PIGMENT (pronounced as in the French, pīgmōn) is simultaneously a laboratory for exploring “expression in color and matiere*” as well as an academy, a museum, and a store combined into a comprehensive facility for creativity. Pigments, glues, brushes for calligraphy and painting – and the methods employed in creating with each. Our unique research and educational activities focus on combining the materials and techniques that give rise to expression itself. In addition to highly accomplished artists and researchers in materials and pigments, our staff includes creative directors and producers who excel in linking art and business. Together, our atelier works closely with foreign and domestic companies to provide technical support and project planning consultation.

Artisans lavish time on engaging dialogically with their materials, applying their skills to cultivate methods for working with refined materials. Each material holds a characteristic significance that determines the form it should take, a diversity that gives rise to subtle differences in a particular tint or haptic feel and in turn to unexpected expressions. For ages, such materials have inspired artists with their individual features and sensations. At PIGMENT, we conduct multifaceted research and analysis of the formulas and usage practices of diverse materials in terms of the culture of color, historical background, infuence of geographic environment, and chemical properties. We offer open courses and workshops designed to share cutting-edge technical and material knowledge and to preserve historical legacy. Additionally, we offer customized lectures and collaborative projects for businesses, yielding novel forms and forums for expression.

Here at PIGMENT, natural colorants, such as ultramarine and verdigris made from the world’s highest quality ores meet cutting-edge German industrial science and combine with glues made according to time-honored formula but with the latest technology, offering you a panoply of rare and superior quality materials. That wide variety includes pigments in 4,500 hues, 200 kinds of sumi ink sticks, 50 types of isinglass including our original formulas, and a true abundance of calligraphy and paint brushes for skilled artisans looking for that perfect touch for delicate works. And we do not limit ourselves to offering art materials, we serve as museum, collecting, storing, and exhibiting rare and precious inkstones and brushes as incarnations of “the utility of beauty.”