Yoshijiro Urushibara. 'The Japanese artist Yoshijiro Urushibara had
a profound influence on European color printmakers. Growing up in Tokyo,
he studied the art of carving and printing woodblocks. During this time,
he took the artist's name Mokuchu which was used in some of his seals.
At the age of 19, Urushibara travelled to London to demonstrate Japanese
printmaking at the Anglo-Japanese Exhibition. He was hired by a Japanese
printing firm who were making prints of a famous Chinese scroll for the
British Museum. In addition to his carving and printing skills, he was
noted for his expertise at mounting artwork and restoration. '
Gallery.
Natori Shunsen.
'Natori Shunsen, one of the finest designers of actor prints, was born
Natori Yoshinosuke, the fifth son of a silk merchant. The family moved
to Tokyo after Shunsen's father lost his business. In Tokyo, Shunsen had
the opportunity to begin his artistic training. At the age of eleven, he
began studying with Kubota Beisen (1852-1906), a Japanese-style
(Nihonga) painter. During this time he received his artist's name
"Shunsen". He later studied at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts. '
36 Actor Portraits.
The Emily
Project.
The 1932 diary of a young girl which was found in a flea market in
Vermont.
Elizabeth Johnson
Harris: Life Story. 'Elizabeth Harris was born in Augusta, Georgia,
in 1867, to parents who had been slaves. She married Jacob Walker Harris
in 1883 at the age of 15 and was the mother of nine children. She lived
until 1942, surviving her husband and two of her children. She was a
deeply religious woman who spent much of her life in service to her
church. She clearly valued education, both for herself and her children.
She had several of her poems and vignettes published in various
newspapers during her lifetime. She included these in the manuscript of
her life story, which she started writing at the age of 55 in 1923.'
Alice Williamson
Diary. 'This small, leather-bound volume is the 36-page diary kept
by schoolgirl Alice Williamson at Gallatin, Tennessee from February to
September 1864. The main topic of the diary is the occupation of
Gallatin and the surrounding region by Union forces under General
Eleazer A. Paine. The diary relates many atrocities attributed to Paine.
Frequently mentioned is presence of black contrabands in and around
Gallatin, attempts to give them formal schooling, and their abuse by
Union Eastern Tennessee troops.'
'Alice Williamson is bitterly resentful of the Union occupation. The
diarist mirrors the abandonment felt by many Confederate sympathizers in
Gallatin. She notes the presense of rebel troops in the region, mentions
the massacre at Fort Pillow, the death of Confederate raider John Hunt
Morgan, and Atlanta's surrender to Sherman. The diary lacks details of
daily life. The schoolroom and occasional visits are the only other
major concerns of the diarist.'
Cuba Photo
Gallery. 'Photography gallery of Cuba in black and white and color.
I spent 3 weeks in Cuba mostly travelling the country and photographing
the people. My stay in Cuba was short lived by a mere three weeks. I
spent most of the time travelling from Havana to Cienfuegos, Trinidad,
and then onto Santiago De Cuba. Not an easy journey in Cuba but well
worth the trouble.'
Enquiring Minds Want to Know...
'What's that, young feller? You want to find out how you, like me, can
end up in the pages of the National Enquirer? You want to know how
maybe, juuuuuust maybe, you could appear in America's largest
circulation newspaper, behind Burt and Sally's torrid romance, true, but
still above that ad for La Toya Jackson's Psychic Network?'
'Be warned, young feller: achieving levels of fame akin only to
Bigfoot's UFO Love-Child ain't easy. But if'n yer good, and if'n yer
lucky, and if'n you've got a heartfelt message of devotion for the most
important person in yer life that you want to cheapen and tarnish like a
Hot Dog Diet, then the supermarket tabloids may be the place for
you.'
'Pull up a chair and let me tell you how it's done...'
Room to Read. 'Room to Read's
mission is to provide under-privileged children with an opportunity to
gain the lifelong gift of education. It was founded on the belief that
education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty and taking control
of one's own life. We currently focus our efforts on Cambodia, India,
Nepal and Vietnam, countries with a desperate lack of resources to
educate their children. '
Investigating Bellini's Feast of the Gods. 'Around 1512,
the Duke of Ferrara commissioned Giovanni Bellini to paint this masterpiece of the Italian
Renaissance, which now hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Dosso Dossi
subsequently decorated a gallery for the Duke, and, in 1522, painted over half of Bellini's canvas.
