Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation

This fully illustrated catalogue accompanied an exhibition of 43 works—the majority of them donated—by 33 artists. Meaning elegant and gorgeous, yuuga aptly describes these contemporary botanical paintings and this delicate catalogue.

The artists included Junzo Fujishima, Rei Fukuzawa, Tadako Hayashi, Mieko Ishikawa, Michiko Ishiyama, Yoko Kakuta, Yumi Kamataki, Yoshiko Kamei, Seiko Kijima, Sanae Kikuchi, Yuriko Kikuchi, Hidenari Kobayashi, Mariko Kojima, Mieko Konishi, Makiko Makihara, Naomi Morino, Sadao Naito, Yoko Nomura, Yoai Ohta, Takeko Sagara, Masao Saito, Masako Sasaki, Toshi Shibusawa, Akiko Shimizu, Fumiko Sugizaki, Kiyohiko Sugizaki, Kazuko Tajikawa, Kazuto Takahashi, Miyako Takahashi, Kiyoko Tanaka, Yoko Uchijo, Keita Yonezu and Keiko Yoshida.

We were unaware of any other exhibition catalogue produced in the United States on this subject, and we were very pleased to have been able to produce this catalogue, which was made possible through the generous support of numerous donors.

The catalogue included a preface by James J. White (1941–2011), curator of art at the Hunt Institute, 1982–2010, and the essay "Contemporary botanical art in Japan and its historical background" by Kazunori Kurokawa (1936–2012), honorary curator of Hunt Institute and honorary director of the American Society of Botanical Artists as well as an important figure in the Japan Association of Botanical Illustration. Then-Assistant Curator of Art Lugene Bruno designed the catalogue and compiled the biographical information about the artists. Graphics Manager Frank A. Reynolds did the reproduction photography with a Nikon D1X digital camera.