Books, Movies & TV

For Fabric Fanatics…Textiles Asia and Carol Cassidy

Fellow blogger Style Court is on fire these last few weeks, writing about everything I am interested in from dhurrie rugs to Laotian weavings. I have been meaning to do a quick post on textiles, with some new and old discoveries, and she has inspired me.

A few months ago I came across a new publication called Textiles Asia, founded by Bonnie Corwin in 2009 and published 3 times a year. The journal is aimed at both experts and novices and was started to fill the void left by the closing of the Textile Society in Hong Kong. Recent issues have featured everything from articles on the Mitsui family’s collection of Kosode (kimono) to Aboriginal Batik. The format is clear, the articles well-written and it has an impressive board of contributors. Subscription information can be found on their website and Tokyo locals can find it at the Tokyo American Club or the Iwatate Folk Textile Museum.

Uchikake and pattern from Mitsui collection — Floating Fans paper pattern and robe, Wedding Uchikake, Mitsui Collection, 19thC

The May 2010 issue has an article about traditional Lao wedding ceremonies and the significance of the dress worn on that day. Laotian textiles

are some of my favorites, particularly after visiting there. Laos is one of the few places left in the world where intricate hand-woven fabrics are a part of everyday life. Traditional weaving techniques were almost lost to the chaos of the war, but have been revived and are now flourishing. Much of that revival is due to Carol Cassidy, who opened her workshop in 1990 and brought a new worldwide focus and market for these products.

Cassidy’s work is a contemporary take on this ancient art form. “I start with traditional patterns and techniques and I modify, interpret, translate, adapt…” Using vintage and antique pieces, such as the Lue people skirt below, Cassidy stylizes, expands and modernizes the motifs, creating her own art. Cassidy estimates that about half of her patterns have been inspired by the different woven bands in this exact skirt.

The scarves below have a band with a signature motif that she uses all the time, found in the skirt above. In addition to personal items like shawls and scarves, Cassidy and her weavers make wall hangings and she has also collaborated with interior designers and architects to produce fabric for upholstery, using a special wide loom.

I have a number of her pieces, including this large weft ikat laying over the back of the chair. If you look back at the skirt, you can see that this piece is a stylized version of the large band of zig zag ikat on the top of the skirt. On the other hand, the pillow is made from a woven textile bought in the marketplace, not from Cassidy’s atelier, but still you can see the use of the traditional motifs. I had it made into a Laotian sarong. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, it was never a good look for me, so I had it turned into a pillow.

For more on Carol Cassidy and weaving in Laos see American Weaver Revives Old Laotian Art and In Laos, It’s all About Weave in The New York Times. Cassidy also has a number of publications including the one shown above, Beyond Tradition: Lao Textiles Revisited and Weaving Tradition: Carol Cassidy and Woven Silks of Laos. Best of all, go and visit and see them in person!

Image credits: 1. Textiles Asia, 2. from Textiles Asia January 2010, images courtesy of the Bunka Gakuen Costume Museum, photo credit: Tamiko Tanaka/Tami Art, 3-4. from Beyond Tradition:Lao Textiles Revisited, photo credit: Irving Solero, 5. Asia Store Blog at the Asia Society, 6. me.

Mar 3, 2011 By tokyojinja in Books, Movies & TV, Textiles 3 Comments Tags: Carol Cassidy, ikat, Laos, Textiles Asia, weaving

Some Resolutions for 2011 and Bamboo in January

I know it is the thing to do at this time of year, but I am not really one for making public New Years’ resolutions. What I do know for sure is that I have loved blogging and plan on continuing full force. I have relished the writing and the learning of new things. I have enjoyed making new friends and reconnecting with old ones. Every comment and email has made me feel part of a greater whole. Revisiting ideas and items that I haven’t thought about in years has been rejuvenating.

January 2011 will be bamboo month here at Tokyo Jinja, both in topic and spirit. Traditional Japanese still place pairs of kadomatsu made of bamboo and pine in front of their house during New Years for luck and good fortune.

Bamboo symbolizes strength, endurance and resilience as it bends readily but doesn’t break easily. It is also one of the fastest growing plants in the world making it an environmentally sustainable and attractive building material. Bamboo, along with pine and plum blossom, represents one of the “Three Friends of Winter” as a design motif on everything from textiles to gardens. So watch for posts on these subjects as well as 19th century faux bamboo furniture, Aesthetic Movement silver patterns, contemporary bamboo art from Japanese masters, green room inspiration, ikkanbari from artist Lisa George of Paper Glue Bamboo and more.

