WEATHERHILL 41 Monroe Turnpike Trumbull, Connecticut 06611 tel: 1-800-437-7840, (203) 459-5090; fax: 1-800-557-5601, 203 459-5095 e-mail: weath1212@aol.com internet: www.weatherhill.com • Institute for Medieval Japanese Studies, Columbia University, Seasons of Sacred Celebration: Flowers and Poetry from an Imperial Convent Eighteen unusual paintings preserved at Daishoji Imperial Convent in Kyoto, Japan--founded in the late 14th century and one of the main Rinzai Zen centers--are presented here for the first time. They include beautiful calligraphic renderings of classical poems and delicate floral illustrations, linking each poem to the appropriate season. The anonymous paintings, probably dating from the late 17th century, are unique in format and offer eloquent testimony to the survival of the aristocratic arts in Edo-period Japan. The book includes a foreword by Barbara Ruch; an essay, "The Flower Court Poetry Cards at Kaishoji Convent," by Sadako Ohki; notes to poems; and corrresponding charts. (March 1999); 114 pp; paper: $16.95. • Robert Schaap with an introduction by Amy Reigle Newland, Heroes and Ghosts: Japanese Prints by Kuniyoshi Featuring essays by Timothy T. Clark, Matthi Forrer, Amy Newland, and Inagaki Shin'ichi, the book features over 300 examples of Kuniyoshi's work from public and private collections throughout the world. (August 1999); 280 pp; 350 illustrations; 300 in color; cloth: $80. • Ken Vos, Symbolism and Simplicity: Korean Art from the Collection of Won-Kyung Cho Interest in traditional Korean arts is today unprecedented in both the East and West, and Dr. Won-Kyung Cho's holdings represent one of the world's largest private collections. The works selected for this volume illustrate Korean art at its most characteristic. The refinement and formal symbolism of aristocratic arts typify the strict Confucian society that has evolved in Korea since the 16th century, while the paintings and porcelains reflect the dynamism and the search for harmony with nature that underlie Korean culture. (August 1998); 104 pp; 70 color and 70 b&w illustrations; cloth: $35. • Madeleine Giteau and Danielle Gueret, Khmer Art: Civilisations of Angkor Cambodia's importance in the development of Southeast Asian art and culture is far greater than its small size and currently impoverished situation would suggest. It has been the stage for the rise of several great empires, the greatest of which was that of the Khmers, founded in 802 by King Jayavarman II. For nearly five centuries, the Khmers ruled an area that extended to Burma to the west, China to the north and Malaysia to the south. The Khmers were also outstanding architects, builders and artisans, and their artistic legacy can still be seen at the site of their great capital at Angkor, in museums around the world, and in the pages of this outstanding book. More than a millennium of Cambodian art is presented in this deluxe and lavishly illustrated volume, including important ritual and cultural items and sculptures in stone and bronze. All are magnificently detailed and described in an authoritative text. (April 1999); 160 pp; 217 photos; cloth: $50 • C.M. Bhandari, Saving Angkor The Archaeological Survey of India staff and hundreds of skilled Cambodian laborers spent seven work seasons, from 1986 to 1993, on a large project to restore Angkor Wat. The author was Indian ambassador to Cambodia during part of this period, and he has carefully documented the restoration and preservation work and explained the significance of Angkor monuments in terms of Indian historical and religious traditions. This book is an invaluable companion in understanding the monuments, bas-reliefs and sculpture of Angkor. (March 1999); 174 pp; 49 color and 64 b/w plates; 3 color maps; paper: $29.95 • Earth Door Sky Door: The Mustang Paintings of Robert Powell Forty paintings by Robert Powell of architectural details from the remote HImalayan kingdom of Mustang in Northern Nepal are the subject of a major traveling exhibition, for which this book serves as a catalogue. The landscape of Mustang is dry, windblown, dramatic and overwhelming in scale. The structures man builds to maintain islands of subsistence and to thrive here are the subjects of Powell's paintings. Virtually every built object in Mustang bears the signs of ritual activity: from prehistoric hand-dug cave systems to ruined hilltop castles, from densely clustered villages to isolated temples, from propitiatory stocks of yak horns to the sophisticated cosmology of the chorten. (March 1999); 112 pp; 40 color plates, 2 foldouts; paper: $29.95 See also: EXHIBITIONS • Amy Reigle Newland, Time Present and Time Past: Images of a Forgotten Master, Toyohara Kunichika (1835 - 1900) Toyohara Kunichika (1835 - 1900) can be considered one of the last traditional ukiyo-e masters who worked in close conjunction with the Kabuki theater during a period of immense change in Japan. In this first monograph on the prolific artist, his fascinating life is discussed in detail, drawing on Western and Japanese source material. Over 135 prints illustrate his bold sense of design and his innovative powers. Facsimiles of signatures, publishers' seals and an extensive bibliography make this an invaluable work of reference. (May 1999); 160 pp; 140 color prints, 20 b/w prints; cloth: $75 Return to article selection page