From anime to fine art: Japan's Yoshitaka Amano is celebrated with a major retrospective

MILAN (AP) — In a career spanning more than 50 years, Japanese artist Yoshitaka Amano has gained a following as an animator, illustrator, video game creator and fine artist. All those facets are on display in the largest retrospective of his work in the West, which opened Wednesday in Milan.

The “Amano Corpus Animae” exhibition celebrates Amano as a transversal artist whose Japanese style has been infused with Western influences, from the Italian Renaissance to Marvel superheroes and Pop Art.

Curator Fabio Viola said the exhibition aims to give the 72-year-old Amano “an artistic dignity” with his first major European show.

Amano's prolific career across media — from his start as an animator at the Tatsunoko studio at age 15 to recent work including posters celebrating Puccini’s centenary — reflects his notion that an artist is someone with many talents.

"From what I see in Renaissance artists such as Michelangelo, artists cover everything. They did sculptures, costume designs and, of course, paintings,” Amano said during a press preview on Tuesday.

Some fans may recognize his work as an animator for Tasunoko, where Amano trained making sketches of the anime version of Speed Racer before going on to create such characters as Gatchaman and Tekkaman.

Striking out on his own in the 1980s, Amano illustrated such science fantasy classics as the Vampire Hunter D novel series and made his mark in the video game arena with the Final Fantasy franchise.

The exhibition also includes more recent, and perhaps lesser-known, works: an illustration of a model for the January 2020 issue of Vogue Italia, its only cover ever not to feature a live model; an album cover for David Bowie featuring the artist and his wife, Iman; and the Candy Girl series of Pop Art and manga-inspired paintings on aluminum.

“There were people who grew up with my works in real time. Those from the 1970s, I think, will appreciate my animation. Video games for the next generation, while the art can be recognized by two or three generations,’’ Amano said.

Viola selected the 137 original works on display from Amano’s vast archive of more than 10,000 drawings, paintings and other works stored in three warehouses in Tokyo. Amano does not sell any work that has not been specifically commissioned, Viola said, and he had not seen many pieces since storing them decades ago.

“Every fan would immediately recognize his style,” Viola said. “True, it is full of influences. Whoever has a little background in art history would find art nouveau, Klimt, bites of Renaissance, or the Ukiyo-e and the traditional Japanese art prints techniques. But all of this is revisited in a way that Amano’s woman is clearly Amano’s woman."

Trademarks include the lightly drawn eyebrows, smears of color and the brush strokes of acrylic paint, Viola said.

The retrospective was organized by Lucca Comics with the city of Milan and runs through March 1 at the Fabbrica del Vapore.

Artist Yoshitaka Amano poses during the press preview of the exhibition "Amano Corpus Animae", celebrating his 50-year-long career, at the Fabbrica del Vapore, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

A creation of artist Yoshitaka Amano is displayed during the press preview of the exhibition "Amano Corpus Animae", celebrating his 50-year-long career, at the Fabbrica del Vapore, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Artist Yoshitaka Amano poses during the press preview of the exhibition "Amano Corpus Animae", celebrating his 50-year-long career, at the Fabbrica del Vapore, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Creations of artist Yoshitaka Amano are displayed during the press preview of the exhibition "Amano Corpus Animae", celebrating his 50-year-long career, at the Fabbrica del Vapore, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Creations of artist Yoshitaka Amano are displayed during the press preview of the exhibition "Amano Corpus Animae", celebrating his 50-year-long career, at the Fabbrica del Vapore, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Artist Yoshitaka Amano attends the press preview of the exhibition "Amano Corpus Animae", celebrating his 50-year-long career, at the Fabbrica del Vapore, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Artist Yoshitaka Amano sits on one of his creations during the press preview of the exhibition "Amano Corpus Animae", celebrating his 50-year-long career, at the Fabbrica del Vapore, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Artist Yoshitaka Amano attends the press preview of the exhibition "Amano Corpus Animae", celebrating his 50-year-long career, at the Fabbrica del Vapore, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Artist Yoshitaka Amano attends the press preview of the exhibition "Amano Corpus Animae", celebrating his 50-year-long career, at the Fabbrica del Vapore, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Artist Yoshitaka Amano attends the press preview of the exhibition "Amano Corpus Animae", celebrating his 50-year-long career, at the Fabbrica del Vapore, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Artist Yoshitaka Amano attends the press preview of the exhibition "Amano Corpus Animae", celebrating his 50-year-long career, at the Fabbrica del Vapore, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Artist Yoshitaka Amano sits on one of his creations during the press preview of the exhibition "Amano Corpus Animae", celebrating his 50-year-long career, at the Fabbrica del Vapore, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Artist Yoshitaka Amano is silhouetted next to one of his creation during the press preview of the exhibition "Amano Corpus Animae", celebrating his 50-year-long career, at the Fabbrica del Vapore, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

