swimming in the shadows

i have read similar things about the dutch art nouveau porcelain in numerous places:

The Art Nouveau movement developed as a reaction against historicism. The interpre- tation of the wealth of forms to be found in the worlds of plant and animal life, follow- ing the example of Japanese art, was one of the innovative aspects of this movement.

It was also a reaction against the frequently low quality of industrial design. In the Netherlands as elsewhere there was a desire to reinstate honest craftmanship, which led to reforms of technical training and to exhibitions of good examples of design. Art Nouveau in the Netherlands, unlike that of other countries, generally takes the form of symmetrical compositions in which asymmetrical details are incorporated. Decorations are also often confined to the flat surface.

Dutch ceramics of this period are characterized by the large quantities that were produced and by the high degree of mutual influence present. Floral, linear and geometrical designs were adapted. A fairly small group of designers is respon- sible for most of the original models; the others often go back to classical Chinese porcelain and traditional Delft ware.

Inspiration for the decorations was drawn from the pattern- books of, for instance M. Verneuil and E. Grassèt, and the domestic and foreign magazines that circulated. 1

it's that part, as another book puts it, "The artists took as models illustrations from the French book on ornamental plants La Plante et ses Applications ornementales, published in Paris in 1896. This is an instance of how knowledgeable the artists were about the very latest developments in ornamenta- tion... the leading fashions were closely followed by the factories," 2 that confuses me.

it's clear that the influx of japanese arts and crafts had as much of an impact in the netherlands as they did elsewhere throughout the west. though as in every country the dutch put their own spin on it, the influence is unmistakable.

in fact, though japan's influence is mentioned in these books and sites, they seemed to pay more credence to the 'design books' of the times. but i have been through dozens of images of (mostly rozen- burg) porcelain, and the same amount of the many verneuil/ grasset/ mucha style books, and i have actually found very few that have seemed related except for on the most superficial levels. the japanese influence is throughout.

and yet, just as modernisme (art nouveau) in spain is influenced by moorish design and architecture, holland's nieuwe kunst is influenced by both the japanese (which we've discussed to great length), and the indonesian styles, as the dutch east india company set up trade in both places centuries before the rest of the west were allowed to.

note this particular rozenburg vase, one which makes quite obvious the reason their porcelains were called 'eggshell.' both indonesian and japanese influences are readily apparent. flowers with art nouveau grace, stems with the angularity of a shadow puppet.

my continuing ignorance can be immediately revealed when i tell you that it simply had never occurred to me that the afore-mentioned design books were used in such a way! i don't know what i thought they were used for, but never that!

and while i quite knew, as we have discussed before, that japanese design books were made for just exactly that reason, it didn't occur to me that the french ones were too!

so how did that work? were the designs under some sort of copyright, and a fee had to be paid to the designer (or, more likely, the publisher) to use them? what about the silver studio designs? surely they were not available without some kind of licencing.

the answers to these intriguing questions will have to wait. maybe someone read- ing this knows! if so, please add your knowledge. see another part of the same loop in the paintings of jan toorop -- clearly the same set of inspirational inputs. look too at all of the dutch calendar makers we've been chronicling: they also designed the pottery, painted the paintings; it was not a large crowd, but it was, as we've seen, a tight one.

the bath, part 2

What has happened before the opening of the curtain:

Iinuma Sampei, the elder brother of Iinuma Katsugorô, was killed by the villain Satô Gôsuke. Katsugorô has sworn to take revenge and kill Gôsuke. His long quest led him to the mansion of Tsukumo Shinzaemon, where he became retainer and fell in love with Shinzaemon's daughter Hatsuhana.

Shinzaemon agreed to their wedding and the newly-weds decided to run together after Gôsuke, disguised as a couple of beggars. They were helped by Fudesuke, the brother of Hatsuhana. Katsugorô fell ill on the road and unfortunately lost the use of his legs.

At the Amidaji temple in the mountains of Hakone:

Katsugorô is crippled and Hatsuhana pulls him along in a wooden cart. They walk a long way to Hakone, where lives their enemy, who has changed his name to Takiguchi Kôzuke and has joined the Hôjô clan.

