OFFICIAL PROFILE
Koichi Hasegawa
長谷川浩一
Art Historian / Lecturer / Essayist
Public Art History / Western Art History / Art Writing
PROFILE
Koichi Hasegawa is an art historian, lecturer and essayist based in Tokyo. He studied Art History at the University of Nottingham, where he completed both a BA and an MA, and now develops public lectures, art history salons, learning resources and essays for general audiences.
His main interests include nineteenth-century French painting, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, the reception of Venetian painting, and the ways in which art historical knowledge can enrich public engagement with artworks and museums.
Through lectures and writing, he aims to help audiences not only understand artworks, but also look at them more carefully, ask better questions, and return to museums with a deeper sense of visual experience.
SPECIALISMS
Nineteenth-Century French Painting
Impressionism, Renoir, Manet, Monet, Degas, Japonisme and modern visual culture.
Venetian Renaissance Art
Venetian painting, Titian, urban space, light, colour and the reception of Venetian art.
Public Art History
Public lectures, art appreciation, museum-going experiences and learning resources.
EDUCATION
LANGUAGE AND EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE
In addition to studying Art History in the United Kingdom, he spent two summer periods in Paris, each for approximately three months, studying French.
These stays in Paris deepened his interest in nineteenth-century French art, urban culture, museums, churches, architecture and the visual experience of European cities.
ACADEMIC BACKGROUND
During his studies at the University of Nottingham, his academic work covered nineteenth-century French art, Venetian Renaissance art, art historical theory, visual culture studies, museum studies and exhibition culture. His training combined close visual analysis with questions of display, institutions, politics, urban space and cultural reception.
Walter Benjamin’s concept of aura, visual colonialism, the limits of iconology, American visual culture, advertising and gender.
Manet, Degas, Japonisme, the representation of Joan of Arc, and the relationship between museums and politics under the Second Empire.
Comparative studies of Japanese and European exhibitions, with particular attention to Monet exhibitions, display culture and public reception.
Venice and the East, urban iconography, architecture, Titian’s Assumption of the Virgin, and the broader question of Renaissance culture.
Matisse and Picasso, Turner, Goya, Fascist architecture in Italy, and twentieth-century visual culture.
ACTIVITIES
He works as a lecturer for public art history programmes organised by cultural institutions in Tokyo, designing lecture structures, selecting artworks, preparing handouts and developing related texts.
Through Edogawa Art Salon, Tokyo, he develops public art history lectures, learning resources, essays and audience engagement practices that connect art historical knowledge with general museum-going experiences.
He runs the Japanese-language blog Tabi ni Miserarete, writing about travel, art, museums, churches, cities, landscapes and the memory of places through photographs and essays.
He writes art historical essays for general readers, including lecture-based texts and a series that begins from questions and uncertainties encountered in front of artworks.
His writing includes exhibition-related articles, art history essays, public-facing texts and contributions connected to exhibitions and cultural engagement.
LECTURE SCENE
LECTURE THEMES
His lectures are designed not merely to introduce artists or historical facts, but to help audiences look closely, compare images, understand context and return to artworks with a renewed visual experience.
RECORD
AVAILABLE FOR
He is available for consultations related to public art history lectures, art appreciation programmes, museum-related learning resources, writing and cultural engagement projects.
LINKS
CONTACT
For lectures, writing, interviews or collaborative projects, please contact Edogawa Art Salon, Tokyo by email.