Draft:Norman Tolman

Norman Tolman
Norman Tolman in 2022, at a special reception honoring the life of Toko Shinoda.
Born	(1936-07-14)July 14, 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 14 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 Saito Kiyoshi, Toko Shinoda and Iwami Reika.

Early life

Born in Walpole, Massachusetts in 1936, as one of four children. Tolman graduated high school in Watertown, Massachusetts in 1955, going on to enlist in the United States Air Force during the Korean War.

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, obtaining a M.A. in Asian Studies at Yale University. Tolman also received a Fullbright Scholarship in 1964, to the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies and Tokyo University , studying late Tibetan and early Chinese linguistics.

After the IUC and Tokyo University, Tolman returned to U.C. Berkeley to pursue his PhD, which he never completed. Tolman left academia to accept employment as a language officer and cultural attaché in the U.S. Foreign Service, travelling between Tokyo, Sapporo, and Kyoto.

The Tolman Collection

While working in Japan in the 1960s, 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.

Their first gallery was located in Suginami-ku, "with six prints by six artists". In the 1980s, Tolman relocated the gallery to a former geisha house in the Shibadaimon area of Minato-ku, where it has remained ever since. .

Tolman during the early stages of founding The Tolman Collection

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

As of 2024, the Tokyo and New York galleries remain, with the latter headed by Tolman's oldest daughter, Allison.

Artists

Artists who have been represented or exhibited by The Tolman Collection include:

• Toko Shinoda
• Saito Kiyoshi
• Iwami Reika
• Mori Yoshitoshi
• Clifton Karhu

Exhibitions

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

Publications

• Collecting Modern Japanese Prints: Then & Now (1994), Norman Tolman & Mary Tolman
• Karhu @ 77: A Personal Tribute (2004), Norman Tolman & Mary Tolman
• Things Are Seldom What They Seem (2017), Norman Tolman
• The Tolman Collection at Saito Kiyoshi Museum (2018), The Tolman Collection

Personal life

Norman Tolman married Mary Spellman in 1958. They have two daughters and a grandson.

Tolman has always had a penchant for fashion, being a friend and fan of Japanese fashion designers like Issey Miyake and Hanae Mori.

Tolman currently resides in Minato-ku, near Toranomon, he has been living in Japan for over 60 years.