Graphic novel recounts Vincenzo Ragusa and O'Tama Kiyohara's cross-cultural love story
The graphic novel 'Vincenzo e O'Tama,' released by Sergio Bonelli Editore, tells the remarkable tale of Sicilian sculptor Vincenzo Ragusa and Japanese artist O'Tama Kiyohara. Authored by Ichiguchi Keiko and illustrated by Andrea Accardi, the story unfolds with an elderly O'Tama sharing her memories with a young boy named Atushi. In 1876, Ragusa journeyed to Japan to teach at Bijutsu Gakkō, where he met the 17-year-old Tama at Zojoji temple in 1877. They wed in 1889 after he sculpted a bronze bust of her in 1878. Ragusa established the Museo Artistico Industriale Scuole Officine in 1884. He passed away on May 13, 1927; Tama returned to Tokyo in 1933 and died on April 6, 1939, with half her ashes interred with Ragusa in 1985.
Key facts
- Graphic novel 'Vincenzo e O'Tama' published by Sergio Bonelli Editore
- Written by Ichiguchi Keiko, illustrated by Andrea Accardi, inked by Arianna Farricella
- Story of Sicilian sculptor Vincenzo Ragusa and Japanese painter O'Tama Kiyohara
- Ragusa taught sculpture at Bijutsu Gakkō in Tokyo from 1876
- Met Tama Kiyohara at Zojoji temple in autumn 1877
- Ragusa created a bronze bust of Tama in 1878, now at Tokyo University of the Arts Museum
- Couple returned to Palermo in 1882 with over 4,000 Japanese artifacts
- Ragusa founded Museo Artistico Industriale Scuole Officine in Palermo in 1884
- School closed due to financial difficulties and institutional opposition
- Ragusa's collection sold to Museo delle Civiltà in Rome, largely unexhibited
- Ragusa died May 13, 1927; Tama died April 6, 1939
- Half of Tama's ashes reunited with Ragusa's tomb in 1985
Entities
Artists
- Vincenzo Ragusa
- O'Tama Kiyohara
- Ichiguchi Keiko
- Andrea Accardi
- Arianna Farricella
- Antonio Fontanesi
- Vincenzo Cappelletti
- Maria Antonietta Spadaro
- William Morris
- Giuseppe Damiani Almeyda
- Antonino Salinas
- Giovan Battista Filippo Basile
- Luigi Rosso
- Luigi Pigolini
- Pasquale Grippo
- Helga Marsala
Institutions
- Sergio Bonelli Editore
- Bijutsu Gakkō
- Accademia di Brera
- Scuola d'Arte Industriale di Yokohama
- Zojoji temple
- Tokyo University of the Arts Museum
- Galleria d'Arte Moderna di Palermo
- Museo Artistico Industriale Scuole Officine
- Regio Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico di Roma
- Museo delle Civiltà
- Sellerio
- Artribune
Locations
- Palermo
- Sicily
- Italy
- Tokyo
- Japan
- Yokohama
- Rome
- Cimitero dei Rotoli
- Palazzo Belvedere
- Monte Pellegrino