talwin morris's glasgow japonisme

how delicious it has been, lingering among the beauty of the book covers of talwin morris, scottish practitioner of japonisme.

he instructs us on the importance of design, insisting upon the sensuous beauty implied within the studies of home, and horse, wordlessly, but with just one look.

carpenters are revealed as the noble artists that they truly are by symbol alone.

and morris, sometimes, simply creates an added beauty to the already beautiful.



With [the Japanese style's] absence of central perspective, along with the expressive linear lines or organic form, the style itself is ideal to apply to a flat surface of book design. Within the composition there can also be cutting of details within the composition and instead of the perspective moving into the the picture space there was a tendency to move up the picture space. These stylistic characteristics can create a flat decorative effect.

Along with these stylistic characteristics, there was another Japanese influence. In Western Society, the Hierarchy of Genres shows that History painting is the highest of all art forms. This however was different in Japan which placed significant importance upon items such as laquerware and porcelain. These objects would have been of lower importance to the West before this time. These objects then became very important and can be seen in the way in which Blackie and Sons [a publisher with whom morris worked] placed artistic emphasis upon the book cover, which had previously been of little importance.1

links:

morris collection

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talwin morris

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talwin morris book design

moments in the day

in costume, subject, and layout, the paintings below embody some of the touching, beautiful gifts we received from the japanese. in addition, we are introduced to three new artists. how can we not know their names? is their work less worthy than those we know? why do i keep asking this question? perhaps instead i should continuously celebrate treasures found.

from le divan fumoir bohemien. and many thanks to the illustrious pk for the pointer. this blog is full with many beauties, unexpected, domestic. check it out.

Elisabeth Nourse. Les volets clos. Musée d'Orsay


E. Saglio. La buanderie. Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lille.


Edmund Tarbell. Across the Room.

also found on this blog is a link to an amazing collection from a museum in japan. click the uppermost image, which is attributed to ahugetsu tokan.

Opus From Space

Almost everything I know is glad
to be born – not only the desert orangetip,
on the twist flower or tansy, shaking
birth moisture from its wings, but also the naked
warbler nesting, head wavering toward sky,
and the honey possum, the pygmy possum,
blind, hairless thimbles of forward,
press and part.

Almost everything I've seen pushes
toward the place of that state as if there were
no knowing any other – the violent crack
and seed-propelling shot of the witch hazel pod,
the philosophy implicit in the inside out
seed-thrust of the wood-sorrel. All hairy
saltcedar seeds are single-minded
in their grasping of wind and spinning
for luck toward birth by water.

And I'm fairly shocked to consider
all the bludgeonings and batterings going on
continually, the head-rammings, wing-furors,
and beak-crackings fighting for release
inside gelatinous shells, leather shells,
calcium shells or rough, horny shells. Legs
and shoulders, knees and elbows flail likewise
against their womb walls everywhere, in pine
forest niches, seepage banks and boggy
prairies, among savannah grasses, on woven
mats and perfumed linen sheets.

Mad zealots, every one, even before
beginning they are dark dust-congealings
of pure frenzy to come to light.

Almost everything I know rages to be born,
the obsession

founding itself explicitly
in the coming bone harps

and ladders,
the heart-thrusts, vessels and voices
of all those speeding with clear and total
fury toward this singular honor.

Pattiann Rogers

(from Eating Bread And Honey)

sunrise

Sunrise, sunset


(Tevye)
Is this the little girl I carried?
Is this the little boy at play?

(Golde)
I don't remember growing older
When did they?

(Tevye)
When did she get to be a beauty?
When did he get to be so tall?

(Golde)
Wasn't it yesterday
When they were small?

(Men)
Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly flow the days
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers
Blossoming even as we gaze

(Women)
Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears

(Tevye)
What words of wisdom can I give them?
How can I help to ease their way?

(Tevye)
Now they must learn from one another
Day by day

(Perchik)
They look so natural together


(Hodel)
Just like two newlyweds should be

(Perchik & Hodel)
Is there a canopy in store for me?






(All)
Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly flow the days
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers
Blossoming even as we gaze

Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears


(from fiddler on the roof, of course, by jerry bock and sheldon harnick.)

Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose

Ye shepherds tell me have you seen my Flora pass this way? a wreath around her head she wore, Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose, and in her hand a crook she bore and sweets her breath compose. the beauteous wreath that decks her head forms her description true, hands lily white, lips crimson red, and cheeks of rosy hue.1

"The seasons went from August till the beginning of November "Sargent would dress the children in white sweaters which came down to their ankles, over which he pulled the dresses that appeared in the picture. He himself would be muffled up like an Artic explorer. At the same time the roses gradually faded and died, and Marshall and Snelgrive had to be requisitioned for artificial substitutes, which were fixed to the withered bushes . . . . In November, 1885, the unfinished picture was stored in the Millets' barn. When in 1886 the Barnard children returned to Broadway the sittings were resumed.
(Charteris , P75) 2

