Post by Saionji Shonagon on Jun 26, 2010 14:57:51 GMT -5
Instead of working on what I'm SUPPOSED to be working on today, I'm on page three of a bibliography and I'm not even done with the art books! (No. It's not ready to be posted. Do you have any idea how many shelves I have to go through?)
The reason the art shelf is up to three typed pages is as follows.
Back in the 1970's John Weatherhill, Inc. did two multi-volume Japanese art series in collaboration with Japanese publishers: "Arts of Japan" (I own three) and the "Heibonsha Survey of Japanese Art," of which I currently own an even ten volumes. "Arts of Japan" I've found copies of in both hardbound and paperback, while I've never seen Heibonsha volumes in anything but hardbound editions.
I don't think these are in print any more, but they're generally easy to find used for under $20. Living close to Berkeley means I find random copies at the used book stores from time to time.
The Heibonsha volumes average about 150 pages of text, black-and-white and color plates. (The Arts of Japan books are in the 125-130 page range, at least the few I have.) The English language texts by Japanese authors are well translated and informative. I highly recommend these series' as an excellent gateway to the world of Japanese art, from ceramics to paintings to architecture.
For example, my if-you-could-only-own-one textile reference is Heibonsha Vol. 16: "Japanese Costume and Textile Arts" by Seiroku Noma, because it is such a GOOD general get-your-brain-wet-and-look-at-these-examples reference for developing an eye for textile decoration styles.
The volumes on painting styles can be frustrating because it's impossible to capture the details of large folding screens on such modestly sized pages. However, source works are identified such that I am sometimes able to find copies of the same works in online museum collections or in other books and get a better look at them.
www.amazon.com/s/qid=1277578160/ref=sr_gnr_fkmr1?ie=UTF8&node=283155&search-alias=us-stripbooks-tree&field-keywords=%26%2334%3Bheibonsha%20survey will get you to what I found on Amazon using "Heibonsha Survey" in my search string.
The reason the art shelf is up to three typed pages is as follows.
Back in the 1970's John Weatherhill, Inc. did two multi-volume Japanese art series in collaboration with Japanese publishers: "Arts of Japan" (I own three) and the "Heibonsha Survey of Japanese Art," of which I currently own an even ten volumes. "Arts of Japan" I've found copies of in both hardbound and paperback, while I've never seen Heibonsha volumes in anything but hardbound editions.
I don't think these are in print any more, but they're generally easy to find used for under $20. Living close to Berkeley means I find random copies at the used book stores from time to time.
The Heibonsha volumes average about 150 pages of text, black-and-white and color plates. (The Arts of Japan books are in the 125-130 page range, at least the few I have.) The English language texts by Japanese authors are well translated and informative. I highly recommend these series' as an excellent gateway to the world of Japanese art, from ceramics to paintings to architecture.
For example, my if-you-could-only-own-one textile reference is Heibonsha Vol. 16: "Japanese Costume and Textile Arts" by Seiroku Noma, because it is such a GOOD general get-your-brain-wet-and-look-at-these-examples reference for developing an eye for textile decoration styles.
The volumes on painting styles can be frustrating because it's impossible to capture the details of large folding screens on such modestly sized pages. However, source works are identified such that I am sometimes able to find copies of the same works in online museum collections or in other books and get a better look at them.
www.amazon.com/s/qid=1277578160/ref=sr_gnr_fkmr1?ie=UTF8&node=283155&search-alias=us-stripbooks-tree&field-keywords=%26%2334%3Bheibonsha%20survey will get you to what I found on Amazon using "Heibonsha Survey" in my search string.