Article: Tea and Japanese `Tales' of pleasing complexity.(Arts)(Art)

Narrating a story in a painting is by no means limited to the Japanese, but often they seem to do it better and with more humor than Westerners. Now, with the Freer Gallery of Art's current exhibit, "Telling Tales in Japanese Art," the range of this storytelling - biographies, legends, love stories, histories, religious festivals, children's stories - can be seen at its fullest and most impressive. After all, it was Lady Murasaki (circa 978-1031?) who wrote the world's first novel ("The Tale of Genji").

The Japanese talent for telling even complex stories with a single evocative image or symbol - such as a flower painted on a plate - is also seen in the ...

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