In Reading Duncan Reading, thirteen scholars and poets examine, first, what and how the American poet Robert Duncan read and, perforce, what and how he wrote. Harold Bloom wrote of the searing anxiety of influence writers experience as they grapple with the burden of being original, but for Duncan this was another matter altogether. Indeed, according to Stephen Collis, "No other poet has so openly expressed his admiration for and gratitude toward his predecessors." Part one emphasizes Duncan's acts of reading, tracing a variety of his derivations--including Sarah Ehlers's demonstration of how Milton shaped Duncan's early poetic aspirations, Siobhán Scarry's unveiling of the many sources (including translation and correspondence) drawn into a single Duncan poem, and Clément Oudart's exploration of Duncan's use of "foreign words" to fashion "a language to which no one is native." In part two, the volume turns to examinations of poets who can be seen to in some way derive from Duncan--and so in turn reveals another angle of Duncan's derivative poetics. J. P. Craig traces Nathaniel MacKey's use of Duncan's "would-be shaman," Catherine Martin sees Duncan's influence in Susan Howe's "development of a poetics where the twin concepts of trespass and 'permission' hold comparable sway," and Ross Hair explores poet Ronald Johnson's "reading to steal." These and other essays collected here trace paths of poetic affiliation and affinity and hold them up as provocative possibilities in Duncan's own inexhaustible work.

Kitagawa Utamaro is one of the most well-known figures in the history of Japanese art, renowned for his portraits of beautiful women. He is recognised as having been the leading light of the Ukiyo-e School during its golden age, and his influence upon the work of Western artists has been beyond measure. He produced in the region of 2,000 woodblock prints, approximately one third of which take their subjects from the licensed pleasure quarter of Edo, with the remainder being made up of images of popular beauties, pairs of famous lovers, historical and mythical figures, domestic scenes, and the physiognomic studies for which he is best-known. With 90 reproductions of the artist s prints, designs grouped and discussed according to subject, and with illustrations of publishers marks, artist s signatures, and the names of figures commonly inscribed upon his works, this reference guide provides the most comprehensive resource for identifying the subjects portrayed in Utamaro s prints to date."

One of the few women Impressionists, Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) had a life of paradoxes: American born, she lived and worked in France; a classically trained artist, she preferred the company of radicals; never married, she painted exquisite and beloved portraits of mothers and children. This book provides new insight into the personal life and artistic endeavors of this extraordinary woman. "Brilliant, lively life of long lived American Impressionist."--Kirkus Reviews "Rich in historical and archeological detail, thoroughgoing in its resurrection of the contexts and conditions of Cassatt's life as an artist."--Carol Armstrong, New York Times Book Review "Mathews informatively and entertainingly documents Cassatt's tumultuous relations with various members of both the American and Parisian avant-garde. . . . An impressive biography."--Siri Huntoon, New York Newsday "A superb piece of scholarship."--Ruth Johnstone Wales, Christian Science Monitor "In this admirable biography, art historian Mathews . . . presents a compelling portrait of this contradictory woman."--Publishers Weekly "Authoritative, unsentimental, clear as a bell, this is a model of the new biography by and about talented women."--Kennedy Fraser "This will probably be the definitive biography for our generation."--John Wilmerding, Princeton University

V.1. Historical perspectives. The Edo period, 1603-1868 / Harold Bolitho ; The Meiji to Taisho ; eras, 1868-1926 / Ann Waswo -- The history of Japanese prints -- The Edo period, 1603-1868. The roots of ukiyo-e: its beginnings to the mid-eighteenth century / Donald Jenkins ; Ukiyo-e book illustration / Yu-Ying Brown ; Shunga in the Edo period / Timon Screech ; The Kanbun Bijin: setting the stage for ukiyo-e bijinga / Kobayashi Tadashi ; Chinese woodblock prints and their influence on Japanese ukiyo-e / Hans Bjarne Thomsen ; The birth of the full-color print: Suzuki Harunobu and his age, early 1740s to early 1780s / David Waterhouse ; The Yoshiwara and ukiyo-e / Cecilia Segawa Seigle ; Mitate in ukiyo-e prints / Ellis Tinios ; Kabuki: its history as seen in ukiyo-e / Samuel L. Leiter ; Kitagawa Utamaro and his contemporaries, 1780-1804 / Julie Nelson Davis ; Sumo prints / Lawrence Bickford ; Kyōka and ukiyo-e print designers / John T. Carpenter ; The publisher Tsutaya Jūzaburō and ukiyo-e publishing / Suzuki Toshiyuki ; Ukiyo-e meisho-e / Gary Hickey ; Diversification and further popularization of the full-colour woodblock print, c. 1804-68 / Ellis Tinios ; Surimono / Roger S. Keyes ; Nagasaki-e / Martha Chaiklin ; Kamigata-e: the prints of Osaka and Kyoto / Kitagawa Hiroko ; Shini-e / Melinda Takeuchi ; Warrior prints of the first half of the nineteenth century and the Suikoden / B.W. Robinson -- The Meiji era, 1868-1912. Woodblock prints of the Meiji era / Helen Merritt ; The maintenance of tradition in the face of contemporary demands: a reassessment of Meiji prints / Oikawa Shigeru ; Yokahama-e / Helen Merritt, Oikawa Shigeru ; Photography and ukiyo-e prints / Margarita Winkel ; Woodblock prints as a medium of reportage: the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars / Louise Virgin -- The late Meiji to Taishō eras, 1900s to 1926. Prints and modernity: developments in the early twentieth century / Kendall Brown ; The publisher Watanabe Shozoburo and the Shin-hanga movement: its beginnings until the 1930s / Abe Setsuko ; Creative print (Sosaku-hanga) magazines / Chiaki Ajioka -- Commerce and constraint in the world of publishing. The publishing trade / P.F. Kornicki ; Censorship and ukiyo-e prints / Sarah E. Thompson -- Materials and techniques: issues of conservation and collecting. Materials and techniques / Shiho Sasaki ; The care of Japanese prints / Pauline Webber ; Collecting ukiyo-e prints: issues of quality, condition and rarity / Chris Uhlenbeck ; The original versus the genuine / Chris Uhlenbeck -- The history of collecting Japanese prints. Ukiyo-e collecting in Japan / Oikawa Shigeru ; Japanese prints in Europe, 1860-1930 / Max Put ; Postwar ukiyo-e collecting in Europe / Robert Schaap ; Ukiyo-e print collecting in America / Julia Meech.V.2. Reference section -- Artist index -- Lineage charts -- Chronological/historical tables -- Map of former Japanese provinces and the Gokaido -- Signature facsimiles -- Censor seals -- Publisher seals -- Appendices. List of works released by Shin-hanga publisher Watanabe Shozaburo ; Pre-nishiki-e and Nishiki-e formats ; Elements of a print -- Concordance of artists' names (with Japanese characters).505.