Seven years later, Titian repainted the Feast of the Gods again. What did the earlier versions look
like? How much of each artist's work do we see today? What motivated these unprecedented changes?
' 'For centuries these questions remained unanswered. In the last Fifty years, technical
innovations in conservation science have enabled specialists at the National Gallery to obtain X-
ray, infrared and cross-section data. This information has proved crucial in dispelling the mystery
surrounding this painting ... '
Felix Nussbaum.
'Felix Nussbaum was born in Osnabrueck, Germany, and studied in Hamburg, Berlin and Rome. He and his
companion, Felka Platek, settled in Belgium in 1935. In 1940, he was arrested with all other aliens
and sent to the camps of Saint Cyprien and Gurs in southern France. Nussbaum managed to escape, and
lived in hiding in Brussels until he was caught in 1944 and sent to Auschwitz, where he perished ...
'
The Encyclopaedia of the
Celts. 'The main purpose in compiling an encyclopedia of this kind is to give the reader access
to a fragment of the contents of some of the greater and lesser know works of Celtic literature;
including works of mythology, legend, fiction and history. Most of the entries include contributions
by two or more author's on the same subject, leaving the reader the opportunity to formulate his/her
own conclusions about or interpretation of the matter described. The encyclopedia is based on
quotations, either partly or in full, where the latter has been necessary to obtain an insight into
the subject. In the ancient Celtic world, oral tradition was the chosen means of communication. It
seems obvious then, that later retellings of the legends, myths, tales, and history would differ in
many ways. Therefore, I felt the proper approach was to compile bits and pieces from many and varied
sources. In the process, several hundreds of books were consulted and cited (see the bibliography).
Unfortunately, many of the books mentioned have long ago gone out of the bookseller market. One may
still be able to find them, however, at the libraries and in reprinted versions.The year stated in
the bibliography is the latest known year of print at the time 'The Encylopedia of the Celts' was
initially published.'
'In recent years, interest in the Celtic peoples and their traditions has increased dramatically. To
the benefit of all who are interested in the world of the ancient Celts, a number of authors,
scholars and others have taken up the subject. They've written about or researched many tales from
the lives of our ancestors. Even more, some have lifted the veil and laid open to us the hidden
'story inside the story' as a means to finding our inner selves and, through development, the true
way to the final initiation. Therefore, among the ever increasing pile of Celtic cognate literature,
one may find some hidden gems between the diamonds. Some present day authors have been digging
deeper into the stories and are giving us the opportunity to see that the lives of our ancestors as
told in the myths and legends were much more than just fine tales. We are discovering more and more
of the fact behind the fiction. The best of it, however, may be that the greater part of the books
published in recent years will be available for some time to come, in libraries and bookstores ... '
The Written Image: Japanese Calligraphy and Painting from the Sylvan Barnet and
William Burto Collection. 'This exhibition displays 60 works of Japanese calligraphy, spanning a
period of more than 1,000 years, drawn from the exceptional collection of Sylvan Barnet and William
Burto. The collection?which traces the evolution of Japanese calligraphy from the Nara period
(710?784) through the 19th century?includes examples of both the Chinese script (kanji) and the
Japanese script (kana). Also included are Buddhist and Shinto mandalas and a portrait of a Zen monk.
The presentation of the Barnet and Burto Collection is supplemented by a selection of Japanese
paintings and calligraphy from the Metropolitan's holdings.' Images.
The Grub Report. A great weblog about
food. 'Keckler a.k.a. Stephanie Vander Weide is a neophyte foodie, nibbling her way through life,
who hopes one day to turn those neophyte nibblings into master munches. She spent a good part of her
formative years as one of the foremost picky eaters in Minneapolis, MN -- sandwich loaves, tuna
casseroles, and a whole host of vegetables very nearly did her in -- but then she went to college,
lived in England, and moved to Boston where she discovered a deep love for making magnificent messes
in her Beacon Hill kitchen. '
Quasimeta. Great weblog about all kinds of things.
