Baren Digest Thursday, 17 October 2002 Volume 21 : Number 1997 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Sharri LaPierre Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 10:55:33 -0700 Subject: [Baren 19574] Re: Baren Digest V21 #1996 Barbara, Several years ago I attended the Van Gogh exhibition at the LA Museum of Art and they happened to have a fantastic Japanese woodblock show in the Asian building. Several of the woodblocks had a small copy of the painting Van Gogh, Gaugin or others of that vintage had done based on the particular print it was taken from. I was amazed that most of them were verbatim - a direct copy of the image in a different medium. I knew they had taken a lot from the blocks of the day, but hadn't realized to what extent. I'm sure you all know that at that time Japanese merchandise was all the rage in Paris and items came wrapped in paper with these woodblock prints on it. So, they had easy access to these wonderful Eastern images & perspectives. But, thought I'd mention it in case someone was in the restroom during that part of the lecture: Art History 101 :-) Can I borrow the book when you're finished with it? Sharri ------------------------------ From: "Lee and Barbara Mason" Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 11:49:10 -0700 Subject: [Baren 19575] book Yes, I just read that the story of prints wrapping stuff was not true, I can't remember where though, so guess one story is as good as another...see you soon. Barbara > Can I borrow the book when you're finished with it? > > Sharri > > ------------------------------ From: Julio.Rodriguez#walgreens.com Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 13:48:29 -0500 Subject: [Baren 19576] Re: hanga-only... 10/16/2002 01:52:52 PM Hey, for those newbies perhaps a bit unsure as to where to start or perhaps stuck somewhere in the middle of the process....let me make a suggestion....before you get into the detailed One-point lessons in the encyclopedia....start here: http://www.barenforum.org/encyclopedia/entries/000_09/000_00.html Over 34 step-by-step pages with photos of a pretty friendly looking guy ready to walk you thru each and every step. The print has a bit of complexity with a few gradations, etc....but you should be able to capture the feeling of the process regardless of your own design. You may have alternate solutions for some of the steps....ex. you may chose to not use a hanshita drawing but rather trace or transfer your design to the blocks......no baren ? student grade barens are available for less than $20 from many vendors.. but in an emergency a large spoon or a big doorknob can be used to get thru 30-40 prints.... Don't shortchange yourself on the paper!!! The format for this print (5 X 15" approx.) could be a bit challenging but has been successfully used by many printmakers. Here are several pages of prints in this format by one of my favorites... http://shotei.com/Artists/Shotei/ShoteiCatalog/ShoteiList5.htm thanks and have fun with it..........Julio Rodriguez 4/5 ------------------------------ From: "marilynn smih" Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 13:30:36 -0700 Subject: [Baren 19577] Re: Baren Digest V21 #1995 I have not recieved prints for 14a from the following: Frank Trueba Eli Griggs Daniel Dew Horacio Soares Neto If you mailed your prints and your name is on this list let me know. I did not double check my paper work with the boxes recieved and with trips back and forth to the city, moving and such it is possible I got a box of prints that I failed to check off. I would like to start collating these prints as soon as possible so get them off to me. I do need 22 prints. We had one person drop out, that was Gilda Zimmerling, so we are at 21 plus the box for Baren archives. If I do not recieve your prints by close to the first of November I will not promise you will be included in the exchange. Thanks for all these lovely boxes of wonderful prints and those that are not done get them off so we can enjoy your work. Happy printing. Thanks, Marilynn ------------------------------ From: "Jean Womack" Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 16:55:48 -0700 Subject: [Baren 19579] Re: Baren Digest V21 #1996 Josephine, When I was first on the internet, they had "mirror" web sites. This was helpful in case there was a crash. The web site was mirrored in another country, usually; sometimes another state. All the material could be easily recovered. Jean ------------------------------ From: FurryPressII#aol.com Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 20:36:12 EDT Subject: [Baren 19580] Re: book On books and wood engravings and wood cuts just picked up two wood cut novels one by Lynd Ward and one by F. Maseral. Wonderful way to see a lot of wood block prints. And besides you get a story as these were wood cut novels. Stories without words. john center ------------------------------ From: "Bea Gold" Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 17:54:15 -0700 Subject: [Baren 19581] Re: book Which Masereel did you get? I have the Student book and the City. I love them. Bea Gold >- ----- Original Message ----- >From: >To: >Sent: Wednesday, October 16, 2002 5:36 PM >Subject: [Baren 19580] Re: book > > >On books and wood engravings and wood cuts just picked up two wood cut >novels one by Lynd Ward and one by F. Maseral. Wonderful way to see a lot of >wood block prints. And besides you get a story as these were wood cut >novels. > Stories without words. > >john center ------------------------------ From: "Jean Womack" Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 18:13:32 -0700 Subject: [Baren 19582] Re: Baren Digest V21 #1996 (Portions of message below are not included in archives) ...I'll see you Friday after work, Maria or perhaps I will take a professional education day off to help, if that's OK with you. It's cool here in Frisco--sweater and windbreaker weather, slacks, no shorts. Everything is completely covered up. Call me at 1-510-237-5540 or 1-510-375-1722 when you get here, Maria. I am really looking forward to meeting you and learning some tricks of the trade, how to set up and take down a booth and all the rest of it, if I can help. You can park your van down below--I haven't heard rumors of break-ins and stolen quarters recently. Whew, what a relief for a little while. Jean ------------------------------ From: Charles Morgan Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 21:09:59 -0700 Subject: [Baren 19583] show of Japanese wood block prints Well, today I went to the first of three lectures on Japanese wood block prints at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. There will be two more lectures on the following two Wednesdays, starting at 1:00. I ran into Graham and Marnie Scholes, and I also met John Dendy. The lecture was by Barry Till, the Curator of Asian Art. He gave a general overview of Japanese society during the Edo period (1615-1868), and the role of printmaking in that society. His talk was accompanied by a wonderful sequence of slides of some gorgeous prints. He certainly knows his stuff. The Art Gallery has an extensive collection of Japanese prints and is in the process of acquiring more. On display were (I would guess) around 200 prints, which was only a small part of the collection. The lovely thing about the prints is that they give us a glimpse of what Japanese life was like at the time. It is almost impossible to believe the delicacy and fineness of line achieved by those early carvers and printers. I would find it difficult to draw lines that fine and regular, much less carve them. The depiction of hair and beards is particularly impressive. There was one portrait of a Japanese officer with a wispy beard, often found on oriental men. The hairs were so fine, I could not believe a wood carving that fine could stand a baren. And the hairs were so close together that I could not believe they were all carved on one block. I think they must have been carved on several blocks, say every third hair, and then printed sequentially. Not only would it have been practically impossible to carve otherwise, but it would have been impossible to ink and print without the spaces being filled with paste and ink. Of course there were original prints by Hokusai (as well as some by his students). I particularly liked (1) Fuji from Mannebashi, Fukagawa and (2) Fuji from Tsukundajima. But my favorite Hokusai print of those displayed was (3) The Waterfall at Aoiga-oka. The colors in this latter print were deep and rich, and there was a wonderfully humorous character in the foreground. The Art Gallery was recently given a collection of Japanese prints, among which was The Great Wave ... alas, it turned out to be a copy from the 1920s ... valuable, but not an original. It was not on display, however. Naturally Hiroshiga and his students were displayed as well. In the midst of all the other prints, the Hiroshiga prints just seemed to leap off the wall. I am always overwhelmed by Hiroshiga's ability to display snow scenes. I really liked (1) The Wood Yard, and (2) Hamamatni, Winter Scene. But my FAVORITE snow scene was the well known (3) Drum Bridge in Snow. Of course I was knocked out by (4) Fireworks at Ryogoku, even though it does not contain snow! I do not associate Hiroshiga with bird prints, but there was a beautiful print that attracted me from clear across the room, (4) Kingfisher on Flowering Branch; it has the delicacy of oriental brush painting, with lots of white space. I was certainly surprised to find it was by Hiroshiga. I do not find myself attracted to prints depicting actors from Kabuki theatre, nor to the many prints of women. I find the faces to be so stylized as to be caricatures. However, I was totally taken by Man by a Stream, by Yabu Chosui (1830-1864). It depicts a jolly looking little fellow filling a water bottle from a stream; it is very delicately executed in the manner of an oriental brush painting, again with much white space. I also want to mention Kunisada Utagawa (1786-1864), and his two prints (1) Sumo Wrestler and (2) Miner. The Miner was particularly striking, as he had a head piece holding lit candles; and against the wall behind the miner himself there appeared to be some weird, ghostly character, very dark. After the Chosui print, these two impressed me most of all the prints depicting human subjects rather than landscapes. Erotic prints are known as "shunga", or "spring pictures". They were quite widely accepted in Japanese society, at least until the time of the imposition of Christian ideas from the west. The display of shunga was tastefully screened from the main exhibit, with warning signs at both entrances. Apparently a similar display of shunga was recently closed down in Boston. Many of these prints were originally made into books, often used as sex education manuals. In all the prints there was an exaggeration of the size of the genitalia, both male and female, but particularly in the males ... no doubt many generations of Japanese boys were raised feeling totally inadequate because they did not compare to the pictures!!! I personally think it would be very difficult from our modern perspective to regard these prints as in any way pornographic. They actually appeared quite humorous. All sexual activity depicted was heterosexual, with no indication of homosexuality. Most standard acts were illustrated; I need not go into detail. In most cases, the figures were shown as mostly clothed, with robes raised to show the interaction of the privates. In many of the prints, the bodies were twisted and distorted in ways that would be virtually impossible, biologically speaking. There was one item of shunga that deserves special mention. Apparently the merchants were regarded as parasites on the rest of society. The higher levels of society were also very jealous of the merchant class because the merchants had so much money. As a result, the merchants were not allowed any ostentatious display of wealth in public. They wore plain, unadorned clothing. However, the insides of the robes were very richly embroidered and decorated. One of the shunga on display was actually taken from the inner lining of a merchant's cloak, and shows some pretty wild sexual shenanigans!!! Who knows, maybe the guy was an oriental flasher and felt he needed company!!!! The Art Gallery, as most, is very short of space, and has been looking for expansion room. Current thinking is to keep the present building and obtain a satellite site in the down town area. Hopefully the new site will serve as a location for travelling exhibits, and more of the Asian collection can be on permanent display. But until then (about 2004), we will have to wait for them to hang it in order for us to see it. So, if you want to see some really first class historically important Japanese wood block prints, do not miss this show. Cheers ....... Charles ------------------------------ From: FurryPressII#aol.com Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2002 05:05:06 EDT Subject: [Baren 19584] Re: book bea i got passionate journey, mad man's drum, god's man & wild pilgimage by ward and destiny. I am rather fond of ward as he is the artist that got me interested in wood engraving very approachable unlike the commerical wood engravers. As an entery point wards graphic novels are wonderful plus a way to read a book even if you don't like reading words. lol john center ------------------------------ From: FurryPressII#aol.com Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2002 05:16:00 EDT Subject: [Baren 19585] Re: show of Japanese wood block prints much ado about pillow books hummmmm john center ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V21 #1997 *****************************