(lillian genth; duane michals; john singer sargent; helen turner; helen turner; emerson van gorder luther)

golden globes

(maxfield parrish; toshi yoshida; jowett; woodbury; tiffany)

Henri Georges Jean Isidore Meunier

"This design for Rajah coffee is a classic of Belgian Art Nouveau poster art. It was called Meunier's 'best work' and 'a masterpiece' by L'Stampe et L'Affiche in 1898. Appropriately, a strong coffee tone dominates the colour scheme"

"Henri Meunier was an artist of exceptional purity. He took flat colours in flat tints and his thick outlines from Japanese prints to construct strong and clear images: 'With two or three pure colours, he fixes an impression that penetrates and imposes itself like the truth' justly notes Demure de Beaumont."

"As a poster designer, Meunier knew how to organize well-observed detail to create an almost musical ambiance…by compositions that are gravely meditative, clean and synthetic…

The Son of Belgian engraver Jean-Baptiste Meunier and nephew of sculptor Constantin Meunier, Henri seems to have come by his artistry in a genetic fashion. After completing brilliant studies at the academy in his native Ixelles, he went on to pursue many fields: printmaker, poster designer, graphic reporter and book binder. Oostens-Wittamer characterizes his poster work as focused on bringing out opposing light and dark values within his often large, contained, flowing masses of color"

Not unlike the Maitre de L'Affiche series, L'Estampe Modern was a portfolio printed between 1897-98, published by Imprimerie Champenois, Paris, contained 24 monthly portfolios, with four original lithographs in each. Each commissioned only for this series. As well as Mucha, some of the contributing artists included Rhead, Meunier, Ibels, Steinlen, Willette and Grasset.

"Meunier was the scion of a distinguished Belgian art dynasty: his father worked in copper, and an uncle was a sculptor… His design for Starlight soap, with the artfully synthesized design of a bathing child, two or three simple colours, are all he needs to get across a definite visual impact"1

despite all of this, and besides a few postcards, these are nearly all that remain accessible of his work.

what we remember

michael often speaks about the fact that there are many wonderful artists from the past out there that just aren't known by many people at all today.












i think of his comments frequently as i go through various books, various collections. so many artists that i've never heard of, after studying this area for decades, and of whom only a tiny bit of work remains.









for many, the only work of theirs that is remembered, reprinted, is from Les Maîtres de l'Affiche. because they received a life outside of their lives as posters, they remain.










but i'm grateful that any remain at all. look at her blue eyes. see the whole collection at the nypl.


(the only remaining image i could find by alice r. glenny; the only image i could find by fred hyland; only two from otto fischer.)

hohenstein: father of the italian poster

The rise of the Italian poster is intimately tied to the opera, the only national cultural institution in Italy at the turn of the century. Ricordi, the music publisher of Verdi and Puccini, decided in 1874 to create an in-house printing operation to promote its music. It began by installing the most advanced German lithographic presses and hiring a brilliant German Art Nouveau master, Adolfo Hohenstein, to train a staff of Italian artists.

Though born in Russia of German parents, Hohenstein (1854-1928) understood the Italian spirit so thoroughly that he is often called the "Father of the Italian Poster." Hohenstein’s charming La Boheme of 1895 was his first great Italian opera poster. It revealed the artist’s absorption of French poster art, particularly Cheret, in its playful and carefree depiction of Bohemian life in Paris. Yet in its classically rich color harmonies and use of strong diagonals to build dramatic impact [ital mine], the poster showed traits which would increasingly distinguish Italian poster art from other national traditions.1

Adolfo Hohenstein was a set designer at La Scala before being engaged by the Ricordi Publishing company in 1889 as a poster and frontispiece designer. His Edgar [not found] poster was his first known work in that capacity. Opera was a national past time in Italy and Ricordi published hundreds of opera-themed postcards that the public collected and mailed with fervor. The best of their efforts were postcards from the designs of Hohenstein and Metlicovitz. The La Bohème set, attributed to Hohenstein, no doubt coincided with the premiere of Puccini's piece. One of his other postcard sets is of Mascagni's neglected masterpiece, Iris. 2

Ricordi opened an in-house lithography shop to promote its operas and sheet music business. Ricordi quickly became the leading lithographer in Italy and by 1895 was creating posters for other clients such as Campari, the Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera, and the Mele Department store of Naples. Under the tutelage of Adolfo Hohenstein, a brilliant stable of artists emerged at Ricordi. Artists including Cappiello, Caldanzano, Cavaleri, Dudovich, Laskoff, Metlicovitz and Mataloni brought Art Nouveau, known as Stile Liberty in Italy, to a world class level.3,4

(i know these little stories contradict each other and are not somehow chronological, but this is how legend is built, i'm finding. only occasionally am i willing to come up with an official version all on my own. all of the artwork is by hohenstein except for the giulio marchetti, which is by leopoldo metlicovitz, an obvious student of the master.)