One of the most influential artists working in the genre of ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") in late-eighteenth-century Japan, Kitagawa Utamaro (1753?–1806) was widely appreciated for his prints of beautiful women. In images showing courtesans, geisha, housewives, and others, Utamaro made the practice of distinguishing social types into a connoisseurial art. In 1804, at the height of his success, Utamaro, along with several colleagues, was manacled and put under house arrest for fifty days for making prints of the military ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi enjoying the pleasures of the "floating world." The event put into stark relief the challenge that popular representation posed to political authority and, according to some sources, may have precipitated Utamaro’s sudden decline. In this book Julie Nelson Davis makes a close study of selected print sets, and by drawing on a wide range of period sources reinterprets Utamaro in the context of his times. Reconstructing the place of the ukiyo-e artist within the world of the commercial print market, she demonstrates how Utamaro’s images participated in the economies of entertainment and desire in the city of Edo (modern-day Tokyo). Offering a new approach to issues of the status of the artist and the construction of identity, gender, sexuality, and celebrity in the Edo period, Utamaro and the Spectacle of Beauty is a significant contribution to the field and a key work for readers interested in Japanese art and culture.

Ukiyo-e (‘pictures of the floating world’) is a branch of Japanese art which originated during the period of prosperity in Edo (1615-1868). Characteristic of this period, the prints are the collective work of an artist, an engraver, and a printer. Created on account of their low cost thanks to the progression of the technique, they represent daily life, women, actors of kabuki theatre, or even sumo wrestlers. Landscape would also later establish itself as a favourite subject. Moronobu, the founder, Shunsho, Utamaro, Hokusai, and even Hiroshige are the most widely-celebrated artists of the movement. In 1868, Japan opened up to the West. The masterful technique, the delicacy of the works, and their graphic precision immediately seduced the West and influenced greats such as the Impressionists, Van Gogh, and Klimt. This is known as the period of ‘Japonisme’. Through a thematic analysis, Woldemar von Seidlitz and Dora Amsden implicitly underline the immense influence which this movement had on the entire artistic scene of the West. These magnificent prints represent the evolution of the feminine ideal, the place of the Gods, and the importance accorded to landscape, and are also an invaluable witness to a society now long gone.

Written by Japanologist Natalie Leon, this beautiful guide unlocks the secrets of Japan's seasonal culture to help you relish the seasons wherever you are. Relish every day with the secrets of Japan’s seasonal culture In traditional Japanese culture, people eat, sleep and wear the seasons, from kimono motifs to petal-shaped sweets, and festivals dedicated to nature’s spectacular displays. This mindful celebration of nature leads to a deep awareness of the seasons, called kisetsukan. This book reveals the hidden depths of kisetsukan, and how its concepts can transform your life. Discover: Shun, eating what is fresh and bountiful. Preserve edible flowers to use in homemade sweets, or taste the spring with “seven herb” porridge. Mottainai, zero-waste living. Learn about boro boro, visible mending that honours the history of a cherished garment, or wrap gifts in sustainable, seasonal fabrics. Kadō, the Way of Flowers. Learn the rules of ikebana and arrange flowers according to the seasons, or throw a cherry blossom-viewing party. Momijigari, the ritual of leaf hunting. Explore local nature with “forest bathing”, or learn simple ways to bring the outside inside. This treasure trove of folktales, recipes and activities is an invitation to celebrate each day, for increased creativity, harmony and happiness.