New Year’s at The New York Times brought a great essay on the back page of the magazine entitled “Starter Buddha,’” adapted from Susan Conley’s new memoir “The Foremost Good Fortune,” which is being published next month. The essay is a pitch perfect piece on buying a “fake” buddha in a big Beijing flea market. The book also looks like a must read, especially for those of us living the expat life in Asia as it tells the tale of their family’s move from Maine to China in 2008 and her subsequent battle with cancer. On the eve of a new year, it is always good to be reminded of and thankful for the gift of good health. I’ll also be headed to Hong Kong this winter, so I’ll finally be answering some of your questions on how to know if something is “real” or “fake” as I tackle the Chinese antique stores and markets.

I want to recommend an outing to the Setagaya Boro-ichi (rag fair) on January 15th and 16th. Held in one form or another for over 400 years and now every December and January on those dates, it is a great traditional market experience. For more details and information, take a look at this article in The Japan Times. I will also be updating the “Shrine Sale” tag at the top of the blog to have current information for winter and spring events, and introducing some new sales and antique shows.

I have heard from a lot of you that you like some of the more personal posts and updates on our renovation and decoration. In that spirit, I want to share an exciting idea for the entrance area to the beach house. Under the window, in this empty space, we knew we wanted a bench of some sort to sit and put on shoes as well as to pull up to the dining table when we have many guests (my table has 12 leaves and can open to almost the full length of the dining room/living room). In the summer the front door on the left of the photo is always open, so we don’t think much about this space, but this winter, with the door closed, it really functioned as part of the living room.

As I was flying back to Tokyo on Monday, I picked up the February issue of House Beautiful with this charming bench by Alexandra Angle on the front cover. A bench like this is the perfect solution. We are now so Japanese that we never (and will never again) wear shoes in the house. The design of this bench, with the bar on the bottom, gives us a place to tuck shoes in, keeping them less visible and neat. The other great take-way from the photo is the loose pillows that make it a comfortable place to sit, as if it was a small settee, without having a permanent back. So it can function as a bench, as a couch, and I could even see the girls stretching out here to read.

I have five yards of this adorable Cowtan & Tout Kemerton Check (another great eBay find) that is perfect to upholster it in.

And I could use my last piece of my beloved Bennison Faded Floral that I have been saving for a pillow.

So my dear readers, thank you for your support and encouragement. I would love to hear what you would like to see me write about this year, whether it be questions you want answered or features you’d like to see more of. And please keep those comments and emails coming!

Image credits: 1. A.N. Hudson, 2-4, 6. me, 5. House Beautiful February 2011 photo credit: Victoria Pearson, 7. Bennison

Jan 5, 2011 By tokyojinja in Books, Movies & TV, Design Motif, Expat Life, Interior Design, Renovation and Decoration Report, Shrine Sales and Flea Markets, Textiles 6 Comments Tags: Alexandra Angle, bamboo, Bennison, boro-ichi, Buddha, Cowtan & Tout, fabric, kadomatsu, New Years Resolutions

Divide and Conquer…Thomas Hamel, Jalis and Shoji Screens

While great rooms with exposed kitchens have become the norm, and loft living has it advantages, I can still see the need to shut the cooking area off from the dining area sometimes. Designer Thomas Hamel has come up with one of the loveliest and most ingenious ways of doing this that I have seen in a while. Using lacy fretwork Indian style jalis – in this case laser cut stained oak panels – he has installed sliding doors that can be used to separate the two rooms, while allowing light and air to flow between them. Jalis are common in both Indian and Islamic architecture, and Hamel’s project has influences from all over the globe – he calls his style “international eclecticism”.

This design is very reminiscent of Japanese architecture too – reminding me of the shoji screens used as room dividers in traditional Japanese houses. As space is at such a premium here, most rooms have multifunctional purposes, and space is highly configurable. Shoji screens are covered with rice paper, which also lets light and sound flow through. One of the “go to” books on everyone’s’ coffee tables here is Japan Style: Architecture Interiors Design by Geeta Mehta and Kimie Tada, with great photos by Noburo Murata. I highly recommend it!

