I have used a wide variety of source materials for the images in this Treasure Chest series; single sheet prints, woodblock books, painting guides, even a photograph. But so far, I haven't made use of any 'advertising' material in my hunt for interesting images - something that is rectified now, with the inclusion of this pretty little bonsai maple tree.

In 1882 a German man opened a plant nursery business in Yokohama, exporting Japanese plants to customers overseas. At one point, he had the idea of producing a colour catalogue for customers, one that would give them a basic introduction to the most common flowers and plants in this country. To create this, he enlisted the help of Takejiro Hasegawa, the Meiji-era publisher of a number of books that featured woodblock illustrations combined with Western language texts.

In the year 1901 they produced a beautiful book - it seems hardly fair to call it a 'catalogue' - illustrating the Japanese 'year' in flowers: The Favorite Flowers of Japan, illustrated by kuchi-e artist Mishima Shoso, with text written by the wife of the nursery owner. Each page of the book went through two completely separate printing processes: the text was done first on a modern letterpress, and the printed sheets (high quality Japanese hosho paper) were then sent to traditional printers to add the illustrations.

It seems that the book was quite successful, as a number of editions were produced, and it can still be found sometimes in bookshops overseas, although copies in good condition are not cheap at all. I purchased my copy from a dealer in England, and was happy to bring it 'home' back to Japan!

As I sit and look through this book I can't help but ask why it is no longer possible to create new modern books of this type, but I guess I know the answer - it was only practical when craftsmen's wages were at developing country levels. These days, we have all become so rich ...

David
Monday, October 31, 2005

(Here's the print in context in the Treasure Chest series.)

Posted by Dave Bull at 04:56 PM | Comments (2)

I have mentioned frequently in these little stories that I am trying to keep in mind that the people collecting this set of prints fall into two major categories: those familiar with Japanese culture, and those not so familiar.

For the most part, due to the fact that I am choosing simple and 'decorative' designs, it doesn't really matter so much what level of cultural knowledge the viewers have; each of us can enjoy these prints at our own level. But in one particular aspect it does make a difference - and that is the inclusion of calligraphy.

A print with calligraphy is of course seen and understood in completely different ways by the two groups: Japanese people can read the content of the characters, and can also enjoy the beauty inherent in the calligraphic work itself, but for many foreigners, neither of these things can be appreciated, and indeed, the presence of calligraphy can itself become a distraction.

Now, most Japanese people do not realize this, but everybody in this country has been trained as an artist, in a process that started the day they first began to draw the simple kana characters. They were given a sheet of paper ruled into square boxes, and had to learn not only to make the characters in the correct shape, and to give each stroke the proper nuance, but above all, to position and balance the character properly in the given space.

There is nothing comparable to this in the standard western methods of learning the 'A B C ...', where the process does not go beyond getting the basically correct shape of the character.

So when I came across this design, I thought to myself "Perhaps this is a way that I can try to show the Western collectors some small aspect of the beauty of calligraphy."

There is no 'meaning' in these strokes, and they do not 'distract' from the image; they are the image! Just looking at them makes me want to dip a brush into some rich black ink and give it a try ...

David
Monday, October 17, 2005

(Here's the print in context in the Treasure Chest series.)

Posted by Dave Bull at 08:45 PM | Comments (1)

A couple of years ago, in my 5th Surimono Album, I included a Totoya Hokkei print depicting one of the characters from the famous Chinese tale known in Japan as Suikoden. As there are 108 main characters in the panoramic story, it obviously provides a fertile field for artists to plow, and has indeed been the inspiration for any number of illustrated versions.

The image you see here is used in the introduction to a set of illustrations of the Suikoden produced by Katsushika Hokusai. It is a reference to a set of ten 'ox-herding' images which originated in ancient China and which are generally used as an allegorical illustration of stages in man's quest for enlightenment.

The boy playing flute while riding the ox homewards is the sixth in the set. I myself have never had any concern about my level of 'enlightenment', but as I read about this set of illustrations, felt that if I had to consider which of the ten stages I would like to be in, it would be this sixth one!

I suppose this is an extreme simplification of a process which some people contemplate for almost their entire lives, but I see the earlier stages as being a struggle to 'find one's self', and the later stages as an attempt to then 'forget one's self'.

But this particular stage seems to me to be a quite worthy goal in itself - to be completely comfortable and at ease with yourself, to be no longer concerned with 'winning' and 'losing', and to be able to let things take their course without hindrance.

I don't mean to imply that this describes my situation; and actually, now that I think about it more deeply, I think that I would rather stay just a little bit 'below' that state; there are quite a number of 'battles' remaining that I still wish to fight!

But doesn't it sound wonderful ...
On the back of the ox you make your way slowly home,
   playing the flute in the red glow of sunset.
Each measure is filled with inexpressible beauty;
   What need is there for words? *

David
Monday, October 3, 2005

* (my adaptation of some ideas expressed in a 12th century poem on this topic)

(Here's the print in context in the Treasure Chest series.)

Posted by Dave Bull at 11:58 PM | Comments (0)