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Anime and Its Roots in Early Japanese Monster Art
Japanese anime plays a major role in modern popular visual culture and aesthetics, yet this is the first study which sets out to put today's anime in historical context by tracking the visual links between Edo- and Meiji-period painters and the post-war period animation and manga series Gegegeno Kitaro' by Mizuki Shigeru. Through an investigation of the very popular Gegegeno Kitaro series, broadcast from the 1960s to the present time, the author is able to pinpoint the visual roots of the animation characters in the context of yôkai folklore and Edo- and Meiji- period monster painting traditions. Through analysing the changing images related to the representation of monsters in the series, the book documents the changes in the perception of monsters over the last half-century, while at the same time reflecting on the importance of Mizuki's work in keeping Japan's visual traditions alive and educating new audiences about folklore by recasting yôkai imagery in modern-day settings in an innovative way. In addition, by analysing and comparing character, set, costume and mask design, plot and storyline of yôkai-themed films, the book is also the first study to shed light on the roles the representations of yôkai have been assigned in post-war Japanese cinema. This book will be of particular interest to those studying Japanese visual media, including manga and animation, as well as students and academics in the fields of Japanese Studies, Animation Studies, Art History and Graphic Design.
The Art of Champa
From 12 October 2005 to 9 January 2006, the Musee Guimet in Paris will play host to an exceptional exhibition: 'Treasures of Vietnamese Art... Champa Sculpture'. This show will bring together for the firt time, outstanding pieces from the Musee Guimet, the National Museums of France and the national Vietnamese museums of Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh (formerly Saigon). The discretion of private collectors has meant that, until now, much of the wealth of this great Asian art form has remained relatively unknown but this show also includes several truly exceptional pieces from private collections, hitherto inaccessible to both the public and most curators. Jean-Franois Hubert, an international expert on Vietnamese art, has succeeding in creating a unique artistic opportunity. In the 5th century, the Champa kingdom held sway over a large area of today's Vietnam. Several magnificent structures still testify to their former presence in the Nha Trang region. Cham Sculpture was created from a variety of materials, principally sandstone, but also gold, silver and bronze, and primarily illustrated themes from Indian mythology. The kingdom was gradually eroded during the 15th century by the irresistible descent of the people towards the south (""Nam Tien"") from their original base in the Red River region. The author explores, describes and comments on the various styles of Cham sculpure, drawing on in a rich and, as yet largely unpublished, iconographic vein.
Art of India
The Mughal dynasty, which ruled most of the Indian subcontinent during the 16th and 17th centuries, was a great promoter of arts and architecture, especially painting and decorative art. While the Taj Mahal is Mughal art’s flagship, there is much more to be discovered beyond this iconic mausoleum.
The Arts of India from Prehistoric to Modern Times
This revised and enlarged edition of The Arts of India has over 150 impressive gravure and full-color illustrations. These include various important objects and monuments not usually seen in general surveys to supplement the many essential art milestones that this book features. It is also unique in beginning its visual survey with relics of India's stone age and in concluding the book with works from the nation's great folk tradition and selected paintings by modern artists. Here is a book with captions and a text that are highly readable blends of scholarly information and informal comment by an Indian art expert. This grants the reader special insights into the concepts that lie behind art so different from that of the West. Author Mookerjee has judiciously selected photographs which present the vast panorama of Indian art from its earliest beginnings. Examples of Indian folk arts and some works by 20th-century Indian artists round out this rich historic survey of over 5,000 years of continuous creativity--a collection of paintings, reliefs, statues, and architectural monuments from this sprawling sub-continent now divided into the lands of India, Pakistan, Ceylon, Burma and Afghanistan.
Central Asian Art
The strict prohibition on the representation of the human form has channeled artistic creation into architecture and architectural decoration. This book is a magical tour through Central Asia - Khirgizia, Tadjikistan, Turkmenia, and Uzbekistan - a cradle of Ancient civilisations and a repository of the oriental arts inspired by Buddhism and Islam. There are magnificent, full-colour photographs of the abandoned cities of Mervand Urgench, Khiva, the capital of the Kharezm, with its mausoleum of Sheikh Seid Allahuddin, and "the Golden Road to Samarkand", the Blue City, a center of civilisation for 2,500 years.
Chinese Art
This book is an encyclopedia of Chinese classical art, giving an informative overview of all forms of Chinese art and providing the keys to understanding contemporary art in China. This book is a great way for beginners to better acquaint themselves with China, while specialists will appreciate the global perspective.
Chinese Art and Its Encounter with the World
The book offers a bridge into the critical understanding of modern Chinese art through its encounter with the world beyond China's borders. David Clarke demonstrates Chinese art's interconnections with Western cultures while exploring its inherited cultural traditions and internal historical change. The first section deals with the cross-cultural trajectories of individual Chinese artists who traveled from China to the West and then returned. The focus then shifts from the movement of individual artists between cultures to the process by which specific genres of Western art have been interpreted by Chinese artists. The final section illuminates the encounter of cultures via visual representations of Macau and Hong Kong.