Raesidecartoon. 'Born 1957 in Dunedin, New
Zealand, Adrian
Raeside got his start in cartooning by drawing
on washroom walls as a kid. after being expelled
from his first (and last) art class at the age of
15, he moved with his parents to England, then
on to Canada, where he worked at various jobs,
from loading grain ships in Thunder Bay, to
surveying on the West Coast. Editorial cartoonist
for the Victoria Times Colonist for over 25 years, Raeside's editorial
cartoons have appeared in over 150 newspapers and magazines
worldwide, from the Los Angeles Times, to Newsweek Japan ... ' Today's cartoon.
Connections: Arctic Stone
Carving. 'The traditional Inuit view of the world is one of intrinsic connections between all
things. Whether they are the integral ones of family ties, as exemplified by the sensitive
portrayals of mother and child, or those connections to nature depicted in the dynamic
representations of the hunt, or simply to the animals themselves. Inuit art in general, is all about
connections.'
'The family unit has always been at the core of Inuit life and continues to be a vital element that
provides a secure frame of reference for the individual as the northern Canadian communities
experience dramatic and rapid changes to their lifestyle. Images of mothers with their children, are
testimony to the strong bond that is shared, whether between humans or animals ... ' Gallery.
link
12th March
Eighteenth
Century European Dress. 'Dress of the eighteenth century is not
without anachronisms and exoticisms of its own, but that singular,
changing, revolutionizing century has become an icon in the history of
fashion. The eighteenth century was a time not without memory. Its
masques and remembrances of the seventeenth century were vivid, if
occasionally comical. If we observe the traffic that colonialism and
world markets built, we know that cultures of dress were converging and
each culture was gaining from the observation, whether admitting it or
not ... '
Ancient
Greek Dress. 'In antiquity, clothing was usually homemade and the
same piece of homespun fabric could serve as a garment, shroud, or
blanket. Greek vase painting and traces of paint on ancient sculptures
indicate that fabrics were brightly colored and generally decorated with
elaborate designs. Clothing for both women and men consisted of two main
garments?a tunic (either a peplos or chiton) and a cloak (himation). The
peplos was simply a large rectangle of heavy fabric, usually wool,
folded over along the upper edge so that the overfold (apoptygma) would
reach to the waist. It was placed around the body and fastened at the
shoulders with a pin or brooch. Openings for armholes were left on each
side, and the open side of the garment was either left that way, or
pinned or sewn to form a seam. The peplos might not be secured at the
waist with a belt or girdle. The chiton was made of a much lighter
material,
usually imported linen. It was a very long and very wide rectangle of
fabric sewn up at the sides, pinned or sewn at the shoulders, and
usually girded around the waist. Often the chiton was wide enough to
allow for sleeves that were fastened along the upper arms with pins or
buttons. Both the peplos and chiton were floor-length garments that were
usually long enough to be pulled over the belt, creating a pouch known
as a kolpos. Under either garment, a woman might have worn a soft band,
known as a strophion, around the mid-section of the body ... '
Cuchulain
of Muirthemne, by Lady Augusta Gregory, 1902. 'This is Lady
Gregory's collation of the Cuchulain cycle. Cuchulain was a mighty
warrior, 'the Hound of Ulster', the hero of 'the Red Branch', a band of
elite fighters of ancient Ireland. Cuchulain is the subject of numerous
tales set in pre-Christian Ireland, including the pivotal 'War for the
Bull of Cuailgne'. The mythological and supernatural elements are
tightly interwoven in this saga, including the ever-present Sidhe
(fairies); and Celtic gods and goddesses, particularly Morrigu, the
goddess of war. As for the battles, they are principally composed of
single combats as hair-raising as any in the Iliad or the Mahabharata.
