Joel Elgin. The influence of the artwork of Oceania. Day 2

Joel Elgin. The influence of the artwork of Oceania. Day 2

So did you decide if Rockefeller was a collector or a looter? Do you think he was eaten or drowned?

Sorry, I don’t have an answer but I can reveal to you how the art of the Oceania region influences the art I produce at Athraigh Print Studio… please read on.

Today we need to look to an island just west of New Guinea called the Island of Sulawesi and learn of the contents of the Leang Timpuseng Cave, in Maros-Pangkep, Indonesia.

This matters to us because we want to begin by looking at the ancient 37,900 BCE, Sulawesi Cave art. The cave paintings of hands and animals in seven limestone caves on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi may be as old as the earliest European cave art.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29415716 (Links to an external site.)

Video time:

hts://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oMY7QtFst4 (Links to an external site.)

World's oldest cave art in Maros-Pangkep, Sulawesi, Indonesia

Oct 8, 2014 - Uploaded by SciNews

Melanesia

Melanesia includes New Guinea, the islands of the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, and the Fijian Islands. 

In the Asmat region, bis poles were created to honor individuals who have recently died and become ancestors.

Each figure on the poles represents and is named for a specific deceased individual.

New Guinea, Irian Jaya; Asmat people, Omandesep

Bis Pole

Wood, paint, fiberH x W x D: 212 x 39 x 63 in. (538.5 x 99.1 x 160 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 (1979.206.1611)

Asmat ancestral spirit poles (mbis), Faretsj River

University of California, San Diego

The Asmat  celebrate the artistry of wood carving. Fumeripits is regarded as the first Asmat wood carver.

The Asmat people believe that they descended from Fumeripits, the first man who lived on the land. The myth relates that Fumeripits, as the first man, carved statues from wood to ease his loneliness. Further, he carved a drum named Tifa.

Fumeripits played Tifa sung so loudly that the statues he had carved came to life and danced. These now live statues were the original Asmat people. Fumeripits made houses and villages for his people.

The artistry of carving drums, poles, boats, statues is sacred and ritualistic to the Asmat.

Asmat Drum “Tifa”

www.metmuseum.org

Asmat Drum “Tifa” 2

www.metmuseum.org

Asmat Ancestor Figure

www.metmuseum.org

 We could easily spend weeks looking at the artwork of the Asmat people. The art they produce is both beautiful and powerful. Their culture needs to be known for more then the possible demise of Michael Rockefeller. Let me leave you with two “light” dancing images from the Peabody collection at Yale.

Asmat

Women dancing in front of men's house while men are cutting trees

Peabody Museum of Natural History

Yale University: Peabody Museum of Natural History

Asmat

Boys dancing in men's house

Yale University: Peabody Museum of Natural History

Check out some additional info on the Asmat by going to:

http://www.asmat-art.net/HOME.asp?PAGINA=1&LINGUA=%27ENG%27

Thanks for reading! Catch you next time.

Joel Elgin. The influence of the artwork of Oceania.

Joel Elgin. The influence of the artwork of Oceania.

Asmat ancestral spirit poles

Before we begin I hope you had a chance to check out the brand spanking new Athraigh Print Studio YouTube page at:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-9mWOWPzK2U13ZhrEIQ7oQ

Oceania

Time for a little geography to begin as we explore the influence of the artwork of Oceania. 

We are going to be looking at artwork created across the continent of Australia, the largest of all islands, New Guinea, and the island of New Zealand, maybe even a few smaller islands...

We will roughly organize our Oceania journey by looking at the artwork of Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia.

But wait, geography again… there is more then one definition of Oceania. Some define Oceania as encompassing “…ALL landmasses between Asia and America…”

 (Links to an external site.)http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/who-bit-my-border/?_r=0 (Links to an external site.)

We will leave that debate to the geographers but the definition impacts us because technically, the definition of Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia splits the island of New Guinea in the middle and calls its western half part of Indonesia. 

The hell with that! 

We need that part of Indonesia/New Guinea to appreciate the complete influence.

As an introduction to this fascinating area and to kick this off well, lets focus on poor Michael Rockefeller who was lost in western New Guinea. As you read please remember the Benin Massacre that I wrote about in an earlier post (Feb. 11, 2020). Yes, I am ranting again. The incorrect way to study art and its influence is to loot. 

Michael Rockefeller.