They confront their mortal enemy in the Temple of Amidaji, where beggars can receive alms from the Hôjô clan members. He captures Hatsuhana's mother Sawarabi and takes pleasure in humiliating Katsugorô. Katsugorô, who has suffered many years in search of Gôsuke, limps out of his cart, seizing the hilt of his katana and looking fiercely at his enemy. The opportunity of revenge has come but the crippled Katsugorô is powerless against the villain, whose power is at his peak. Gôsuke cooly smokes his pipe at his ease and leisure. Then, he offers a deal to Katsugorô: he will spare his life if Katsugorô gives him his wife Hatsuhana. Gôsuke leaves with Hatsuhana.

At the Shirataki waterfall in the mountains of Hakone:

Hatsuhana returns and goes to the sacred waterfall of Tô-no-Zawa, where she prays within the extremely cold water for the recovery of her husband. By some miracle, Hatsuhana's prayers are answered and Katsugorô suddenly recovers the use of his legs, while Hatsuhana mysteriously vanishes!

Fudesuke arrives at the scene of the miracle, bringing with him the head of Hatsuhana, who has resisted Gôsuke's will and was beheaded by the villain. Everybody understands that the woman who prayed in the waterfall was none other than the ghost of the faithful Hatsuhana.

What will happen after the closing of the curtain:

Katsugorô and Fudesuke win out over Gôsuke, avenging the murders of Katsugorô's brothers Sampei and Katsugorô's wife Hatsuhana. 1

Created half to rise, and half to fall

so what then, peace or passion, passion or peace? animal nature or buddha nature? at birth: sinner, or buddha? can the impetus to quiet the mind to reach one's inner buddha, or one's outer god, effect one's art? internal v external motivation, or lack of any motivation at all?

DEAD MY OLD FINE HOPES
AND DRY MY DREAMING
BUT STILL...
IRIS, BLUE EACH SPRING

SHUSHIRI 1

these questions, of course, are older than time.

from ESSAY ON MAN, Epistle II

I. Know, then, thyself, presume not God to scan;
The proper study of mankind is man.
Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,
A being darkly wise, and rudely great:

With too much knowledge for the sceptic side,
With too much weakness for the stoic’s pride,
He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest;
In doubt to deem himself a god, or beast;
In doubt his mind or body to prefer;
Born but to die, and reasoning but to err;
Alike in ignorance, his reason such,
Whether he thinks too little, or too much:
Chaos of thought and passion, all confused;
Still by himself abused, or disabused;
Created half to rise, and half to fall;
Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;
Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled:
The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!

Alexander Pope

passion or peace, peace or passion
must one choose? can one choose?

1814

.我庵や花のちいさいかきつばた
waga io ya hana no chiisai kakitsubata

AT MY HUT
AN IRIS WITH THE TINIEST
BLOSSOMS

ISSA

THE DIVINE IMAGE

To Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love
All pray in their distress;
And to these virtues of delight
Return their thankfulness.

For Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love
Is God, our father dear,
And Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love
Is Man, his child and care.

For Mercy has a human heart,
Pity a human face,
And Love, the human form divine,
And Peace, the human dress.

Then every man, of every clime,
That prays in his distress,
Prays to the human form divine,
Love, Mercy, Pity, Peace.

And all must love the human form,
In heathen, Turk, or Jew;
Where Mercy, Love, and Pity dwell
There God is dwelling too.

William Blake

what i find myself wondering is if this is why i so love this moment in history-- what is life without passion, what is life without peace? in the moment of japonisme, we have a grand collision into a grand dance.

