★ Author Akiko Sato is an art writer. She graduated from Meiji Gakuin University with a degree in Arts, and completed the master’s program in art history at Gakushuin University.
★ About 70 figure paintings, organized into 9 themes: royalty and celebrities, fashion, artist portraits, mythology and the Bible, children, the mysterious, daily life, the lives of painters, and museums in Japan and around the world. From Vermeer‘s “Woman Holding a Balance” to Monet’s “Figures in the Open Air,” from Van Gogh‘s “Self-Portrait” to Degas’s “The Ballet Class.”
★ “Fear, sorrow, love, joy… they meet in the palm of your hand—stories hidden in famous paintings.” This book goes beyond introducing artworks; it tells the stories of the people in them. From anecdotes about painters’ lives and interests to museums worth a special trip, readers can enjoy the world of figure painting from many angles.
★ A palm-sized hardcover, easy to slip into a bag, take to a museum, or browse on the subway—a “portable art guide.” A great introduction for readers who love paintings but don‘t want to read heavy art history.

Featuring “Woman Holding a Balance” by Vermeer, “Figures in the Open Air (Left)” by Monet, “Self-Portrait” by Van Gogh, “Infanta Margarita in a Blue Dress” by Velázquez, “Woman with a Rose” by Laurencin, “The Ballet Class” by Degas, and about 70 other paintings depicting people. From anecdotes about painters’ lives and interests to museums worth a special trip to see figure paintings, readers can enjoy the world of figure painting from many angles.

A beautiful palm-sized hardcover, also a wonderful gift book.

Akiko Sato
Art writer. Born in Aichi Prefecture. Graduated from Meiji Gakuin University, Faculty of Arts, Department of Arts. Completed the master‘s program in art history at Gakushuin University, Graduate School of Humanities. She is dedicated to making Japanese and Western painting accessible to the general public. Her writing is known for its clarity, and she is skilled at interpreting art through humorous hand-drawn illustrations and concise language. Her main works include “Reading Japanese Paintings Through Their Titles,” “What’s Great About This Painting?,” “50 Japanese National Treasures You Should Know as Common Knowledge,” and “Reading Western Masterpieces Through Their Items.”

Chapter 1: Figure Paintings of Royalty and Celebrities
Chapter 2: Figure Paintings of Fashion
Chapter 3: Portraits of Painters
Chapter 4: Figure Paintings of Myth and the Bible
Chapter 5: Figure Paintings of Children
Chapter 6: Mysterious Figure Paintings
Chapter 7: Figure Paintings of Daily Life
Chapter 8: The Lives of Painters
Chapter 9: Museums of the World and Japan