Norman Tolman

Norman Tolman
Born	(1936-07-12)July 12, 1936 Walpole, Massachusetts, U.S.
Education	University of California, Berkeley (B.A.), Yale University (M.A.), IUC, Tokyo University
Years active	1972 - present

Norman Herbert Tolman (born 12 July 1936) is an American art dealer and art collector known for his role in championing contemporary Japanese graphic art. He is best known as the founder of The Tolman Collection, a leading publisher and exhibitor of contemporary Japanese graphic art. Tolman exhibited and befriended artists like Saitō Kiyoshi, Shinoda Toko and Mori Yoshitoshi.

Early life

Born in Walpole, Massachusetts in 1936, as the youngest of four children. Tolman was raised by his mother and sister, and became a newspaper delivery boy at age 7. Tolman graduated high school in Watertown, Massachusetts in 1955, going on to enlist in the United States Air Force during the Korean War.

Education and early career

During his Air Force career, he was sent to Yale University for nine months of intensive study in Chinese Language, and thereafter worked in both Taiwan and at the NSA as a language specialist.

After the Korean War, Tolman got a B.A. in Chinese Language at UC Berkeley, while working as a translator and editor. Tolman went on to get a scholarship, allowing him to obtain a M.A. in Asian Studies at Yale. He also received a Title VI NDEA Fellowship in 1964 to the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies and Tokyo University, studying Japanese.

After the IUC and Tokyo University, Tolman returned to U.C. Berkeley to pursue his PhD in late Tibetan and early Chinese linguistics, but left academia to accept employment as a cultural affairs officer in the USIA. Tolman was initially posted to the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong, before being subsequently posted to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. Between 1970 and 1972, Tolman was the Director of the American Cultural Center in Sapporo and then in Kyoto.

The Tolman Collection

While working in Japan in the 1960s and 1970s, Tolman's love of Japanese prints saw him trade embassy work for art dealing. Founding The Tolman Collection of Tokyo alongside his wife Mary Tolman in 1972, with the purpose of introducing contemporary Japanese prints to a global audience.

Before becoming leading publishers of contemporary Japanese prints, their first gallery was located in Suginami-ku, "with six prints by six artists". These artists included Funasaka Yoshisuke, Iwami Reika, Clifton Karhu, Miyashita Tokio, Yayanagi Go, and Tsubota Masahiko.

During the gallery's founding period, Norman and Mary Tolman contributed weekly columns to the Mainichi Shimbun. Norman's column, titled Japanophiles, explored foreign enthusiasts of Japanese culture, while Mary's Behind the Scenes, offered insights into the Japanese art world. This developed into writing columns about artists like Shinoda Toko, with The Tolman Collection becoming her main dealer for over 40 years. Shinoda released more than 315 numbered editions exclusively for The Tolman Collection.

In the 1980s, the Tolmans relocated the gallery to a former ryotei in the Shibadaimon area of Minato-ku, where it has remained ever since. On the topic of The Tolman Collection, Tolman has said: "We do things in a Japanese way with an American undertone, and I think the combination is a successful one."

The types of art techniques found in The Tolman Collection's gallery include woodblock, etching, lithograph, mezzotint, drypoint, stencil, silkscreen, painting, and sculpture.

Tolman continued to travel extensively, visiting over 80 countries, and setting up galleries across the world. At one point, The Tolman Collection had locations in Paris, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, and New York City.

As of 2024, the Tokyo and New York galleries are in operation, in addition to a robust online presence.

Artists

Artists represented or exhibited by The Tolman Collection include:

• Shinoda Toko
• Saitō Kiyoshi
• Yoshitoshi Mori
• Iwami Reika
• Clifton Karhu
• Tanaka Ryohei
• Yayanagi Go
• Wako Shuji
• Daniel Kelly
• Hamanishi Katsunori
• Tsubota Masahiko
• Hasegawa Yuichi
• Sarah Brayer
• Takahashi Hiromitsu
• Imamura Yoshio
• Kawachi Seiko
• Kawamura Sayaka
• Kinoshita Taika
• Kuroda Shigeki
• Nakazawa Shinichi
• Nagai Kenji
• Nishimura Ryo
• Kinoshita Taika
• Oda Mayumi
• Saito Noriko
• Tamekane Yoshikatsu
• Tsubota Masayuki
• Uchida Emi
• Yoshimatsu Junichiro

Selected exhibitions

Tolman has been extensively exhibiting Japanese art since the founding of The Tolman Collection.

Three of the largest exhibitions by The Tolman Collection include:

• 1990 Retretti.
• 1992 Cairo Opera House.
• 1996 Toko Shinoda: Visual Poetry, Singapore Art Museum, the first time a Japanese artist had been shown in that museum.

Publications

• Tolman, Mary; Tolman, Norman (1982). People Who Make Japanese Prints: A Personal Glimpse. Shobunsha Publications. Includes a foreword by James Michener.
• Tolman, Mary; Tolman, Norman (1982). Ouchi Makoto: Artist Warrior. Shobunsha Publications.
• Tolman, Mary; Tolman, Norman (1993). Toko Shinoda: A New Appreciation. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 0-8048-1904-1.
• Tolman, Mary; Tolman, Norman (1994). Collecting Modern Japanese Prints, Then and Now. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 0-8048-1936-X.
• Tolman, Mary; Tolman, Norman (2004). Karhu @ 77: A Personal Tribute. Abe Publishing. ISBN 978-4872421729.
• Tolman, Norman (2017). Things Are Seldom What They Seem.
• The Tolman Collection (2018). The Tolman Collection at Saito Kiyoshi Museum.

Collecting art

While the Tolmans developed their gallery, Tolman also collected art for his personal enjoyment, acquiring art from across the globe. Tolman also donated parts of his collection to institutions including the Yale University Art Gallery, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and Smith College Museum of Art.

Personal life

Tolman currently resides in Toranomon, Minato-ku, he has been living in Asia for over 60 years. Norman Tolman married Mary Spellman in 1958. They have two daughters and a grandson.

Tolman has always been interested in fashion, being a friend and fan of Japanese designers like Issey Miyake and Hanae Mori. Tolman is also a vintage car enthusiast, having owned two Rolls-Royces, a Jaguar, and a convertible Bentley.