“Wonderful . . . A book to make both layman and connoisseur alike realize why pre-modern Indian painting is one of the great arts of the world.

Built in 1707, the Old Summer Palace (Yuan Ming Yuan) is a masterpiece integrating the classic garden-building arts of China. It is reputed as the "Garden of all Gardens," due to its rich and incomparable landscaping. The beautiful and expansive gardens were known to the world, and triggered the craze of Chinese gardens in 18th century Europe. Victor Hugo, one of the best and greatest known French writers, described it as "Achievements generated from the imagination of a super nation." The Old Summer Palace was also the second political center in addition to the Forbidden City in the Qing Dynasty (1636–1911). Five emperors chose the Old Summer Palace as their venue for administrative governance. They felt it expressed an ideal of state governing and an appeal of aesthetics. Meanwhile, it was the base for turning out important national policies while serving as an important venue for the exchange between Chinese and foreign envoys. Having gone through a span of over 150 years, the Old Summer Palace reflects the history of the rise and fall of the Qing Dynasty. Deserving its honor as the largest royal art museum, the Old Summer Palace contained calligraphic works and paintings of many noted artists, numerous rarities such as secret and valuable books, ancient bells, tri-pots, precious articles, gold and silver wares, jewelry and jade as well as rare flowers and trees of that time. In 1860, the Old Summer Palace was destroyed by British-French Allied Forces and all the collections inside were looted, resulting in a terrible disaster in the history of international culture. Today, the Older Summer Palace represents an important piece of cultural history for human civilization. At the end of the 20th century, Guo Daiheng, the author of this book, led over 80 experts, scholars and professionals in starting a project of Digital Reconstruction of the Old Summer Palace, an unprecedented task in the history of international historic parks. Over the past 15 years, the project has included an orderly development in 3D molding, digital restoration, and digital experience. Scenes of the Old Summer Palace in this book are the exact results from a digitalized Old Summer Palace, which reveals the magnificence of the garden in its prime.

Part of a series of handy, luxurious Flame Tree Pocket Books. Combining high-quality production with magnificent fine art, the covers are printed on foil in five colours, embossed then foil stamped. And they’re delightfully practical: a pocket at the back for receipts and scraps, two bookmarks and a solid magnetic side flap. These are perfect for personal use, handbags and make a dazzling gift. This example features one of Hiroshige's stunning views of Mount Fuji .

Six contributors discuss the state of Japanese arts during the allied occupation after the second World War. Topics include missteps by occupation censors, caution and experimentation on the part of nine artists of the era, the preservation of cultural property, and the conflicted roles of women and confused depictions of democracy in film. The editor includes numerous b&w photographs and stills from films, and color reproductions of paintings and of posters for movies, advertising, and emergency food and health announcements. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Hiroshige's One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, actually composed of 118 splendid woodblock landscape and genre scenes of mid-nineteenth century Tokyo, is one of the greatest achievements of Japanese art. The series contains many of Hiroshige's best-loved and most extraordinary prints. Like Venice and Florence in the 14th and 15th centuries, or Paris in the age of the Impressionists, the city of Edo, with its superb landmarks and its festive display of elegant urban life, exerts a special and compelling fascination. Hiroshige revealed the panorama of his city's activities with subtle and vivid visual anecdotes: fireworks seen from the river, fashionable geishas on parade, the kabuki district at night, intimate moments in the gardens and teahouses. It is a tour de force of artistic vision and printmaking craftsmanship. This edition has been reproduced from an exceptionally fine, first-edition set in the Brooklyn Museum of Art to insure maximum fidelity to the original prints. Henry Smith ex-plains the world of Edo in its twilight before the Meiji Restoration and the beginnings of a modern urban society. Each plate is accompanied by a commentary that discusses its artistic and cultural interest in detail. For anyone interested in Japan, the One Hundred Famous Views of Edo is perhaps the finest guide and one of the greatest legacies imaginable.

A new series of blank sketch books, with luxurious bindings. Combining high-quality production with on the best and most popular art, the covers are printed on foil and embossed, foil stamped with gilded edges. Perfect for personal use, for anyone who sketches or makes notes, for students and artists, they also make a brilliant gift. This version features 'The Sea at Satta in Suruga Province' by Ando Hiroshige (1797–1858) printed on silver foil. Hiroshige was a prolific artist, creating over 5,000 works in his lifetime. Here he makes tribute to Hokusai's The Great Wave, off Kanagawa. The hectic activity of the waves is offset by Mount Fuji's tranquility, demonstrating Hiroshige's fascination with portraying the sensual moods of a landscape.

Its history, techniques, aesthetics, and philosophy—with an in-depth practical guide to understanding and drawing 150 characters A guide to the history and enjoyment of Chinese and Japanese calligraphy that offers the possibility of appreciating it in a hands-on way—with step-by-step instructions for brushing 150 classic characters. This book is a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the history and art of calligraphy as it's been practiced for centuries in China, Japan, and elsewhere in Asia. It works as a guide for the beginner hoping to develop an appreciation for Asian calligraphy, for the person who wants to give calligraphy-creation a try, as well as for the expert or afficionado who just wants to browse through and exult in lovely examples. It covers the history and development of the art, then the author invites the reader to give it a try. The heart of the book, called "Master Samples and Study," presents 150 characters--from "action" to "zen"--each in a two-page spread. On each verso page the character is presented in three different styles, each one chosen for its beauty and identified by artist when possible. The character's meaning, pronunciation (in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese), etymology, the pictograph from which it evolved, and other notes of interest are included. At the bottom of the page the stroke order is shown: the sequence of brush movements, numbered in their traditional order. On each facing recto page is Kaz's own interpretation of the character, full page.

The famous 1893 Chicago World’s Fair celebrated the dawn of corporate capitalism and a new Machine Age with an exhibit of the world’s largest engine. Yet the noise was so great, visitors ran out of the Machinery Hall to retreat to the peace and quiet of the Japanese pavilion’s Buddhist temples and lotus ponds. Thus began over a century of the West’s turn toward an Asian aesthetic as an antidote to modern technology. From the turn-of-the-century Columbian Exhibition to the latest Zen-inspired designs of Apple, Inc., R. John Williams charts the history of our embrace of Eastern ideals of beauty to counter our fear of the rise of modern technological systems. In a dazzling work of synthesis, Williams examines Asian influences on book design and department store marketing, the commercial fiction of Jack London, the poetic technique of Ezra Pound, the popularity of Charlie Chan movies, the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, and the design of the latest high-tech gadgets. Williams demonstrates how, rather than retreating from modernity, writers, artists, and inventors turned to traditional Eastern technê as a therapeutic means of living with—but never abandoning—Western technology.