This fascinating study reveals the lesser-known side of this famed architect as an important & avid collector of Japanese art, & the role it played in his life & his architecture. Accompanies an exhibition at the Japan Society, New York.

During America's Gilded Age (dates), the country was swept by a mania for all things Japanese. It spread from coast to coast, enticed everyone from robber barons to street vendors with its allure, and touched every aspect of life from patent medicines to wallpaper. Americans of the time found in Japanese art every design language: modernism or tradition, abstraction or realism, technical virtuosity or unfettered naturalism, craft or art, romance or functionalism. The art of Japan had a huge influence on American art and design. Title compares juxtapositions of American glass, silver and metal arts, ceramics, textiles, furniture, jewelry, advertising, and packaging with a spectrum of Japanese material ranging from expensive one-of-a-kind art crafts to mass-produced ephemera. Beginning in the Aesthetic movement, this book continues through the Arts & Crafts era and ends in Frank Lloyd Wright's vision, showing the reader how that model became transformed from Japanese to American in design and concept. Hannah Sigur is an art historian, writer, and editor with eight years' residence and study in East and Southeast Asia. She has a master's degree from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and is completing a PhD in the arts of Japan. Her writings include co-authoring A Master Guide to the Art of Floral Design (Timber Press, 2002), which is listed in "The Best Books of 2002" by The Christian Science Monitor and is now in its second edition; and "The Golden Ideal: Chinese Landscape Themes in Japanese Art," in Lotus Leaves, A Master Guide to the Art of Floral Design (2001). She lives in Berkeley.

This book is filled with rare images showing Frank Lloyd Wright the photographer as well as Wright the tourist, the architect, and the collector.

The Art of Japanese Architecture presents a complete overview of Japanese architecture in its historical and cultural context. The book begins with a discussion of early prehistoric dwellings and concludes with a description of works by important modern Japanese architects. Along the way it discusses the iconic buildings and architectural styles for which Japan is so justly famous--from elegant Shinden and Sukiya aristocratic villas like the Kinkakuji "Golden Pavilion" in Kyoto, to imposing Samurai castles like Himeji and Matsumoto, and tranquil Zen Buddhist gardens and tea houses to rural Minka thatched-roof farmhouses and Shinto shrines. Each period in the development of Japan's architecture is described in detail and the most important structures are shown and discussed--including dozens of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The aesthetic trends in each period are presented within the context of Japanese society at the time, providing a unique in-depth understanding of the way Japanese architectural styles and buildings have developed over time and the great variety that is visible today. The book is profusely illustrated with hundreds of hand-drawn 3D watercolor illustrations and color photos as well as prints, maps and diagrams. The new edition features dozens of new photographs and a handy hardcover format that is perfect for travelers.

Book Description: Frank Lloyd Wright's mammoth contribution to architecture is universally acknowledged, but his graphic work has been largely overlooked in the existing literature about this seminal architect. His designs for typography, books, posters, murals, and magazines have remained relatively obscure, even though they are key components of his oeuvre. Penny Fowler has thoroughly investigated the artist's innovative graphic work and placed it within the context of various aesthetic movements, from Arts and Crafts to Bauhaus and De Stijl. Wright's publications - including The House Beautiful and An Autobiography - his delineations for the Wasmuth Portfolio, and his mural designs for Midway Gardens and the Imperial Hotel are explored, and one chapter is devoted to the festive covers Wright created for Liberty magazine. (Wright's designs were considered far too radical from the current trends, so Liberty turned them down.) Now this important part of the artist's work has been succinctly reviewed and amply illustrated. The ten chapters - carefully annotated with endnotes - explore Wright's foray into the world of graphic design, including book design; his influence by international sources; and his visits to Japan and Europe. Exhibitions and publications are included in the last chapter. Frank Lloyd Wright: Graphic Artist suggests that the man's genius simply knew no bounds.

Designed for Pleasure is a dazzling probe of Japan's famous "floating world" of spectacle and entertainment. From luxury paintings of the pleasure qurters to Hokusai's iconic "Red Fugi," Designed for Pleasure presents a focused examinatin of the priod's fascinating networks of art, literature, and fashion, proving that the artists and the publishers and patrons who engaged them not only morrored the tastes of their energetic times, they created a unifying cultural legacy. Contributors include John T. Carpenter, Timothy Clark, Julie Nelson Davis, Allen Hockley, Donald Jenkins, David Pollack, Sarah E. Thompson, and David Boyer Waterhouse.

New definition to the little-known work Wright produced during this period, which he describes as Wright's primitivist phase. He traces this influence in his art through Wright's explorations of primitivist sources, innovations in sculpture, and an intensification of the architect's use of ornament. Less tangible, but as important, was Wright's view of himself, his art, and society, and Alofsin uncovers the European impact on the architect's image of himself as a.