Frank Lloyd Wright and the Art of Japan


Book Description

This fascinating study reveals the lesser-known side of this famed architect as an important & avid collector of Japanese art, & the role it played in his life & his architecture. Accompanies an exhibition at the Japan Society, New York.




The Influence of Japanese Art on Design


Book Description

During America's Gilded Age (dates), the country was swept by a mania for all things Japanese. It spread from coast to coast, enticed everyone from robber barons to street vendors with its allure, and touched every aspect of life from patent medicines to wallpaper. Americans of the time found in Japanese art every design language: modernism or tradition, abstraction or realism, technical virtuosity or unfettered naturalism, craft or art, romance or functionalism. The art of Japan had a huge influence on American art and design. Title compares juxtapositions of American glass, silver and metal arts, ceramics, textiles, furniture, jewelry, advertising, and packaging with a spectrum of Japanese material ranging from expensive one-of-a-kind art crafts to mass-produced ephemera. Beginning in the Aesthetic movement, this book continues through the Arts & Crafts era and ends in Frank Lloyd Wright's vision, showing the reader how that model became transformed from Japanese to American in design and concept. Hannah Sigur is an art historian, writer, and editor with eight years' residence and study in East and Southeast Asia. She has a master's degree from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and is completing a PhD in the arts of Japan. Her writings include co-authoring A Master Guide to the Art of Floral Design (Timber Press, 2002), which is listed in "The Best Books of 2002" by The Christian Science Monitor and is now in its second edition; and "The Golden Ideal: Chinese Landscape Themes in Japanese Art," in Lotus Leaves, A Master Guide to the Art of Floral Design (2001). She lives in Berkeley.




Art of Japan


Book Description

Focuses on Japanese wood block prints of the Edo period (1600-1868) by explaining the subject matter as well as the technique used in making them.




The Art of Japanese Living


Book Description

Learn the Japanese secrets to finding calm, contentment and happiness With its roots in Buddhist thinking, Japanese culture is known for its sincere and mindful approach to life. From ikigai (finding your purpose) to ikebana (the art of flower arranging), Japanese ideas offer the wider world the promise of peacefulness and inspiration. Discover these calming insights and more inside this beautiful volume. Including tips on mindfulness, finding contentment, and doing more with less, this book will be your guide to the land of the rising sun, and help you to live a rich, joyful and thoughtful life.




The Art of Japanese Prints


Book Description

Surveys the whole range of Japanese prints from their beginnings in the seventeenth century to the present day - The early prints - Haranobu and the full colour print - The actor prints - Studies of nature and landscape - Literature and legend - Surimono, fan prints and special prints - Modern prints.




Art of Japanese Architecture


Book Description

The Art of Japanese Architecture presents a complete overview of Japanese architecture in its historical and cultural context. The book begins with a discussion of early prehistoric dwellings and concludes with a description of works by important modern Japanese architects. Along the way it discusses the iconic buildings and architectural styles for which Japan is so justly famous--from elegant Shinden and Sukiya aristocratic villas like the Kinkakuji "Golden Pavilion" in Kyoto, to imposing Samurai castles like Himeji and Matsumoto, and tranquil Zen Buddhist gardens and tea houses to rural Minka thatched-roof farmhouses and Shinto shrines. Each period in the development of Japan's architecture is described in detail and the most important structures are shown and discussed--including dozens of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The aesthetic trends in each period are presented within the context of Japanese society at the time, providing a unique in-depth understanding of the way Japanese architectural styles and buildings have developed over time and the great variety that is visible today. The book is profusely illustrated with hundreds of hand-drawn 3D watercolor illustrations and color photos as well as prints, maps and diagrams. The new edition features dozens of new photographs and a handy hardcover format that is perfect for travelers.




Degas and the Art of Japan


Book Description

'Degas and the Art of Japan' explores the French Impressionist's lifelong fascination with the work of his Japanese counterparts.




Discovering the Arts of Japan


Book Description

Early years - Introduction of Buddhism - The zenith of court culture - The court and the Shogunante - Aesthetics of warrior rule - The gilded road to unification - Tokagawa control and the rise of the bourgeoisie - Eyes to the West: the Meiji restoration.




History of Art in Japan


Book Description

In this book the leading authority on Japanese art history sheds light on how Japan has nurtured distinctive aesthetics, prominent artists, and movements that have achieved global influence and popularity. The History of Art in Japan discusses works ranging from earthenware figurines in 13,000 BCE to manga, anime, and modern subcultures.




The Art of Persistence


Book Description

The Art of Persistence examines the relations between art and politics in transwar Japan, exploring these via a microhistory of the artist, memoirist, and activist Akamatsu Toshiko (also known as Maruki Toshi, 1912–2000). Scaling up from the details of Akamatsu’s lived experience, the book addresses major events in modern Japanese history, including colonization and empire, war, the nuclear bombings, and the transwar proletarian movement. More broadly, it outlines an ethical position known as persistence, which occupies the grey area between complicity and resistance: Like resilience, persistence signals a commitment to not disappearing—a fierce act of taking up space but often from a position of privilege, among the classes and people in power. Akamatsu grew up in a settler-colonial family in rural Hokkaido before attending arts college in Tokyo and becoming one of the first women to receive formal training as an oil painter in Japan. She later worked as a governess in the home of a Moscow diplomat and traveled to the Japanese Mandate in Micronesia before returning home to write and illustrate children’s books set in the Pacific. She married the surrealist poet and painter Maruki Iri (1901–1995), and together in 1948—and in defiance of Occupation censorship—they began creating and exhibiting the Nuclear Series, some of the most influential and powerful artwork depicting the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing. For the next forty or more years, the couple toured the world to protest war and nuclear proliferation and were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995. With abundant excerpts and drawings from Akamatsu’s journals and sketchbooks, The Art of Persistence offers a bridge between scholarship on imperial Japan and postwar memory cultures, arguing for the importance of each individual’s historical agency. While uncovering the longue durée of Japan’s visual cultures of war, it charts the development of the national(ist) “literature for little citizens” movement and Japan’s postwar reorientation toward global multiculturalism. Finally, the work proposes ways to enlist artwork generally, and the museum specifically, as a site of ethical engagement.