The female characters are vivid and self-motivated. The saga is overlaid
with episodes which could be echoes of ancient myths, for instance the
story of the two shapeshifting swineherds. There are sections of great
poetry embedded
in the text, particularly the lament of Emer on Cuchulain's
death.' 'Lady Gregory's prose, which resembles that of William Morris
and her collaborator Yeats, is gorgeous and moves the story along
vigorously. This rendition of the Cuchulain saga is required reading for
anyone interested in Celtic mythology. '
Early
Japanese Gardens: The Asuka, Nara, and Heian Periods. 'Except for a
few archaeological sites in the region of Asuka, Nara, and Kyoto?many of
them difficult to date?little remains of the gardens of early Japan,
although certain texts like the eighth-century Nihon Shoki (Chronicle of
Japan) provide some notion of their significance. Many of these texts
mention gardens associated with the ruling class, and some authorities
assume that they may have anticipated the gardens constructed on the
shinden estates of the Heian Period. There must have been important
religious influences on early garden design as well, given the
significance of natural objects in Shinto beliefs. Although its original
meaning is somewhat obscure, one of the Japanese words for
garden?niwa?came to mean a place that had been cleansed and purified in
anticipation of the arrival of kami, the deified spirits of Shinto, and
the Shinto
reverance for great rocks, lakes, ancient trees, and other "dignitaries
of nature" would exert an enduring influence on Japanese garden design.
With the coming of Buddhism, Japanese gardens also began to incorporate
references to the mythical mountains, islands, and seas of Hindu-
Buddhist tradition, to which the gardeners of the Nara Period added
evocations of the Daoist Isles of the Immortals. These references, often
in the form of stones or stone groupings, would continue to play a role
in Japanese garden design for the rest of its history, although it is
not always possible to know whether such references are intentional on
the part of the designer or simply the product of later interpretations.
It is also clear that a pond or lake was commonly included in early
garden designs, and this element would also endure through most of the
history of Japanese garden design ... '
Rearview Mirror:
Detroit History. 'Yesterday's news from our archives ' When the
drive-in theater was king. 'The automobile age and Hollywood's
fantasyland crossed paths more than 65 years ago in Camden, N.J., with
the opening of the first drive-in theater. It changed the way Americans
dated and created a way for parents to go to the movies without hiring a
babysitter. This melding of the automobile and the movie was so
popular that by 1958 there were more than 5,000 drive-ins in the United
States ... ' With photos. Mackinac Island's Grand Hotel. Grand theater's rebirth ushered in city's
renewal. 'Once she had many sisters -- the Michigan, the Adams, the
United Artists, to name a few -- even if none quite compared to the Fox
in size
and gloriously ostentatious splendor. Today those other temples to
popular pleasures are all shuttered, the elegant Michigan brutally
retrofitted as a garage ... '
Danziger Cartoons.
Editorial cartoonist. 'Jeff Danziger is an award-winning editorial
cartoonist drawing in New York City. His work is published around the
world in hundreds of newspapers and magazines, syndicated through the
Los Angeles Times. He studied at the Boston Fine Arts Museum School, and
at the Art Student's League. He has received numerous honors and awards
and is a Vietnam veteran.'
101 Cookbooks. 'When
you own over 100 cookbooks, it is time to stop buying, and start
cooking. This site chronicles a cookbook collection, one recipe at a
time.'
Political
African Women of the Sixteenth, Seventeenth and Eighteenth
Centuries. And art. 'As leaders, priestesses, traders,
cultivators, oracles, wives, and mothers, women have occupied key roles
in the developments that have shaped the course of African history. The
turbulent years following West and Central Africa's initial contact with
Europe were marked by the emergence of women revered for their
formidable political skills and social vision. We know of these women
today largely through oral histories, artworks, and, significantly,
contemporaneous European documents. There can be no doubt that important
and celebrated women existed in other periods of African history, but
prior to the era of contact with Europe, written records of their names
and achievements simply do not exist. Indigenous narratives about them
have not survived to the present day, or have yet to be recognized and
recorded. As the study
of African history continues, however, the identities of other notable
African women will surely be revealed.'
Ohara Koson. 'Ohara
Koson is considered by many to be the foremost 20th century designer of
bird and flower prints, or kacho-e. His designs were produced in
prolific numbers for a primarily Western market and range from haunting
realism to humorous depictions of animals at play. '
Insects and spiders.
Watanabe Seitei.
