Japan Style by Gian Carlo Caza

This book, written by the renowned expert, Gian Carlo Caza (Professor of the History of Eastern Art and director of the Hokusai International Research Centre at the University of Venice) tries to explain that which we clearly recognise as the “Japanese style”. A subtle mixture of cultural contexts and materials developed over centuries by the inhabitants of the archipelago in the Sea of Japan stretching from antiquity to the present day: delicate calligraphy, or a rock garden could be some of the most obvious examples, but there are also other, more difficult to define, examples. To understand the whole, we need to establish a series of connections between art, religion, history, philosophy and mythology, and the author guides us on this journey – in the way that he believes it needs to be, slowly and laboriously – looking at specific examples form Japanese literature, art and architecture. Generously illustrated with 150 reproductions of paintings, engravings, sculptures and photographs, the contents are divided into a first part entitled ‘Irregular beauty’ where the author outlines various aspects of Japanese culture. In the second part (‘A feeling for nature’), a chronological approach is taken, from antiquity to the present, helping the reader to understand more specifically the various forms of Japanese art, in terms of the literature, painting or sculpture. The last part. Called ‘Art masters’, is a series of short monographs on some of the greatest figures in Japanese art and culture: Zeami Moto, creator of No theatre; Hokusai, a master of wood cuts; Kawabata and Mishia, two world famous writers; or the designer Tanaka Ikko. Gian Carlo Caza is also the author of two other books on Japanese culture published by Phaidon Hokusai (2003) and Ukiyo-e (2005).

Art Signal Magazine