Books February 2002/March 2002
Traditional Japanese Design: Five Tastes
The Japanese Craft Tradition: Kokten Korgei
Cerámica: Mexican Pottery of the 20th Century
Cottages by the Sea: The Handmade Homes of Carmel, America's First Artist Community
American Baskets: A Cultural History of a Traditional Domestic Art
A
Creative Legacy: A History of the National Endowment for the Arts Visual
Artists' Fellowship Program 1966-1995
2001, Harry N. Abrams, New York, NY, 800-345-1359, in association with
the National Endowment for the Arts; 256 pages, introduction by Bill Ivey,
essays by Nancy Princenthal and Jennifer Dowley, illustrated. $49.50.
During the nearly 30 years in which this program was in existence, $52 million was awarded through 6,500 fellowships to some 5,000 artists—in painting, sculpture, crafts, works on paper, photography, printmaking, video, performance art, installation, artists' books and other forms. This account is an essential source for anyone seeking to understand the impact of the NEA on the visual arts, and it offers a fascinating history of the program.
There are complete lists of fellowships, panelists and artists, amounts of grants, of overview panelists and of national and regional recipients. The book documents the policy of the NEA "to foster a strong and diverse cultural legacy by investing in artists so that they might spend time making art," writes Jennifer Dowley, who was NEA director of Museums and Visual Arts (1994-99).
A distinctive aspect was the use of artists in peer panels to select fellowship recipients. "Artists selecting artists provided the program an authority it could otherwise not have claimed," writes Bill Ivey, a former chairman of the NEA (1998-2001). Unfortunately, he continues, "this engagement between our federal arts agency and contemporary visual art could not survive a shift in the winds of political fortune. In the mid-1990s, faced with a conservative Congressional leadership and deprived of the Cold-War argument which viewed artists as valued symbols of America's free spirit, legislation forced the elimination of most of the NEA's fellowships."
Focusing on the 100
fellowship recipients whose work is represented in color photographs,
the critic Nancy Princenthal discusses the art trends and individual artists
affected by the program. The story told by the record of recipients is
"vivid and engrossing," writes Princenthal. The gist of it is
that "over the lifespan of the . . . program, the language of visual
art has divided, multiplied, interwoven—and, as a result, thrived."
She concludes that "without such fellowships, and the direct link
they represent between individual creators and their Federal government,
there is far less incentive to engage in explorations of the mutual commitments
shared by artists and the public. . . . A small, closed art world governed
by an elite is much more likely to result from reliance on the marketplace—on
galleries, and collectors, as first judges of new talent."
Gift
to the Nation
2001, Friends of Art and Preservation in Embassies, Washington, DC,
fapeindc@aol.com; 252 pages, texts by Lee Kimche McGrath, J. Carter Brown,
et al., illustrated. Limited copies.
With introductions
by President George W. Bush, the Clintons, Madeleine K. Albright and Colin
L. Powell, this handsome catalog documents the millennium project of the
Friends of Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE), a nonprofit organization
whose mission is to assist the U.S. Department of State in programs designed
to exhibit and preserve fine and decorative art in U.S. embassies and
other diplomatic facilities. Artists, collectors, gallery owners and private
and corporate donors contributed to the Gift to the Nation, an assemblage
of 245 works of American art which ultimately will be installed permanently
in U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide. Except for a 1782 portrait
by John Singleton Copley and several 19th-century pieces, including quilts
and Native American baskets, the collection consists primarily of late-20th-century
works. Among the artists in craft media are Sheila Hicks, Toshiko Takaezu,
Lia Cook, Therman Statom, Dale Chihuly, Ed Moulthrop, Philip Moulthrop,
Peter Voulkos, Laura Andreson, Rudy Autio and Betty Woodman. A bibliography
and index of artists are included.
Traditional
Japanese Design: Five Tastes
by Michael Dunn, 2001, Japan Society, New York, NY, distributed by
Harry N. Abrams, New York, NY, 800-345-1359; 183 pages, texts by Jack
Lenor Larsen, Donald Richie et al., illustrated. $35 paperback.
