How to Look At Japanese Art
 
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From Publishers Weekly
This small volume, organized around six important categories of Japanese visual arts?ceramics, sculpture, painting, calligraphy, prints and gardens?has fashioned itself as an introduction to Japanese aesthetic sensibilities. Its format roughly follows the textbook norm, covering the time line from Jomon ceramics (1500 B.C.E.) to current artists, with examples from each category. Addiss directs the viewer in looking at each work, and poses unthreatening questions both within the text and as a "summary quiz" for each chapter. The text is high-school level or, perhaps, freshman-year humanities requirement for science majors. The descriptions of the works, and the rhetoric Addiss uses to engage "beginning viewers," presuppose a naivete that flirts with simplemindedness. The historical information is accurate and momentarily illuminating, but there is not much of it. In fact, the main purpose here is apparently to incite further exploration, but it does seem that a reader truly interested in Japanese art would just bypass it for a richer, more complete account.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.   

From Library Journal
This lovely introduction to the aesthetics of Japanese art illustrates such typical characteristics as concern with nature, transformation of foreign influences, asymmetrical use of space, and humor. Chapters on ceramics, sculpture, painting, calligraphy, prints, and gardens discuss a small number of well-chosen examples, including many by women. Each chapter concludes with a page of key questions to ask when looking at a particular type of art. Addiss (art, Univ. of Richmond; The Art of Zen, Abrams, 1989) speaks directly to readers unfamiliar with Japanese art, posing questions designed to promote engagement with the works presented. His encouraging and personal approach makes this book ideal for students and general readers. A good addition to public or academic collections containing monographs on Japanese art or artists.
Kathryn Wekselman, Univ. of Cincinnati, Ohio
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Submitted On:

27 Mar 2008

File Author:

Addiss, Stephen

File Size:

5.69 MB