Michael Clark Rockefeller, born May 18, 1938. Declared legally dead in 1964 (aged 25) following his disappearance on November 19, 1961 in the Asmat region of southwestern New Guinea. 

In “Savage Harvest,” Carl Hoffman, makes the case that the men of the Asmats, tortured, beheaded and ate Rockefeller in a ritualistic cannibal killing.

Governor Nelson Rockefeller, grandson of Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller, one of the richest men in the world, opened the Museum of Primitive Art at 15 W. 54th St.

Michael, who had just graduated from Harvard, was put on the new museums board. He wanted to gather artwork for his father’s museum and as an athlete, an adventurer; he wanted to go directly to the source. 

A colleague, Adrian Gerbrands, deputy director of the Dutch National Museum of Ethnology, was doing fieldwork in Asmat, so Michael decided that he would begin his collecting in New Guinea.

In his initial journey he gathered hundreds of items, among bowls, shields, spears and the most prized possession, four sacred bisj poles, spiritual artifacts that are often dedicated to the deceased, 20-foot-high sculptures of stacked men interwoven with crocodiles and praying mantises and other symbols of headhunting. These are now kept in the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Rockefeller’s Museum of Primitive Art opened in 1957 and closed in 1976, its collections were transferred to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/36698 (Links to an external site.)

In October 1961, Michael traveled to Asmat with anthropologist Rene Wassing, loaded with bartering goods, steel and tobacco.

He disappeared after a trading canoe that he was traveling in down the cannibal coast of New Guinea capsized several miles off shore. After a night clinging to ruined canoe, Rockefeller strapped empty gas cans to his body and set out to swim for the distant shore leaving René Wessing with the canoe.

Rockefeller’s death was eventually ruled a drowning, but there have long been questions and numerous inquiries to discover an official version of events.

In “Savage Harvest,” Carl Hoffman, claims Rockefeller was the victim of a horrific revenge killing.

When Michael Rockefeller arrived, times were changing. The Dutch, who had taken over the United East India Company, hired Max Lapré, known for his “firm hand,” to oversee the colony. Under Lapré’s command, five elite were gunned down.

The Asmats believe that revenge is vital to placating the spirits; the natural order had been upset. This was a “complex spiritual world balanced by ceremonies, ritual and reciprocal violence,” writes Hoffman. “This spirit world centered around the practice of headhunting and its outgrowth, cannibalism.”

“Headhunting and cannibalism were as right to them as taking communion or kneeling on the carpet facing Mecca,” he writes.

Hoffman interviewed Dutch Catholic Priest Hubertus von Peij, who had spent years living among the Asmats, who stated that four Asmats revealed to him that they had killed and eaten Rockefeller and that his head was being kept.

The Priest notified the governor of Dutch New Guinea who sent a “secret” cable to the minister of the interior. The information was “covered up” according to Hoffman because it was a bad time politically for this type of news. The Dutch were fighting the UN for their half of New Guinea, which was in the process of being given to Indonesia.

More:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/What-Really-Happened-to-Michael-Rockefeller-180949813/#zXdQSmFJtztGZzau.99 (Links to an external site.)

http://pagesix.com/2014/12/23/documentary-confirms-michael-rockefeller-was-eaten-by-cannibals/ (Links to an external site.)

 (Links to an external site.)http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hestons-search-for-michael-rockefeller-to-premiere-on-netflix-300014126.html

So do you think Rockefeller was a collector or a looter, and while you are figuring this out perhaps you can decide if you believe if he was eaten or drowned?

Either way tune in next time to explore the influence of the artwork of Oceania.

Joel Elgin. The Influence of the Development of Paper/Woodblock Prints from Japan. Day 2.

Joel Elgin. The Influence of the Development of Paper/Woodblock Prints from Japan. Day 2.

Remember the last post that ended with the Meiji Period and the sinking of printmaking… made you sad all weekend didn’t it? A silver lining to cheer you up…the print production workshops closed and artists began making prints individually instead of using the workshop technique. A more individual style developed, more dictated by the individual artist.