The objects in this
elegant catalog, documenting an exhibition at Japan Society Gallery (September
26-January 6), have been organized by Michael Dunn, a Japanese art expert
and the show's guest curator, not by medium but according to five historically
connected but rather fluid categories of taste. These tastes evolved from
and correspond to the daily life and culture of Japan's dominant social
classes of the Edo (1615-1868) and Meiji (1868-1912) periods—farmers,
the ruling military elite, artisans and merchants. Drawn from the canon
of Japanese aesthetics and codified by 20th-century cultural critics,
these tastes are categorized as Ancient Times (Kodai no bi), Artless
Simplicity (Soboku), Zen Austerity (Wabi), Gorgeous Splendor
(Karei) and Edo Chic (Iki). Included are magnificent kimonos,
ceramics, lacquerware, bamboo baskets, wood objects, swords and a suit
of armor. Especially interesting are the discussions of Zen Austerity,
the taste most connected to the tea ceremony, and of Edo Chic, a worldly
concept associated with the wealthy merchants and pleasure-seeking citizens
of what is now Tokyo during the latter half of the Edo period. Iki
arose in part to circumvent sumptuary laws that had been passed to regulate
the consumption of expensive goods, particularly clothing and accessories.
Designs were devised that looked humble but were, in fact, lavishly expensive—such
as robes in subdued colors and small geometric patterns that were as fine
as elaborate court costumes, or smoking sets that mimicked lowly materials
with highly skilled techniques.
The
Japanese Craft Tradition: Kokten Korgei
2001, Lakeland Arts Trust, Cumbria, England, shop@blackwell.org.uk;
71 pages, essay by Professor Samiro Yunoki, illustrated. $20 paperback.
This catalog documents
an exhibition of Japanese crafts at Blackwell, The Arts & Crafts House
(October 3-December 21), that celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Kokugakai,
a society of artists and craftsmen founded in 1926, of which Kokten Korgei,
is the craft section. The formation of this group owed much to the influence
of the philosopher and art critic Soetsu Yanagi, who was one of the early
members along with Shoji Hamada, Kanjiro Kawai and the British potter
Bernard Leach. The book presents ceramics, textiles, glass, furniture
and lacquerwork by current members, as well as works by past masters,
including Kenkichi Tomimoto, founder of Kokten Korgei.
Cerámica:
Mexican Pottery of the 20th Century
by Amanda Thompson in cooperation with the California Heritage Museum,
Santa Monica, 2001, Schiffer Publishing Ltd., Atglen, PA, 610-593-1777;
208 pages, illustrated. $49.95.
The charm, color and
variety of Mexican folk ceramics is on display in this book based on an
exhibition of more than 1,200 pieces at the California Heritage Museum
(1999-2000). Following a brief introduction and discussion of techniques
of production, the pottery is organized geographically, focusing on the
eight Mexican states with the most important potteries. Within these chapters,
both anonymous and signed works are pictured. Once and future tourists
in Mexico will be familiar with the Tree of Life candelabra and Day of
the Dead figures from Puebla, the green and black platters with ruffled
edges from Michoacán and the red, cream and black decorated figures
from the Mexcala region of Guerrero.
Greene
& Greene
by Edward R. Bosley, 2000, Phaidon Press Inc., New York, NY, 212-652-5400;
240 pages, illustrated. $75.
During the early years
of the 20th century, the Cincinnati-born brothers Charles Sumner Greene
(1868-1957) and Henry Mather Greene (1870-1954) collaborated on some of
the most beautifully crafted architecture in America. The homes they designed
together in Southern California with wood as a primary material—masterworks
such as the Robert R. Blacker house (1907-09) and the David B. Gamble
house (1907-09)—were produced for a wealthy, mostly Midwestern clientele
and represented the ideal of a house as a total work of art. This critical
monograph does justice to the homes, inside and out, with the help of
new color photography, drawings and archival photographs. The knowledgeable
text by Edward R. Bosley, an art historian and director of the Gamble
House, in Pasadena, the only Greene & Greene landmark open to the
public, brings to life the brothers' careers, together and then apart.
Cottages
by the Sea: The Handmade Homes of Carmel, America's First Artist Community
by Linda Leigh Paul, 2000, Universe Publishing, distributed by Rizzoli
International Publications, New York, NY, 212-387-3400; 223 pages, principal
photography by Radek Kurzaj. $35.