For a look more like Hamel’s, this antique fretwork panel door with its “seven treasures” pattern featured in an earlier post would work perfectly.

Image credits: 1. House Beautiful December/January 2011, 2. Japan Style: Architecture Interiors Design photo credit: Noburo Murata, 3. courtesy of Kanarusha Antiques

Dec 21, 2010 By tokyojinja in Books, Movies & TV, Interior Design 2 Comments Tags: fretwork, jalis, Japanese design, shoji screens, Thomas Hamel

Artist Spotlight…Van Gogh: The Adventure of Becoming an Artist

All my work is based to some extent on Japanese art…
Vincent Van Gogh, in a letter to his brother Theo 1888

Japan is no stranger to Van Gogh exhibitions. In fact, they are routinely the most popular, drawing crowds large enough to liken them to the morning commuter trains. This current exhibition at The National Art Center, on the 120th anniversary of his death, sets out to answer the question of how Van Gogh learned his painting techniques and established his signature style. While visiting the exhibition today – on one of the final days of the show – was almost unenjoyable because of the crowds, it did do a good job of demonstrating its premise.

Van Gogh did not arrive effortlessly at the style we all know and love. For him it was a long and laborious process. Beginning with the traditional painting and drawing techniques Van Gogh studied during his time in Holland, the color theory he learned from Eugene Delacroix and his experimentation with Impressionism, Pointillism and other new styles he encountered in Paris, he slowly worked his way towards his visionary style.

Yet most influential on Van Gogh’s vision were the Japanese woodblock prints (ukiyo-e) that he, like so many of his contemporaries, collected. Van Gogh and his brother Theo amassed hundreds and even dealt in them early in their careers. The bold compositions and vibrant flat color planes, truncated perspectives and naturalistic themes informed his later work. Elsewhere on the blog I have shown his copy of Hiroshige’s “Bridge: Sudden Rain at Atake”. He also copied a number of other Japanese prints, including Hiroshige’s “Flowering Plum Tree” and “The Courtesan” (inspired by Keisai Eisen).

Hiroshige Van Gogh Flowering Plum Tree 1887 — Hiroshige/Van Gogh Flowering Plum Tree 1887

Van Gogh The Courtesan (after Eisen) — The Courtesan (after Eisen) 1887

Absorbing all of these elements, Van Gogh moved to Arles in 1888 where his style blossomed almost overnight into the individualistic style that today we all recognize as distinctly his. One of the highlight of the show is “The Bedroom” displayed opposite a life-size recreation of his actual bedroom.

Van GoghThe_Bedroom_1889 — The Bedroom 1889

Van Gogh truly learned by making his own copies of artwork that interested him. In addition to the ukiyo-e copies above, he attempted many studies of Jean-Francois Millet’s 1850 painting “The Sower” early in his career with no success. I think my favorite piece in this show is his much later version, painted in 1888. I had never seen it in person before and it is riveting.

Vincent Van Gogh The Sower 1888 — The Sower 1888

Alice Ravenel Huger Smith Moon, Flower and Hawk Moth — A.R.H.Smith Moon, Flower and Hawk Moth 1917-18

Elsewhere in the blogosphere, Courtney Barnes of Style Court had a great post about the woodblock prints of Alice Ravenel Huger Smith, a “Charleston Renaissance” artist who made Japanese-influenced prints in the early 20th century along her adventure in becoming an artist. Barnes links to a really cute interactive presentation from the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston. While the mispronunciations of the narrator are intense, it certainly does demonstrate the long arm of Japanese artistic influence. I do think the presentation underestimates the influence of art movements at the time, such as art nouveau, nor notices the parallel between Smith’s work and the Japanese shin hanga (new prints) movement. Instead it focuses solely on the influence of the much earlier ukiyo-e. For instance, compare Smith’s “Cotton Picker at Twilight” to Kawase Hasui’s “Fisherman at Sunset” below, and then think about how much they both stylistically owe to Van Gogh, by revisiting “The Sower” above.

