Awards and Reviews

 Reading Surimono
The Interplay of Text and Image in Japanese Prints
Edited by John Carpenter

[..] The old adage, “never judge a book by its cover,” notwithstanding, some books do convey a strong sense of what they are about before they are opened, and Reading Surimono is one of them. The arresting image of a kimono-clad woman seemingly looking up at the book’s title on the jacket cover gives a foretaste of the confident, meticulous sense of design evident in every detail of the publication. It is also an ambitious work. The publishers describe it on the jacket cover as a “groundbreaking scholarly publication,” and it is.

Quotes from review of Reading Surimono by Joshua Mostow in Impressions, no. 31, 2010, pp. 180-184:

“If you actually want to learn how to read surimono (deluxe, privately printed woodblock print) – their images, their texts and contents – this is the book for you. (…) Carpenter and his collaborators tell the reader just about everything one could possibly wish to know (…) The scholarship required for the kind of treatment presented in the catalogue is staggering. (…) All in all, this is a magisterial production. As suggested by the picture on the dustjacket , as though allowing the reader to peer through a moon window and gaze on the young woman at her ease, this book provides an exceptional glimpse into the art, culture, politics and everyday life of early nineteenth century Japan. One can imagine no more charming tutorial.”

A Brush With Animals
Japanese Paintings 1700-1950
Edited by Robert Schaap, with essays by Willem van Gulik, Henk Herwig, Arendie Herwig-Kempers, Daniel McKee, Andrew Thompson

The Book is in essence a loving probe of the subject of Japanese animal imagery using Society collections; individual and institutional members contributed all of the works exhibited and many of those used to illustrate the text. Most of the artists featured work in the tradition known as Shijo (or Maruyama-Shijo). Others have adopted elements of the Shijo style - a poetic, naturalistic mode of painting that originated in Japan’s Edo period (1615-1868).

The Koto
A Traditional Instrument in Contemporary Japan
Edited by Henry Johnson

A traditional instrument in contemporary Japan:  

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