From the beginning
of the 20th century, Carmel, California, with its dramatic coastal setting,
has been a magnet for writers, artists and tourists. This book documenting
34 of the town's handmade and seldom-seen cottages is likely to appeal
to the house fantasist in us all. In addition to having a harmonious relation
to nature, most of these homes have handcrafted interiors with craft objects
displayed. They are primarily from the teens, 20s, 30s and 40s, with a
few of later vintage.The house once occupied by the poet Robinson Jeffers
is made of stone and boasts a collection of Jugtown pottery. Another is
graced with ironwork by the blacksmith Francis Whitaker. Two notable examples
are designed by Charles Sumner Greene: the James House, perched on an
outcropping of rocks, and the singular house and studio Greene built for
himself, adorned with ornamental brickwork, tiles, handcarved wood doors
and bottle-glass windows.
American
Baskets: A Cultural History of a Traditional Domestic Art
by Robert Shaw, 2000, Clarkson Potter/Publishers, New York, NY, distributed
by Crown Publishing Group, 212-572-2537; 217 pages, illustrated. $45.
Robert Shaw, the author
of books on American folk art and a former curator of the Shelburne Museum,
divides this attractive survey of American basketry into Native American
and "immigrant," within which he highlights 13 different traditions,
including Aleut, Cherokee, Hopi and Pomo, and Shaker, Nantucket, Pennsylvania
Dutch, Appalachian and Southeast Coast African-American. Though antique
baskets are the focus, the book presents sufficient examples by contemporary
makers such as Stehen Zeh, Mary Jackson and Billie Ruth Sudduth to suggest
the vitality of traditional styles. A bibliography, list of resources
and glossary are included.
Visualizations:
The Nature Book of Art and Science
by Martin Kemp, 2000, University of California Press, Berkeley and
Los Angeles, CA, 800-777-4726; 216 pages, illustrated. $35.
The short essays here
collected, by an art historian at Oxford University, all appeared in the
scientific journal Nature and explore the interaction between these
two modes of understanding the world. Each essay focuses on a visual image
from art or science and offers an investigation into shared motifs in
the two disciplines. Among the topics are the French Renaissance potter
Bernard Palissy, known for works depicting animals and plants taken from
life castings, and who Kemp sees as a philosopher of earth and natural
science. Another is the Cape Cod potter Joan Lederman, who has glazed
her stoneware pots with sediment raised from the Atlantic Ocean floor
by research teams from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The resulting
patterns on the glazed surface are variations on dendrite formations that
comprise one of the recurrent organizational configurations in nature.
Pearls:
A Natural History
by Neil H. Landman, Paula M. Mikkelsen, Rüdiger Bieler, Bennet
Bronson, 2001, Harry N. Abrams, New York, NY, 800-345-1359, in association
with the American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, and the Field
Museum, Chicago, IL; 232 pages, illustrated. $49.50.
Based on an exhibition
organized by the American Museum of Natural History (October 13, 2001-April
14) and the Field Museum (June 28-January 5, 2003), this study mingles
history, science and the jeweler's art to celebrate the pearl—one
of humankind's oldest gemstones, unique for its organic formation in the
body of a living mollusk. The authors draw on their various disciplines
to explore all aspects of pearls—biology, gemology, anthropology,
ecology and the decorative arts. We learn how pearls are produced—naturally
and through perliculture—about pearls in European and non-European
history and art, and about the ecological issues involved in preserving
pearl-producing mollusks. The profuse illustrations include photographs
of rare pearls, opulent jewelry incorporating pearls and paintings depicting
them, as well as archival photographs and drawings. Extensive notes and
a bibliography are included.
Art
and Science
by Eliane Strosberg, 2001, Abbeville Press, New York, NY, 800-278-2665;
245, illustrated. $45.
The interaction between the seeming separate realms of art and science is the subject of this stimulating book by the founder of Recontres Art et Science, an association in Paris that sponsors events in collaboration with UNESCO. Among the intersections Eliane Strosberg illuminates are that between astronomy and architecture, between mathematics and the decorative arts and between perceptual discoveries and painting. A chapter on the language of graphic design traces the development of visual communication from prehistoric pictographs to computer technology, while another connects discoveries in the physical sciences to transformation in the performing arts.
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