The Shin Hanga Movement
The Shin Hanga Movement was a revival of printmaking that reflected numerous changes including a mixture of traditional ukiyo-e subject Western elements, including an emphasis on light and perspective. Shin hanga was a creation of the artistic blend of Japanese and European cultures. Under the Meiji restoration (1868-1912), Japan became a major modern force by embracing Westernization. And, the West embraced Japanese prints in a movement called Japonisme. European including Manet, Lautrec Monet and Van Gogh showed Japanese influence.  Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962) was heavily influenced in his early life by ukiyo-e prints. In 1910, he opened a printshop to further the goals of Shin Hanga.

Hiroshi Yoshida (Japanese, 1876 - 1950)
Snow at Kashiwabara
Polychrome woodblock print Image dimensions: 9 7/8 x 14 13/16 in. (25.08 x 37.62 cm) Sheet dimensions: 10 9/16 x 15 7/8 in. (26.83 x 40.32 cm)
Repository      Dallas Museum of Art

Hiroshi Yoshida (Japanese, 1876 - 1950)
Fujiyama from Musashino
Polychrome woodblock print Image dimensions: 9 7/8 x 14 7/8 in. (25.08 x 37.78 cm) Sheet dimensions: 10 9/16 x 15 5/8 in. (26.83 x 39.69 cm)
Dallas Museum of Art

Sosaku Hanga Movement

The Sosaku Hanga Movement was a direct growth from the The Shin Hanga Movement.
Some timeline for you number people:
Edo period “Ukiyo -e” (1603-1868)
The Shin Hanga Movement 1910 until ca. 1960.
Sosaku Hanga 1904 – late 1900’s

Note: Sosaku Hanga grew from ukiyo-e roots, contemporary Japanese printmaking is tied to the Sosaku Hanga. The emphasis on the individual artist that developed during the Sosaku Hanga movement continues in the Japanese printmaking community today.
The Sosaku Hanga printmakers believed in personal involvement in all the stages of the making of a print (unlike the workshop approach) and the embrace of more Western ideals.

MUNAKATA Shikô
Untitled (goddesses), 1959,
large ôban, 430x290mm

Munakata Shikō, Japanese (1903 - 1975)
Title: Korin
Harvard Art Museums


Moku Hanga.
Moku Hanga is the contemporary name for the practice of woodblock printing in the Ukiyo-E tradition. I’m sure you’ve caught on to the use of the term Ukiyo – E to refer to early Japanese prints, you will see the term Moku Hanga used in a generic way to refer to contemporary woodcuts.

Moku hanga print (moku means wood and hanga means print). Woodblock printing was brought to Japan in the 8th century by Buddhists from China and was first used to reproduce religious texts. 

The oldest such print discovered is the Diamond Sutra.

Stay with me while I quickly add some additional history…
The original text of the Diamond Sutra was written in India in the 2nd century CE. The Sutra was first translated into Chinese in 401 CE.

A complete woodblock printed scroll of the Diamond Sutra, dated 868 CE, was found, preserved in a sealed cave near Dunhuang, in Gansu Province, China. Chinese monk, Abbot Wang Yuanlu, discovered the sealed door to the cave in 1900. In 1907, Hungarian-British explorer Marc Aurel Stein was allowed to investigate the interior of the cave. Stein purchased a selection of the scrolls from Abbot Wang and eventually, these scrolls were taken to London and given to the British Library. It was learned at the British Library that the Sutra was printed 600 years before the Gutenberg Bible.

Jumping back to Japan, and jumping up a few centuries to more contemporary Moku hanga, color was added by hand and then, as woodblock printing became the primary, most popular form of commercial printing in Japan, printmakers began to carve blocks to carry each color. Japanese prints use intense hues derived from pigments that are water-based rather than oil-based. The pigment is brushed onto the block rather than applied with rollers.

Ito Shinsui

Title: Katada Ukimidô, from the series Eight Views of Lake Biwa (ômi hakkei), Taishô period, dated 1918

Harvard

Ito Shinsui

Title:  After the Bath 1917

http://www.jaodb.com/db/search.asp

Takehisa Yumeji

Title:Evening Primrose — 宵待草

Date: 1939

http://www.jaodb.com/db/search.asp

Takehisa Yumeji

Title:

Boatman song

1938 (early post-war printing)

https://ukiyo-e.org/source/wbp

Yoshida Hiroshi

Title:

Deer in Kasuga 1928

http://www.jaodb.com/db/search.asp

Yoshida Hiroshi

Erora dai-san-go Kutsuin (Ellora, No. 3, A Cave Temple)

1932

https://www.mfa.org/search/collections

Azechi Umetaro

Title:

Mountain man with a rope

1953

http://www.jaodb.com/db/search.asp

Azechi Umetaro

Title:

Space Voice — うつろな声

1965

http://www.jaodb.com/db/search.asp

Azechi Umetaro

Title:

Flying over the Mountains

Ca. 1960s.

http://www.jaodb.com/db/search.asp

So promises have been kept here…I showed you a ton of prints and have made you feel better about the role of printmaking. In a nutshell, printmaking lost some popularity but moved back to the hand of the printmaker rather than the assembly line approach. Happy? Thanks for reading and catch you next time.