1812

.辻だんぎちんぷんかんも長閑哉
tsuji dangi chinpunkan mo nodoka kana

A CROSSROADS SERMON
GIBBERISH
SPRING PEACE

ISSA

In my article, "The Dewdrop World: Death and Other Losses in the Haiku of Issa," I write:

Issa regards the crossroads sermon as a lot of "gibberish"--long-winded and fundamentally meaningless. However, his attitude is not one of disdain, but rather of quiet, peaceful acceptance, for the sermon, too, is part of the lovely spring day. The final words, nodoka kana, translate literally as, "peacefulness!" but in the shorthand of haiku nodoka specifically connotes the tranquility of springtime. Hence the monk, his listeners, Issa, and the crossroads are all seen as part of a greater picture--the spring day itself: green fields, blue sky, and the peace evoked without and within. The poet is not condemning the sermon or the monk; his calling the sermon gibberish, in the whole context of the poem, sounds almost like a loving tribute, for the outdoor sermon is as much a sound of spring as the warble of birds. However, its content is evidently not to be taken seriously. Modern Haiku 16. No. 3 (1985): 20-31 2

teaching it, part 1

we have looked at some of the books for teaching art during the japonisme era, here, and here, for example. i want to go further into those books, and explore several others.

perhaps seeing this lovely little floral line- drawing, you think 'japonisme!' or at least 'art nouveau!' well, in 1910 the new york board of education did neither.

here's what they said, never examining any of the implications: "the ornamental value of using a natural form for decorative purposes is dependent upon the rejection of small details, refinement of forms, clear edges and flattened values and color."

this is precisely the description western artists and critics relied upon to describe japonisme, and to incorporate the principles into their work.

i could find very little encour-agement or inspiration in this entire (short) book; it recommended rote and caution at every turn.

"the vital factor of order and system, dependent upon mathematics, is so important that it would be well if every designer, young or old, could be made to respect it. the finest creations in the history of decoration have obeyed the laws of geometry however shrouded such laws may have been. only in art's decline do we find the designer throwing away in his conceit the very factor that would be his work's salvation."

yes, it is possible, in japanese floral patterns to find the evenly repeated design, but more frequently we find asymmetry. can this, though, be called geometric? maybe so.

"a word of caution, however, may not be amiss. there is a fascination in watching the development of a surface design by the simple repe- tition of a unit which causes in many schools far too much time to be spent upon it.... the feeble teacher is tempted to produce a quan- tity of such designs whose results are showy but of little practical value."

and though they might have been their best teachers, students were cautioned, "pen and ink draw- ing is to be but cautiously resorted to for elementary work. it copies from pen and ink drawings of popular illustrators have almost no educational value."

their hearts were in the right place, going about, in the only way they knew, the job of teaching how to imbue the line with grace and beauty. 'design and representation,' found at the internet archive, leaves it to you to decide.

the two gorgeous iris prints are from a japanese seed catalogue from the 1880s; i have put a DR in front of all the images from the textbook; the textiles image is taken from a chôbunsai eishi print. the rest are names in their labels. i just don't think i would have liked that class.

colours*

FOR ANNE GREGORY

'Never shall a young man,

Thrown into despair

By those great honey-coloured

Ramparts at your ear,


Love you for yourself alone

And not your yellow hair.'


'But I can get a hair-dye

And set such colour there,

Brown, or black, or carrot,


That young men in despair

May love me for myself alone

And not my yellow hair.'


'I heard an old religious man

But yesternight declare

That he had found a text to prove



That only God, my dear,

Could love you for yourself alone

And not your yellow hair.'


WB Yeats





















*what artists like seitei watanabe gave us was the way to color that sings

easy

Seven White Butterflies

Seven white butterflies
delicate in a hurry look
how they bang the pages
of their wings as they fly

to the fields of mustard yellow
and orange and plain
gold all eternity
is in the moment this is what

Blake said Whitman said such
wisdom in the agitated
motions of the mind seven
dancers floating

even as worms toward
paradise see how they banter
and riot and rise
to the trees flutter

lob their white bodies into
the invisible wind weightless
lacy willing
to deliver themselves unto

the universe now each settles
down on a yellow thumb on a
brassy stem now
all seven are rapidly sipping

from the golden towers who
would have though it could be so easy?

Copyright © 1997 by Mary Oliver

White butterflies are thought to be spirits of the living as well as the dead, and may not be captured - the fragile insect is a symbol of immortality, due to the successive stages of its metamorphose from egg to caterpillar and from cocoon to adult insect. Its graceful fluttering from flower to flower...is easily compared to the fickleness of women who often change lovers (in search of money).1