A Companion to Chinese Art
Exploring the history of art in China from its earliest incarnations to the present day, this comprehensive volume includes two dozen newly-commissioned essays spanning the theories, genres, and media central to Chinese art and theory throughout its history. Provides an exceptional collection of essays promoting a comparative understanding of China's long record of cultural production Brings together an international team of scholars from East and West, whose contributions range from an overview of pre-modern theory, to those exploring calligraphy, fine painting, sculpture, accessories, and more Articulates the direction in which the field of Chinese art history is moving, as well as providing a roadmap for historians interested in comparative study or theory Proposes new and revisionist interpretations of the literati tradition, which has long been an important staple of Chinese art history Offers a rich insight into China's social and political institutions, religious and cultural practices, and intellectual traditions, alongside Chinese art history, theory, and criticism
Epochs of Chinese and Japanese Art
Still regarded as a monumental survey of Eastern art, this comprehensive volume was intended for art collectors and general readers as well as travelers and scholars. It covers China and Korea in addition to Japan, and places a special emphasis on Buddhist influences. Ernest F. Fenollosa (1853-1908) was an educator who helped introduce Westerners to traditional Japanese art forms.
Hokusai
Through his elegant brush paintings and masterful woodblocks, Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) became one of Japan's most internationally-renowned artists. A master of ukiyo-eart, he singlehandedly transformed the art form from a simple style focused on courtesans and famous actors into a grander style depicting the beauty of nature seen through landscapes and wildlife. His style of art and his subjects evolved as many times as he changed his name, but Hokusai's talent as an artist remained constant and his influential role in later art movements such as Art Nouveau and Impressionism remains eternal.
The Lost Treasure Persian Art
Housed in the Hermitage Museum along with other institutes, libraries, and museums in Russia and the republics of the former Soviet Union are some of the most magnificent treasures of Persian Art. For the most part, many of these works have been lost, but have been catalogued and published here for the first time with an unsurpassed selection of colour plates. In a comprehensive introduction, Vladimir Loukonine, Director of the Oriental Art section of the Hermitage Museum, and his colleague Anatoli Ivanov have broadly documented the major developments of Persian Art: from the first signs of civilisation on the plains of Iran around the 10th century BCE through the early 20th century. In the second part of the book they have catalogued Persian Art giving locations, origins, descriptions, and artist biographies where available. Persian Art demonstrates a common theme which runs through the art of the region over the past three millennia. Despite many religious and political upheavals, Persian Art - whether in its architecture, sculpture, frescoes, miniatures, porcelain, fabrics, or rugs; whether in the work of the humble craftsmen or the high art of court painters - displays the delicate touch and subtle refinement which has had a profound influence on art throughout the world.
The Pacific Arts of Polynesia and Micronesia
Comprising thousands of islands and hundreds of cultural groups, Polynesia and Micronesia cover a large part of the vast Pacific Ocean, from the dramatic mountains of Hawaii to the small, flat coral islands of Kiribati. The Pacific Arts of Polynesia and Micronesia offers a superb introduction to the rich artistic traditions of these two regions, traditions that have had a considerable impact on modern western art through the influence of artists such as Gauguin. After an introduction to Polynesian and Micronesian art separately, the book focuses on the artistic types, styles, and concepts shared by the two island groups, thereby placing each in its wider cultural context. From the textiles of Tonga to the canoes of Tahiti, Adrienne Kaeppler sheds light on religious and sacred rituals and objects, carving, architecture, tattooing, personal ornaments, basket-making, clothing, textiles, fashion, the oral arts, dance, music and musical instruments--even canoe-construction--to provide the ultimate introduction to these rich and vibrant cultures. Each chapter begins with a quote from an indigenous person from one of the island areas covered in the book and features both historic and contemporary works of art. A timeline for migration into the Pacific includes the latest information from archaeology, as well as the influx of explorers and missionaries and important exhibitions and other artistic events. With more than one hundred illustrations--most in full color--this volume offers a stimulating and insightful account of two dynamic artistic cultures.
Total Modernity and the Avant-Garde in Twentieth-Century Chinese Art
A groundbreaking book that describes a distinctively Chinese avant-gardism and a modernity that unifies art, politics, and social life. To the extent that Chinese contemporary art has become a global phenomenon, it is largely through the groundbreaking exhibitions curated by Gao Minglu: "China/Avant-Garde" (Beijing, 1989), "Inside Out: New Chinese Art" (Asia Society, New York, 1998), and "The Wall: Reshaping Contemporary Chinese Art" (Albright-Knox Art Gallery, 2005) among them. As the first Chinese writer to articulate a distinctively Chinese avant-gardism and modernity--one not defined by Western chronology or formalism--Gao Minglu is largely responsible for the visibility of Chinese art in the global art scene today. Contemporary Chinese artists tend to navigate between extremes, either embracing or rejecting a rich classical tradition. Indeed, for Chinese artists, the term "modernity" refers not to a new epoch or aesthetic but to a new nation--modernityinextricably connects politics to art. It is this notion of "total modernity" that forms the foundation of the Chinese avant-garde aesthetic, and of this book. Gao examines the many ways Chinese artists engaged with this intrinsic total modernity, including the '85 Movement, political pop, cynical realism, apartment art, maximalism, and the museum age, encompassing the emergenceof local art museums and organizations as well as such major events as the Shanghai Biennial. He describes the inner logic of the Chinese context while locating the art within the framework of a worldwide avant-garde. He vividly describes the Chinese avant-garde's embrace of a modernity that unifies politics, aesthetics, and social life, blurring the boundaries between abstraction, conception, and representation. Lavishly illustrated with color images throughout, this book will be a touchstone for all considerations of Chinese contemporary art.
Ukiyo-E
The Mega Square Ukiyo-e highlights the magnificent prints which are a priceless testimony to the complete comprehension of a long gone society. The Mega Squares small and practical format is bound to make the perfect gift.
Utamaro
If sensuality had a name, it would be without a doubt Utamaro. Delicately underlining the Garden of Pleasures that once constituted Edo, Utamaro, by the richness of his fabrics, the long necks of swans, the mysterious looks, evoke in a few lines the sensual pleasure of the Orient.