President Donald Trump said U.S. forces will keep hitting Iran “very hard” in the next two or three weeks and bring the country “back to the Stone Ages,” even as he touted the success of U.S. operations and argued that all of Washington’s objectives have so far been met or exceeded.

Trump said Iran would continue to face a barrage of attacks in the short term.

“We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks,” Trump said. “We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.”

Trump didn’t say anything about negotiations with Iran or bring up the April 6 deadline he set for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway for global oil and gas transport. He has threatened to attack Iran's energy infrastructure if the strait was not reopened.

Trump also did not offer a clear path to end the supply disruptions that have sent energy prices soaring. He did not mention the possibility of sending U.S. ground troops into Iran, or NATO, the trans-Atlantic alliance he has railed against for not helping the U.S. secure the waterway.

Oil rose more than 4% and Asian stocks fell after the comments. Oil prices were sharply higher following Trump’s remarks. Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 4.9% to $106.16 per barrel. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 4% to $104.15 a barrel.

U.S. gas prices jumped past an average of $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 on Tuesday, as the Iran war continues to push fuel prices higher worldwide. Analysts say those high fuel costs will trickle into groceries as businesses’ transportation and packaging costs pile up.

Here is the latest:

A New York-based think tank said Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech suggests he “is willing to leave the Strait of Hormuz off the table, leaving other nations to deal with the consequences.”

“Trump’s message was that the United States can sustain its own economic and energy ecosystem, while countries dependent on regional exports will either have to buy from the United States or manage the Strait themselves,” the Soufan Center wrote.

“While Trump explicitly thanked U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf for their cooperation and allyship, an expedited U.S. withdrawal without securing the Strait will leave many of these countries, whose economies are dependent on energy exports, in the lurch.”

Fuel prices in Thailand soared again on Thursday after the government further cut subsidies, sending diesel price to over 44 baht ($1.35) per liter, about 12% increase.

The surge was the second time in a week, after a majority of fuel prices rose by 6 baht ($0.18) per liter last Thursday.

Democrats are criticizing Trump’s primetime address to the American people on the war in Iran as “incoherent” and as doing little to answer “the most basic questions the American people,” according to statements from two Democratic lawmakers released on Wednesday.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., noted that Trump owed Americans more answers about a conflict that has driven up prices on gas “alongside rising prices for diesel, fertilizer, aluminum, and other essentials, with consequences that will continue to ripple through the economy for a long time to come” in his statement.

Meanwhile, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., released a statement that said the “speech was grounded in a reality that only exists in Donald Trump’s mind.”

Murphy went on to add that “no one in America, after listening to that speech, knows whether we are escalating or deescalating.”

Oil rose more than 4% and Asian stocks fell after U.S. President Donald Trump said in his first national address since the Iran war began that the U.S. will keep hitting Iran very hard.

Trump also said the United States will “finish the job” in Iran and that military operations could wrap up soon.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was down 1.4% to 53,004.81 in early Asia trading on Thursday. South Korea’s Kospi lost 3.4% to 5,292.36. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.8% to 25,082.59.

U.S. futures were down more than 0.7%.

Oil prices were sharply higher following Trump’s remarks. Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 5% to $106.22 per barrel. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 4.2% to $104.36 a barrel.

Members of civic groups hold signs against the U.S. and Israel attacks on Iran near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Israel's rescue teams and residents take shelter as sirens sounds next to a site struck by an Iranian missile in Bnei Brak, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

A family who fled Israeli shelling in southern Lebanon warm themselves by a bonfire next to tents used as shelters in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

People stand near a damaged van beside scattered debris following an Israeli strike in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A firefighter extinguishes a car at the site of Israeli airstrikes, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)