Alice Ravenel Huger Smith Cotton Picker at Twilight — Cotton Picker at Twilight c. 1920s

Kawase Hasui Fisherman at Sunset — Fisherman at Sunset c. 1930

And more local news, Monet and the Artists of Giverny: The Beginning of American Impressionism has opened at Bunkamura in Shibuya, running until February 17, 2011. The show highlights Giverny’s emergence as an artists’ colony, with painters from all over the world, but particularly from America. Ironically, I am in the middle of reading Charlotte in Giverny by Joan MacPhail Knight to my girls, which is the story of a little American girl who moves with her parents to Giverny for a year as her father is an Impressionist painter. Along the way she meets many of the historical and artistic figures of the time and their paintings are the illustrations to the story. We haven’t gotten to the end yet, but I highly recommend it so far. My just-turned 7-year-old loves it, but my 11-year-old middle-schooler is very interested in listening too.

I don’t think I have thought this much about Impressionism since one of my very first art history courses at University! But revisiting these extraordinary works has been amazing. If you too have been enjoying these recent posts on Impressionism and Japonisme, make sure to check back on Christmas and New Years as I have a few special holiday posts planned. Grab some mulled wine and be prepared for beauty.

Image Credits: 1, 3, 6-7. Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam, 2. via About.com, 4-5. Wikipedia, 8-9. Gibbes Museum of Art, 10. via hanga.com, 11. via Bunkamura, 12. Amazon.com

Dec 16, 2010 By tokyojinja in Artist Spotlight, Books, Movies & TV 3 Comments Tags: Alice Ravenel Huger Smith, Charleston Renaissance, Claude Monet, Impressionism, Japonisme, Vincent Van Gogh

Artist Spotlight…Whistler, Hiroshige and the Best Coffee Table Book of All Time

Whistler Caprice In Purple And Gold No 2 The Golden Screen — Caprice in Purple and Gold No. 2 -The Golden Screen, James Abbott McNeill Whistler 1864

It doesn’t get better than this – Whistler’s mistress Joanna Hifferman in kimono, gazing at prints by Hiroshige, in front of a gilded scenic Japanese screen. Proving that Hiroshige’s work was not yet well-known in London when the painting was first exhibited, critics in 1865 didn’t understand what they were seeing – one referred to Joanna looking at “”a picture, drawing, fan or whatever it may be” – never even realizing she was looking at Japanese prints. It was just 10 years since the opening of Japan, five years since the first visit by Japanese to the West, yet the aesthetic influence of Japan had begun, coming to the West like an unstoppable steamroller. Japonisme was the term coined for this influence and considering the other posts I have in the hopper, it looks like it will be a common theme this month.

The painting itself is a commentary on these ukiyo-e prints, with its flattened point of view and the mimicking of a traditional pose. Whistler even designed a special frame, with kamon-like (Japanese family crests) decorations around the edge, to extend the Japonisme effect.

For a modern-day replication of this scene, go out and pick up a vintage kimono, but more importantly, this book – Hiroshige: 100 Views of Edo – by Melanie Trede and Lorenz Bichler. Measuring a huge 17 inches by 14 inches, it reminds me of the very funny Seinfeld episode when Kramer creates a coffee table book (about coffee tables) that has small fold out legs and is a coffee table. I think you could do that with this book. But this really is no ordinary coffee table book and the photos below do not begin to give a sense of how large and special it is! The outer binding is separate, covered in pink silk. The interior book pages also have a silky cover and look hand-stitched. It is held closed with two small toggles. The 120 images are reprints of an original set of woodblock prints belonging to the Ota Memorial Museum of Art in Tokyo. Each print has details and descriptions and it would be amazing to sit with a glass of wine and just absorb a few here and there.

The cover…

the interior…

and some sample pages.

It makes a perfect holiday gift for anyone interested in ukiyo-e, Japonisme or just beautiful books!!!! From a decorating point of view, this could be the lynchpin of a well styled coffee table.

Caprice in Purple and Gold: The Golden Screen is one of the Whistler highlights (from among a collection of 1300) at the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., along with the reconstructed Peacock Room and other paintings. A definite “bucket list” item.

The Ota Memorial Museum of Art in Tokyo in Omotesando runs an ever changing series of exhibits from their huge (12,000) collection of ukiyo-e.

Image credits: 1. Freer/Sackler Museum, 2-3. Barnes and Noble, 4-5. Taschen Books.

Dec 8, 2010 By tokyojinja in Artist Spotlight, Books, Movies & TV 2 Comments Tags: Hiroshige, Impressionism, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Japonisme, wood block prints

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