250 photos/illustrations

Pattern design has a long history within Japanese culture. This book presents a collection of carefully selected traditional Japanese patterns in 60 categories for use by designers and artists in their projects and personal work. An companion CD-ROM provides 250 patterns in high-definition JPEG format along with PSD format from which you can freely manipulate and modify the patterns to customize them for your own use. This is an inspirational and highly practical reference and sourcebook for anyone working in the area of visual art.

This book chooses 58 projects in Japan and classifies them into four categories(cultural&commercial, educational, public and multipurpose) in order to describe the kernel of Japanese architecture.

Японский художник учится рисовать одновременно с обучением письму. Он не сидит напротив модели или объекта природы и не стремится представить его таким, каким он ему кажется; он учится писать многочисленные сложные иероглифы своего языка путем постоянного повторения, таким образом, приобретая умение изображать некоторые узоры и традиционные формы, долгое время копируя принятые модели, передаваемые из поколения в поколение. Хотя такой творческий метод и не позволяет достигнуть той высокой степени мастерства, какого можно было бы добиться при тщательном изучении природы, но предоставляет мастеру декоративные возможности при создании рисунков, в которых японские художники обладают непревзойденным талантом.

Ukiyo-e: 139 reproductions, grouped by artist, each accompanied by a detailed commentary

This volume reproduces 139 Japanese woodblock colour prints by 43 famous masters of ukiyo-e, the popular art of the 17th to the 19th century. The originals are in the Riccar Art Museum in Tokyo, the world's largest and most celebrated collection of such prints. On account of their rarity and value, 87 of them have been designated Japanese National Treasures or Major National Cultural Heritage Items.

The introductory essay, "Ukiyo-e - Origins and History", by the Curator of the Riccar Art Museum, Mitsunobu Sato, familiarizes the reader with the history of this art form. This is followed by the chapter "Cherry - Wood - Blossom", in which Thomas Zacharias, Professor at the Munich Academy of Art examines the technique, content and style of Japanese prints and their influence on European art at the turn of the century.

The major section of the book consists of the 139 reproductions, grouped by artist, each accompanied by a detailed, sensitive commentary. Street scenes, lovers' trysts, festivals, portraits of courtesans and actors, landscapes and travelogues - these are the motifs of the ukiyo-e print. The dominant theme, however, is woman's beauty, the grace of her posture and attitudes, and the decorative aesthetics of her flowing garments. Amongst the most celebrated of the artists featured here are Utamaro, with his beautiful courtesans and geishas; Sharaku, with his portraits of actors on the kabuki stage; Hokusai, with his landscapes, among them the "36 Views of Mount Fuji"; and Hiroshige, with his "53 Stations on the Tokaido" and his "100 Views of Famous Places in and around Edo".

The ten-page appendix includes a glossary of technical terms and biographies of all 43 artists

The author:

Gabriele Fahr-Becker studied art history, archaeology, and philosophy, and gained her doctorate from Munich University in 1970 with a thesis on Art Nouveau. She has published numerous books on turn-of-the-century art.

Посмотреть русскоязычное издание этой книги - Японская гравюра

The Japanese garden, like all gardens, is more than mere nature; it is nature crafted by man. It needs the hands of the designer to give it meaning.

The Japanese garden belongs to the realm of architecture; at its best, it is nature as art. The phases of its history document the constant redefinition of man's position within and towards nature. Its changing forms respond both to socio-economic developments and to religious and philosophical trends, and thereby reflect the spiritual climate in which its architecture was conceived.

At the same time as detailing the characteristics distinguishing and differentiating each of the five major epochs in the history of the Japanese garden, the author identifies the common motif which underlies them all: the recurrent attempt to unite beauty as natural accident and beauty as human-perfected type, to achieve an aesthetic symbiosis between the seeming randomness of natural form and the strict geometry of the right angle.

History, technique, content and style of Japanese prints This volume reproduces 139 Japanese woodblock colour prints by 43 famous masters of ukiyo-e, the popular art of the 17th to the 19th century. The originals are in the Riccar Art Museum in Tokyo, the world's largest and most celebrated collection of such prints. On account of their rarity and value, 87 of them have been designated Japanese National Treasures or Major National Cultural Heritage Items. The introductory essay, "Ukiyo-e - Origins and History", by the Curator of the Riccar Art Museum, Mitsunobu Sato, familiarizes the reader with the history of this art form.

This is followed by the chapter "Cherry - Wood - Blossom", in which Thomas Zacharias, Professor at the Munich Academy of Art examines the technique, content and style of Japanese prints and their influence on European art at the turn of the century.

The major section of the book consists of the 139 reproductions, grouped by artist, each accompanied by a detailed, sensitive commentary. Street scenes, lovers' trysts, festivals, portraits of courtesans and actors, landscapes and travelogues - these are the motifs of the ukiyo-e print. The dominant theme, however, is woman's beauty, the grace of her posture and attitudes, and the decorative aesthetics of her flowing garments. Amongst the most celebrated of the artists featured here are Utamaro, with his beautiful courtesans and geishas; Sharaku, with his portraits of actors on the kabuki stage; Hokusai, with his landscapes, among them the "36 Views of Mount Fuji"; and Hiroshige, with his "53 Stations on the To-kaido-" and his "100 Views of Famous Places in and around Edo".

The ten-page appendix includes a glossary of technical terms and biographies of all 43 artists.

The very best designs from all over Japan with a historical overview of the role of the Onsen.

Первые изображения укие-э появились в XVII веке в Японии, в г. Эдо (современный Токио). Крупнейший город той эпохи, Эдо способствовал расцвету своеобразной городской культуры. Художники живо и ярко отображали радостные стороны жизни горожан. Именно поэтому их работы были известны как укие-э, или "картины изменчивого мира".

В основном термином укие-э называют ксилографии - изображения, которые граверы печатали с деревянных досок, подготовленных по оригинальным эскизам художников. Поскольку гравюры на дереве недороги, их можно было печатать массовыми тиражами. Гравюры отображали широкий диапазон тем: сцены повседневной жизни Эдо, виды достопримечательностей, зарисовки на исторические темы, пейзажи, изображения животных и цветов в разные времена года, эротические картинки, - словом, не было таких сюжетов, которые остались бы неохваченными. Особым спросом пользовались театральные сцены и сюжеты из жизни "веселых кварталов", в которых жители Эдо искали удовольствий и развлечений. Изображения куртизанок, гейш и служанок чайных домов были отдельным направлением в укие-э и назывались бидзин-га ("изображения красивых женщин"). Большой популярностью пользовались также якуся-э, изображавшие актеров театра Кабуки в знаменитых ролях.

Посмотреть англоязычное издание этой книги - Japanese Prints