Joel Elgin. The Influence of the Development of Paper/Woodblock Prints.

Joel Elgin. The Influence of the Development of Paper/Woodblock Prints.

Finally!! I know you’ve been waiting for this one. I have, because this is my media, I make prints and the purpose of this blog is to describe the influence of the past and present on the prints I make.
First thing to know is that paper was first developed in China around 105 A.D. 

Originally uploaded by in Chinese Wikipedia.
It's a public domain image of a Ming dynasty woodcut, describing five major steps in ancient Chinese papermaking process

Papermaking spread to Japan shortly after. The earliest Japanese woodblock prints (around 1700) were called Ukiyo-e.

Ukiyo-e means “floating world picture.”

Ukiyo-e images were produced in black and white. The image carved into a wooden block, black ink rolled onto the raised surface, paper pressed into the ink.

Hairdressing, early eighteenth century.
Woodblock print, ôban,
15 in. x 10 in. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

Ukiyo-e gradually embraced the public’s need for color.
The image was printed on paper in black, the key color, and then the sheet of paper was hand painted.
As color prints became even more popular around 1750, hand painting was considered to time consuming so the images were made from three printing blocks, printed one after another on the same sheet of paper. Green followed by red followed by black.

Kunichika Toyohara 1835-1900
Ginsa Geishas from the series "Tokyo Sanju Rokkaiseki," 36 famous restaurants and geishas      1871
Ink and color on paper 14 1/4 x 9 3/4 in. (36.2 x 24.8 cm)
The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, the State Art Museum of Florida, a division of Florida State University

To meet the increasing popularity and demand for the decoration of homes printmaking workshops were developed. Numerous artists worked in the shops by specific task: some carved, some printed one color, some printed another color.

Edo Period
Edo is the classical period of ukiyo-e and lasted from 1603 until the official end in 1868. The public craved prints based on entertainment. Images of Sumo and Kabuki theatre were produced in large numbers.

Katsukawa Shunsho Japanese; 1726-1792
Title     The actors Segawa Kikunojo II as the wet nurse Reizei, Ichikawa Komazo I as Suruga no Hachiro in the guise of the shamisen player Kichiroku (right), and Ichikawa Yaozo II as Tada no Kurando in the guise of the palanquin bearer Kichinai
Woodblock print.; 32.6 x 15.2 cm
The Art Institute of Chicago, The Clarence Buckingham Collection

Katsukawa Shunshō
Sumo Wrestlers Uzugafuchi Kandayu and Sekinoto Hazchirojî and Referee Kimura Shôrosuke
late 18th Century
nishike-e color woodblock print 37.3 x 25.5 cm
Musée Guimet (Paris, France)


Meiji Period
Meiji was a period of great change in Japan. The Emperor was restored to power following the rule of the Shogunate. As doors opened to rest of the world a flood of influence affected printmaking. Inks from Germany changed the color palette and photography replaced printmaking as the dominant art form. As a result the popularity of printmaking … sunk.

Toyohara Kunichika, Japanese, 1835-1900;
Album of Thirty-Two Triptychs of Polychrome Woodblock Prints by Various Artists; Ichikawa Sadanji in "Keian Taiheiki"
Album of thirty-two triptychs of polychrome woodblock prints; ink and color on paper
H. 14 in. (35.6 cm); W. 9 1/4 in. (23.5 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Eliot C. Nolen, 1999

Toyohara Chikanobu, Japanese, 1838-1912; Publisher: Edogawa Saemon(?)
Picture of a Concert of European Music; Ôshû Kangengaku Gassô no zu
Triptych of polychrome woodblock prints; ink and color on paper
14 1/2 x 29 in. (36.8 x 73.7cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art

 The popularity of printmaking … sunk… what an awful way to end the week. Don’t be too blue though- stay tuned to the next post where printmaking will rise again!

