Hokusai

These works illustrate two different approaches to the study of an individual artist. Hickman and Sato offer the first major study in English on Jakuchu (1716-1800), a highly individualistic Japanese painter who was master of both monochrome ink on paper and polychrome on silk. The authors are careful to place Jakuchu in historical context; in addition to providing an introduction to painting in Kyoto in the 18th century, they also discuss the known details of Jakuchu´s life and work. About half the book, which is a catalog to the first major exhibition of Jakuchu´s work in the United States, consists of 97 color plates with extensive commentary. Hickman and Sato have produced a thorough work that should prove valuable for all collections with an interest in Japanese painting. In contrast, Morse concerns himself with only one work of the great Hokusai (1760-1849), saying nothing at all about the master´s life or oeuvre other than what is revealed in that work. This was Hokusai´s last great series of prints, which he did not live to complete. One Hundred Poets is a teaching anthology of Japanese poetry, completed in 1235 yet still as popular today as in Hokusai´s time. The artist planned a print to accompany each poem but completed only 27 prints, although designs for 64 more still exist. Eighty-nine of these are reproduced here, along with the Japanese and English texts of the poems and Morse´s insightful commentary on the poet, the poem, and the picture. This specialized work for the scholar or collector deserves a place in academic and special libraries.-- Patricia R. Hausman, Coll. of William and Mary Lib., Williamsburg, Va. Copyright 1990 Cahners Business Information. The last major print series of the celebrated Hokusai (1760-1849), these color ``Pictures of 100 Poems by 100 Poets, Explained by the Nurse´´sic interpret traditional Japanese waka and tanka poetic forms visually by means of the persona of a ``nurse´´ who functions as a less sophisticated viewer and commentator than the artist himself. The results are spectacular. Whether showing semi-nude women abalone divers struggling with their catch while a male crew of shriveled old salts leers from a nearby boat, or the carefree rapture of a leisurely group of men and women observing cherry blossoms at their peak, Hokusai captures with drama and delicacy sublime and ridiculous states. The artist´s simplicity, though deceptive, is also remarkable: he illustrates a poem about a lovers´ seaside tryst with a magnificently imposing yet unadorned sailing vessel, its small window offering a coy glimpse of the fortunate couple inside.