Synopses & Reviews
The distinctive style of Japanese art known as Rinpa embraces bold, graphic renderings of natural motifs and formalized depictions of fictional characters, poets, and sages. An aesthetic that arose in Japan in the 16th century and flourished until modern times, the Rinpa school is celebrated for its use of lavish pigments and its references to traditional court literature and poetry. Central to the Rinpa aesthetic is the evocation of the natural worldand#8212;especially animals and plants with literary connotationsand#8212;as well as eye-catching compositions that cleverly integrate calligraphy and image.
Featuring beautiful color reproductions of some ninety worksand#8212;including painting, calligraphy, printed books, textiles, lacquerware, ceramics, and cloisonnand#233;and#8212;from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and other notable public and private collections, Designing Nature traces the development of Rinpa, highlighting the school's most prominent proponents and, for the first time, the influence of this quintessential Japanese style on modern design aesthetics in both the East and the West.
Synopsis
A celebration of the history and influence of a bold, graphic Japanese aesthetic
About the Author
John T. Carpenter is curator of Japanese art in the Department of Asian Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.