Japonisme

A Companion to Japanese History provides an authoritative overview of current debates and approaches within the study of Japan's history.Composed of 30 chapters written by an international group of scholars.

"Japanese Art: Critical and Primary Sources is a four-volume reference work offering a critical overview of the history and culture of Japanese art. Drawing upon a wide range of English-language texts, the volumes explore the diverse and changing material and visual cultures of Japan from the pre-modern period to the present day. Over 75 essays from Asia, North America and Europe are assembled in this set and they address four major themes - material cultures (Buddhist objects, ceramics, textiles, interiors), visual cultures (painting, calligraphy, photography), printed matter (wood-block prints, books) and the context for Japan's art history (networks of patronage, sites of artistic production and consumption).

The uniqueness of Japanese culture rests on the fact that, throughout its history, Japan has continually taken, adapted, and transformed diverse influences from Korea, China, the South Seas, Europe, and the Americas into distinct traditions of its own. Extensively revised, updated, and expanded since its first publication, this authoritative survey of the arts of Japan from the prehistoric period to the present brings together the results of the most recent research on the subject.

This second edition of the comprehensive history of Japanese art from 10,500 B.C.E. now extends beyond 1945, tying together more closely the development of all the media within a well-articulated historical and social context. Features a comprehensive survey of Japanese art and culture, now with 67 new color and 52 new black and white illustrations including other art forms such as calligraphy, lacquer, metalwares, ceramics, and textiles. For art enthusiasts interested in far eastern art.

In The Japanese Sense of Beauty, art critic and historian Takashina Shūji reflects on the aesthetic and philosophical sensibilities underlying Japanese art throughout its history, from the earliest calligraphy and painted screens to modern masters like Hishida Shunsō and Yokoyama Taikan. Along the way, Takashina explores themes such as the relationship between subjective perspective and "flat" composition and the playful intermingling of word and image throughout the plastic arts of Japan. He also offers fresh critical perspectives on many individual artists, including Takeuchi Seihō, one of the first to fuse traditional techniques with Western realism, and Takahashi Yuichi, who combined a vivid mastery of texture with deceptively traditionalist compositions.

This book presents a broad survey of the West's extraordinary love affair with Japan, beginning with the first contacts in the sixteenth century, and culminating in the artistic frenzy that swept Europe and America in the second half of the nineteenth century. For the first time, Lionel Lambourne also uncovers the countercurrent of Western influence on Japan. The book reviews not only the fine and the decorative arts but also interior decoration, costume and fashion accessories, literature and the theatre, travel, and gardens and plants.

n this comparative cultural study, TAKASHINA Shūji, a leading scholar of Western art history and insightful commentator on Japanese art, compares the two artistic traditions to reveal the distinctive characteristics of the Japanese sense of beauty.

Originally published about one hundred years ago, this book is still of value to anyone wishing for a better understanding of Japanese architecture, art and culture.