Joel Elgin. The Influence of Japan, Day 2: Painting

Joel Elgin. The Influence of Japan, Day 2: Painting 

So much 3D artwork, your heads must be swimming in that dimension (though sadly you are seeing it in 2D on your computer screens) , too bad we can’t travel the world and actually see this artwork huh? Oh wait, you can – do it! Plan first though because the coronavirus is putting a damper on travel.

Let’s take a quick run through some really important 2D artwork from Japan.

Suibokuga means painting in black ink. It came from China and you can see the influence of Buddhism.

 Suibokuga 1

The Chinese techniques dominated until the beginning of the Edo period (1603-1867). Then a more Japanese style painting developed called yamato-e.

Pheasants under Cherry and Willow Trees and Irises and Mist

Edo period, first half 17th century

Location          Japan, Kyoto Prefecture, Nishihonganji

Material          Ink and color on gold leaf on paper,pair of six-panel folding screens

Each 63 x 143 1/4 in. (160 x 363.9 cm)

In reaction to the Chinese influence a number of “schools” developed including:

1.) Kano painting school

Kano Masanobu (1453-1490) and his son Kano Motonobu (1476-1559)

Recognized by compositions that emphasized large flat areas.

Kano Masanobu

Zhou Maoshu Viewing Lotus Flowers

Date    1434-1530

Paper ink and color 35.98425197 in. high

Nakamura Collection, Aomori, Japan

Kanö Motonobu, Japanese, 1476 - 1559

Tiger

Ink and color on paper; mounted as a hanging scroll

2 feet 9 1/4 inches x 1 foot 5 1/4 inches (84.5 x 43.8 cm) Mount: 5 feet 8 inches x 1 foot 9 3/4 inches (172.7 x 55.2 cm)

 Philadelphia Museum of Art

2.) Tosa-ha painting school

Recognized by small, illustrative paintings of the imperial court.

Tosa Mitsuoki

("The Perfumed Prince")

3.) Nanga painting school

Recognized by subjects including, landscapes, birds, flowers painted for the elite.

Meandering Stream at Lan-ting Yamamoto Jakurin

Hanging scroll color on silk

4.) Shijo painting school

18th century (was originally connected Kano school).

Recognized by content including, common everyday life. Social artwork that was often satirical.

Shinobazu Pond by Odano Naotake

  

1.) Emakimono. A scroll made by pasting individual sheets together. Read from right to left.

Hell of Pus and Blood

Late 12th century Early Kamakura; Late Heian

detail   emakimono; handscrolls

colors on paper

height: 26.7 cm, full length: 435.0 cm (10.4 x 179 in)

Nara National Museum (Japanese repository, Nara, contemporary)

Hell Scroll, "Illustrated Scroll of the Six Paths of Rebirth", depicting seven of the sixteen lesser hells from the Sutra of the World Arising.

2.) Kakemono. Vertical scrolls.

Kawamata Tsunemasa

Two Bijin: Parody of Kanzan and Jittoku

Hanging Scroll

Date    Edo period, Kampo - Kan'en eras, c. 1741-1751

Painting in kakemono form on paper.

93.3 x 27.9 cm. 36 3/4 x 11" Mount: 68 1/4 x 15 1/4" Length: 36 1/4" Width: 11"

The Art Institute of Chicago, The Clarence Buckingham Collection

3.) Byobu. Folding screens functionally used as room separators.

Cypresses, eightfold byobu screen 168x456cm. Color, gold leaf on paper

National Museum, Tokyo

Ogata Korin 1658-1716,

Matsushima zu byobu

Waves at Matsushima

Six-panel folding screen; ink, color, and gold on paper; Six-panel folding screen; ink, color and gold on paper 150.18 x 367.79 cm (59 1/8 x 144 13/16 in.)

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

           

4.) Fusuma. Sliding Doors. Sliding doors “Mirror of Emperors" Kano.

5.) Uchiwa – Painted fans.

Kunichika, Fan Print 1 (Uchiwa-e)

Painted fans, screens, scrolls…. Where are the prints? Friday is finally the day I will put some examples up. Thanks for your patience but we did have to wait until paper became popular after the Chinese first developed it around 105 A.D.

Thanks for reading and see you Friday to look at some prints!