Customer Reviews

Japanese Art (World of Art)

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This classic book in its new edition presents a thorough, level-headed introduction to the many varieties and periods of Japanese art. Individual chapters highlight the major works and offer both beginner and armchair expert a background to the development of each genre. Unfortunately, what is lacking -- and this is a critique of the publisher's investment in this fine work rather than of the author's efforts -- is a presentation in size and color that suits the written content. How can the stunning but subtle beauty that is typical of all Japanese art be properly displayed when the accompanying photographs are small sized and printed in black & white? This book is highly recommended as a comprehensive overview of Japanese art, but you will need to look elsewhere to see the art as it ought to be seen.

I found this to be a great book for learning about the different periods and art forms from Japan. The cultural periods from Prehistoric to Modern are covered, with stops in the Asuka, Heian, and very important Edo periods! Over 80 color illustrations from wall paintings to temple architecture to lacquered chests are presented for your viewing pleasure. The author has taken great care in describing whether an art form is native, imported, or has been modified and adopted into the culture (i.e. japanization). You'll find hundreds of illustrations but let me warn you THIS IS NOT A PICTURE BOOK! If you are looking for a book just to flip through to see nice pictures and also take a crash course on 'Japanese Art' then you most likely will have to look elsewhere. By reading this book from cover to cover you will gain a great understanding of Japanese art. Not every picture makes sense unless you read the accompanying paragraphs. If you do take your time you will come to appreciate the art of Japan and will gain a greater understanding of the people as well. My art & humanities teacher, a PhD, describes this book as "excellent and splendid". For her that is like putting Tom Selleck in front of her fireplace with a bottle of champagne. After reading this book I hope you will be equally excited. :)

The author Joan Stanley-Baker earned her Ph.D. on Chinese art. Probably being aware of this, I felt that an outsider's view is rather strong in the book, as she discusses Japanese art in terms of the two axes of indigenous and imported traditions, and regards domestication as an important issue throughout. However, I found the introduction very interesting, especially her notes on the coexistence of contradictory aspects in Japanese art, such as complete mirroring of foreign elements and introspective and insular tendency. The following chapters are rather disappointing that her insights are not very well demonstrated in dealing with individual works of art. For comprehensive understanding of Japanese art, Penelope Mason's _History of Japanese Art_ is much better.

Well, it is one of the best guid-book for the beginners who is interested in reading about Japanese art. My interest is in the Nanga and Ukiyo-e. I got the basic ideas about the two from this book. Then I started to read some other books about the two topics. If you have no previous knowledge about Japanese art, pls start from this book.

It had become a tradition in the Western world (America and England in particular) to keep copying the experts without ever questioning the validity of their speculations or looking at the topic from a different angle.
The book Japanese Art by Joan Stanley-Baker published by Thames & Hudson INC has been published, revised and expanded. It is very impressive from the start and the author's credentials look stunning.
Yet the first thing that shocks from the Chapter 1 (p.7) is that the most major traditions of sword making, No and Kabuki theater and Japanese miniatures did not find their place in this book even as a chapter of honorable mention. The author states that the aim of this book is "not to be comprehensive" and that the above arts "can best be seen in a fuller social context".
At the same time she manages to squeeze really quickly in the same sentence a debatable speculation, presented as a fact, that some of the Japanese dance is deriving from ancient Polynesian origins. Even if this is true the topic is also omitted from the book.
This paragraph alone is enough for me to nullify everything that follows, right after the capturing and intriguing credential notes. Only a reader with a very strong will and very scarce knowledge of Japanese art could continue reading after this (or in my case one who has to complete an assignment). For it reveals the blind following of the academic single-mindedness, that buries the many merits of this book in muck of speculations.
The regions mentioned in the narrative are not illustrated on the map at the end of the book - for example Yamato plains mentioned on p.10 and or Bizen province(same page) are missing on the map. (If this is a book for learners they wouldnt be knowledgeable enough to know the issues of the changed names and the time periods).Despite these text erosions, the book has many merits. One of them worth praising is that the author doesn't get easily tempted by the usual habit to attribute everything Japanese to be strictly foreign born or strictly original. (The Chinese and the Korean tend to boast that the continent is origin of everything Japanese)
Japanese art is truly unique with its ability to adopt foreign ideas, while amalgamating the context with its own originality. "To have continually taken and transformed diverse influences (whether from Korea, China, the South Seas, Europe or America) is a(n) unique achievement." (p.7).
Another shortcoming of the book is that there is no illustration of the timeline of eras and periods of Japan. If the aim of the book is to introduce the novice, just narrative description is not sufficient.
The quality of the paper and the illustartions are great and the price is agreable. Yet this alone is not enough to make the book worth buying. I wouldn't have bought this book if I didn't have to for a school assignment.

Of course any author of art history text book is subjective and it is up to the author as to what they wish to include in the book. Otherwise, the books would be enormous and priced out of the range of any normal individual, let alone a student. If you are interested in a more comprehensive book that will cover more ground buy something else.

I just thoroughly enjoyed this book. The reference material and the pics are so helpful for standard and advanced research for projects or just a great book to have a go at on a crappy day to brake the boardom and make things better.

book kind of sucked. not what I thought I was going to learn from it.