A Japanese master’s work in full flower at LACMA

The catalog that accompanies “Kamisaka Sekka: Rimpa Master -- Pioneer of Modern Japanese Design,” now at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, divides the work of this celebrated painter and decorative artist into four principal chapters: “Pleasures of the Four Seasons,” “Pleasures of Nature,” “Pleasures of Life” and “Pleasures of Collaboration.”

The implication is clear and resounds throughout the exhibition itself: This is art that celebrates. Whether the subject is maple leaves, goldfish, boatmen, children’s toys, theatrical scenes, plum blossoms or Mt. Fuji, each image reads as an expression of joy, an attempt to distill the abundant beauty of the world into a profound, if highly mannered, essence. Invariably personal in scale and often explicitly functional, the works draw this beauty into the realm of the everyday, emphasizing its practical and spiritual necessity.

Sekka was born in Kyoto in 1866, two years before the Meiji Restoration unseated the reigning shogun and ended several centuries of isolationist feudal rule in Japan. The period that followed was one of rapid modernization, liberalization and militarization during which Japan’s contact with the West increased dramatically. In the art world, this led to a pronounced tension between traditional and modern practices, resulting in the development of two categories of painting: Nihonga (Japanese) and Yoga (Western). It also contributed to a new split between fine arts and applied arts (bijutsu and geijutsu), with the former centering in the new capital of Tokyo and the latter in Kyoto.

Sekka, for his part, remained an ardent traditionalist, espousing the centuries-old Rimpa tradition and upholding the continuity between painting and craft. As Tanya Ferretto Steel explains in one of the catalog essays: “Sekka lived at a time when Japan was searching for equilibrium between national and international, old and new. He chose to follow the path of tradition and use his talent both in fine and applied arts. To him, tradition essentially meant Rimpa because of its connection with the Yamato-e (Japanese images) style that traces its origins back to the Heian period (794-1185), one of the high points of Japanese culture. This period produced what was considered a uniquely Japanese culture and artistic expression that came to be regarded as the essence of Japanese elegance and beauty.”

Rimpa itself was a highly decorative style given to images of flowers, seasonal motifs and scenes from courtly novels and poems. Characteristic techniques include the “puddling” of wet pigments (called tarashikomi); a “boneless” style of brushwork (called mokkotsu) that favors solid blocks of color over strong outlines; the frequent use of gold and silver leaf; and the incorporation of calligraphy as a design element. Rimpa artists often worked across multiple media and frequently in collaboration with one another.

Even those with a limited understanding of the tradition’s history can gain much from the show’s hefty catalog. Though occasionally awkward in its translations, the book contains a massive quantity of information and about twice the number of works currently appearing in the exhibition. (Because of their fragility, the majority of pieces are being shown in one of two rotations, the first of which closed March 7.)

The appeal of Sekka’s images, however -- their elegance, buoyancy and grace -- is indisputable. Whether painted onto silk, wood or ceramics, the colors are bright and full of life, the compositions sophisticated and the technique impeccable.

The first half of the show, winding up the spiral path of LACMA’s Japanese pavilion, consists primarily of scroll paintings depicting floral motifs, landscapes, idyllic views of peasant life and scenes from classical stories or theater. With watery tones and spacious compositions -- the subjects typically float against flat, blank backgrounds -- the works have a soft and peaceful quality, though the figures are full-bodied and the colors quite bold.

The decorative objects are displayed primarily on the museum’s top floor, and it is here that one begins to appreciate the real breadth of Sekka’s sensibility. A black lacquer tea container wound round with a slender, smoke-like swirl of gray; a pale wood letter box covered with a dizzying spray of multicolored flowers; a mahogany-colored box of tea utensils painted with a delicate sprig of red chrysanthemums; a white ceramic bowl with a bough of leaves painted onto one side and the pattern of a chrysanthemum blossom cut stencil-like into the other -- these are truly exquisite objects, all the more remarkable for being so familiar in their function.

It is important to remember that Sekka did not construct most of these himself, but that fact hardly detracts from their value. While it would be nice to see a compendium exhibition showcasing his many collaborators -- Kamisaka Yukichi (Sekka’s brother), Minoya, Suzuki Hyosake, Kawamura Seizan, Yaguchi Eiju and Ito Tozan II are a just few of the names -- it is enough for the time being to appreciate the spirit of community and cooperation that is implied.

Among Sekka’s many subjects, the most giddily intoxicating are his flowers. From the spare, fragile plum blossoms, the frothy white chrysanthemums, haughty irises and puckish Chinese bellflowers of his scroll paintings to the bold patterns adorning the kimonos of his colorful figures, Sekka’s oeuvre charts the very essence of the motif, from realistic to abstract, literal to symbolic. Whatever their context, the flowers rarely appear fixed in two dimensions but leap joyously toward the eye, often throwing entire compositions askew.

The rather awkward subtitle of the exhibition, “Rimpa Master -- Pioneer of Modern Japanese Design,” characterizes Sekka as a transition figure with one eye fixed on tradition and the other peering into the future. Though just one facet of a remarkably diverse career (I haven’t even mentioned his teaching, writing, editing, exhibition judging, the numerous organizations he founded or the various government posts he held), his treatment of flowers illustrates just such a range. His “Camellia and Red Plum Blossoms in Korin Style” (1905-1925) may be the image of a passing era, but the majority of his textile designs would look perfectly at home in any of the shops on Melrose.

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‘Kamisaka Sekka’

What: “Kamisaka Sekka: Rimpa Master -- Pioneer of Modern Japanese Design”

Where: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., L.A.

When: Mondays-Tuesdays, Thursdays, noon-8 p.m.; Fridays, noon-9 p.m.; Saturdays-Sundays, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.

Ends: April 25

Price: $5-$9; 17 and younger, free

Contact: (323) 857-6000