the long history of artistic exchange between the United States and Japan. Following Japan’s opening to the West in 1854 after more than two centuries of isolation, Japanese art quickly became a powerful influence in Europe and America. Its craftsmanship, bold compositions, innovative aesthetics, and affinity with avant-garde movements captivated Western artists and collectors, shaping modern art and fostering a lasting dialogue between two creative traditions.
Toru Ishii and the Contemporary Art of Itome Yūzen
Ronin Gallery is pleased to welcome Toru Ishii, the 2026 Ronin | Globus Artist-in-Residence, for an upcoming exhibition running from July 8th to August 6th of contemporary textile works that bring new life to one of Japan’s most celebrated artistic traditions: yūzen dyeing. Developed during the Edo period, yūzen is a Japanese textile dyeing technique known for vivid color, intricate designs, and the use of paste-resist methods. In Ishii’s hands, this historic technique becomes a contemporary art form, bridging the refined world of Japanese textile design with the movement, color, and energy of modern Tokyo.
Toru Ishii announced as the 2026 Ronin | Globus Artist-in-Residence
Ronin Gallery and Globus Washitsu are pleased to announce contemporary Japanese textile artist Toru Ishii as the 2026 Ronin | Globus Artist-in-Residence. Ishii’s solo exhibition, Tokyo Landscape, will be on view at Ronin Gallery from July 8 through August 6, 2026. Created between 2022 and 2025, Ishii’s Tokyo Landscape series turns the historic language of itome yuzen toward contemporary Tokyo. Like ukiyo-e artists who recorded the “floating world” of Edo, Ishii uses traditional technique to mirror the visual density and social energy of his own time.
[Press Release] Yoshitoshi: An Eccentric Genius
(New York, NY) — Ronin Gallery is pleased to present Yoshitoshi: An Eccentric Genius, a sweeping exhibition celebrating the extraordinary vision of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi—one of the most innovative and psychologically complex artists of the ukiyo-e tradition. Widely regarded as the last great master of ukiyo-e, Yoshitoshi (1839–1892) worked at a moment of profound transformation in Japan. Amid the upheaval of the Meiji period, he forged a deeply personal visual language—one that fused classical themes with modern anxieties, poetic sensitivity with visceral intensity. Yoshitoshi: An Eccentric Genius brings together a dynamic selection of prints that reveal the breadth of his artistic achievement. The exhibition offers a rare opportunity to explore Yoshitoshi’s boundless imagination through masterworks spanning his most iconic series and singular designs. Highlights include celebrated works from his late masterworks: One Hundred Views of the Moon (1885–1892), Thirty-Two Aspects of Women (1888), and New Forms of Thirty-Six Ghosts (1889–1892). At the heart of the exhibition is Yoshitoshi’s undisputed masterpiece, Fujiwara no Yasumasa Plays the Flute by Moonlight (1883). This iconic design encapsulates the artist’s genius: a quiet yet electrifying moment in which elegance, tension, and narrative converge beneath the moon’s glow. Both restrained and deeply evocative, the print stands as a pinnacle of late nineteenth-century Japanese printmaking. Through these works, Yoshitoshi: An Eccentric Genius reveals an artist who was not merely preserving tradition, but reinventing it. His prints resonate with emotional depth, technical brilliance, and a singular vision that continues to captivate collectors and institutions worldwide.
[Press Release] Landscape Masters: Hokusai, Hiroshige, Hasui & Yoshida
Ronin Gallery is proud to announce Landscape Masters: Hokusai, Hiroshige, Hasui & Yoshida, an exhibition celebrating Japan’s most iconic interpreters of the natural world.
Ronin Gallery Concludes 50th Anniversary Celebration with Contemporary Talents
Ronin Gallery proudly concludes its yearlong 50th anniversary celebration with Contemporary Talents, the final exhibition in a landmark series exploring five centuries of Japanese art.
[Press Release] Modern Perspectives: Woodblock Prints of the 20th Century
As part of its 50th anniversary celebration, Ronin Gallery is pleased to present Modern Perspectives: Woodblock Prints from the 20th Century, the fourth installment in a yearlong exploration of five centuries of Japanese printmaking.
[Press Release] Expanding Horizons: Woodblock Prints from 1860 through 1912
Ronin Gallery celebrates its 50th anniversary with an exploration of five centuries of Japanese prints. From the first flowerings of ukiyo-e to today’s contemporary talents, they will consider the history of Japanese printmaking in five exhibitions. The third installment of this anniversary program, Expanding Horizons: Woodblock Prints from 1860 through 1912 explores an era of profound change for both the art form and Japan as a whole. As Edo’s “floating world” faded in the gas-light glow of modern Tokyo, woodblock print artists expanded their subjects, styles and materials to reflect the transition from feudal nation to modern empire. From foreign ships in the newly opened port of Yokohama to military battles fought on foreign shores, this exhibition considers the complexity and creativity of the late Edo Period (1603-1868) and Meiji Period (1868-1912) through artists such as Yoshitoshi, Kiyochika, Sadahide, and more.
[Press Release] The Floating World in Full Bloom: Woodblock Prints of the 19th Century
On view: Mar. 6 - May 23, 2025
[Press Release] Dawn of Ukiyo-e: Woodblock Prints of the 17th & 18th Centuries
On view: Jan. 9– Feb. 28,2025
Press Release - Honor Among Outlaws: Selected Works from Kuniyoshi’s 108 Heroes of the Popular Suikoden
On view: Sept. 12 - Oct. 25, 2024
Summer Nights: Dusk Till Dawn
This blog was written by Tristan Madden during his 2024 summer internship at Ronin Gallery.
Welcome Masahiko Minami to New York City
Opening Reception for 2024 Ronin Gallery Onbeat Artist-in-residence Masahiko Minami
Snowfall at Scale: Katsutoshi Yuasa’s Monumental Woodblock Print “Summer Snow” (2022)
Katsutoshi Yuasa. “Summer Snow.” 2022. ed. 2/3. Oil-based woodcut on paper. 78.75” x 118“. Ronin Gallery. JPR-210057.
Celebrating the Harvest Moon with Tsukimi Dango
A special full moon will illuminate the evening sky this Friday night (Sept. 29th, 2023), marking an auspicious occasion in many East Asian cultures. Known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, or Chushu no Meigetsu in Japanese, the celebration signals the beginning of the annual harvest and usually falls on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar.