Books 17


Japonisme and Architecture in France, 1550-1930


edited by Jean-Sébastien Cluzel, translated by John Adamson, Editions Faton, ISBN 9782878443073, Euro 69


Tis book sheds light on the genesis of Japonisme in architecture in France. Tis movement, which reached its heyday in the late 19th century, grew out of a fascination in the West for things Japanese that developed from the 16th century onwards and gave rise to an architecture of Japanese inspiration in Europe and the US. Te most famous early examples in France of buildings of Japanese construction or influence are examined in detail and set in a broader Western context.


Masahisa Fukase by Masako Todo, Prestel, ISBN 9783791380070, £40


Published for the first time in book form, this collection of late images by the 20th-century photographer comprises the series Private Scenes and Letters from Journeys. One of the most important Japanese photographers of the last century, Masahisa Fukase was known for exploring themes of isolation, loneliness and melancholy and for his transgressive and intimate approach to the medium. Tis volume includes two of his last and arguably most personal series. Private Scenes features photographs taken over the course of the year 1989 in different locations around the world and in which he is both subject and photographer. He then painted over the prints with coloured washes to create an entirely new piece. For this same series, he later


photographed scenes from daily life, this time in Tokyo, changing cameras and adding the date on his photographs, but still representing himself in the images. It charts a turning point in Fukase’s work – an artist grappling with his medium and with a compulsion to share his personal experiences with his audience. Te photographs are accompanied by a text by Masako Toda.


Lineages: Korean Art at The Met by Eleanor Soo-ah Hyun, Metropolitan Museum of Art, ISBN 9781588397690, $14.95


In celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Arts of Korea Gallery, this issue of the Bulletin invites us to reflect on the past while embracing the future. Featuring objects from the Bronze Age to the present, Lineages: Korean Art at Te Met illustrates both the continuities and ruptures of style, form, and medium that have defined the dynamic terrain of Korean art. Te 47 works included, from lacquer and ceramics to paintings and collage, express Korean tradition, history, and socio-cultural change over more than three centuries of creativity.


Recording State Rites in Words and Images: Uigweof Joseon Korea by Yi Song-mi, Tang Center for East Asian Art Princeton University, ISBN 9780691973906, $70


Providing an engaging and in-depth exploration of the large corpus of court statutes compiled during the Joseon dynasty of Korea, the book gives a valuable insight into the period. Te term uigwe, commonly translated as ‘royal protocols’, is the name given to the collection of nearly four thousand books that were commissioned and written to document the customs, rituals, rules, protocols, and ceremonial practices of the Joseon dynasty. Heavily illustrated, Yi Song-mi introduces readers to the rich and varied documentary tradition embodied in the uigwe, sharing invaluable insights into time-honoured court customs through text and images and analysing changes in ritual practice over time. Te first comprehensive study of its kind in English, the book presents new research that opens a window on Korean history and art and will serve as an inspiration to students, scholars, and anyone interested in topics such as dynastic customs, court artists, and bookmaking.


South Asia & Himalayas


Tree & Serpent: Early Buddhist Art in India by John Guy, Metropolitan Museum of Art, ISBN 9781588396938, £50


Named for two primary motifs in Buddhist art, the sacred bodhi tree and the protective snake, Tree & Serpent: Early Buddhist Art in India is the first publication to foreground devotional works produced in the Deccan from 200 BC to AD 400. Unlike traditional narratives, which focus on northern India (where the Buddha was born, taught, and died), this groundbreaking book presents Buddhist art from monastic sites in the south. Long neglected, this is among the earliest corpus of Buddhist art surviving, and among the most sublimely beautiful. An international team of researchers contributes new scholarship on the sculptural and devotional art associated with Buddhism, and masterpieces from recently excavated Buddhist sites are


Continued on page 18


Presenting Buddhist art from monastic sites in the South


Taklung Painting: A Study In Chronology (2 vols) by Jane Casey, with contributions by Gyurme Dorje and Liao Yang (2 vols), Serindia, ISBN 9781956165029, $450


Te publication establishes a reliable foundation for assigning dates to nearly one hundred paintings associated with Taklung Monastery in central Tibet and its sister monastery, Riwoche in eastern Tibet. Using visual lineages (the succession of


teachers represented in the top, side, and, occasionally, the bottom registers of paintings), inscriptions, narrative scenes (in which principal structures in the Taklung Monastery compound may be linked to specific dates), and style analysis, the author identifies fundamental parameters that help to create firm chronological designations for these circa 12th to mid-16th century paintings.


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