Kamisaka Sekka’s Later Works and Kyoto Kōgei

The highly reputed Kyoto design artist Kamisaka Sekka (1866-1942), whose prodigious contributions to the filed of Japanese design span the first half of the twentieth century, provided an alternate vision of Japanese decorative arts. This paper examines Sekka's vision, which entailed a revival of Edo Rimpa, enhanced by his innovations, while also making Kyoto design emblematic of modern Japanese aesthetics.