'Watanabe Seitei is best known for his paintings and prints of birds and
flowers, or kacho-e. Born with the name Yoshikawa Yoshimata, Seitei
trained with the historical genre painter, Kikuchi Yosai. At the age of
sixteen, he was adopted by Watanabe Koshi, a family friend with literary
connections. After this, he took the artist's name Watanabe Seitei. He
continued to paint steadily while working as a ceramics designer and
industrial draftsman. In 1878, one of his paintings was accepted into
the Paris Exposition where it won a silver medal. Seitei took the
opportunity to visit Paris. There he was exposed to contemporary
European paintings which utilized light and shadow, and perspective to
give the impression of dimensionality. Seitei's later work was
undoubtedly influenced by this experience.' Gallery.
Aids: Raising Awareness. Aids in Africa: a photoessay. 'One of the
great challenges Africans must overcome as they tackle the Aids pandemic
ravaging their continent is awareness. Many people lack even basic
knowledge of the disease, how it is transmitted, and how it is treated.
A stigma also haunts efforts to prevent and treat the disease, as those
with HIV face widespread public fear, scorn, and alienation. Thus Aids
education and awareness are particularly important aspects in the battle
against the disease.'
The Poems of
Ossian, by James Macpherson, 1773. 'Ossian purports to be a
translation of an epic cycle of Scottish poems from the early dark ages.
Ossian, a blind bard, sings of the life and battles of Fingal, a Scotch
warrior. Ossian caused a sensation when it was published on the cusp of
the era of revolutions, and had a massive cultural impact during the
18th and 19th centuries. Napolean carried a copy into battle; Goethe
translated parts of it; the city of Selma, Alabama was named after the
home of Fingal, and one of Ingres' most romantic and moody paintings,
the Dream of Ossian (above) was based on it.'
'There was just one problem. The whole composition was a massive
forgery. James Macpherson claimed that Ossian was based on an ancient
Gaelic manscript, the existence of which was never established. The
authenticity of the work was widely contested, particularly by Samuel
Johnson. Although some of the themes and characters of Ossian are based
on established Celtic mythology, Macpherson is the author of the entire
work, and the language of composition was English.' 'The work has
literary merits, and historical importance. The project resembles other
attempts at national epic-building such as the Finnish Kalevala; however
the Kalevala is acknowledged to be based on years of ethnographic
fieldwork by Elias Lönnrot. Lönnrot is now believed to have composed a
few bridge portions of the Kalevala; but he didn't pull the whole work
out of thin air, as did Macpherson.'
Badger's Heritage. Line
drawings of towns and villages in southern England.
Maruch Santiz Gomez. Photographs of Chiapas. 'In January of 1993
Maruch asked for a camera to use for the weekend. A few day later when
she had processed the film and showed me the contact sheet I was deeply
moved by her vision and her ideas. I was also grateful that I had
remained faithful to my original intention not to interfere or influence
those I was teaching regarding their imagery.'
'My interest in starting the Chiapas Photography Project in 1992 was -
and remains- to offer indigenous people access to the tools and
materials of photography, to help them develop skills in camera use and
darkroom procedures and to encourage the use of photography for their
own purposes.'
Westbrook House and the Oglethorpes. The connection between the town
of Godalming in Surrey and the state of Georgia. An interesting building
and an interesting story.
Women
in Science. Science history. 'The women scientists
profiled here span several centuries and several
nationalities. Despite many barriers, women all over
the world have participated in unraveling the secrets
of nature since the dawn of civilization. As historian
of science Naomi Oreskes said recently, "The question
is not why there haven't been more women in science;
the question is rather why we have not heard more
about them." Most of the women whose stories are told
here, in fact, were active in recent times, when the
sciences had already become professionalized
endeavors. '
Buddhist
Protector: Yama Dharmaraja in art. 'Yama
Dharmaraja is a wisdom deity protector of the father
class (method) of Anuttaryoga Tantra specifically
employed by those engaged in the practices of the
Vajra Bhairava Tantra. This practice is found in all
the Sarma Schools however the Gelugpas hold Yama
Dharmaraja in a special regard as one of their three
main Dharma protectors along with the Shadbhuja
Mahakala and Vaishravana.'
' "In the special, noble, Vajra Vehicle, among the
numerous four tantras [kriya, carya, yoga and
anuttara] this protector is of the Anuttarayoga. Of
those, from the three [classes], Method, Wisdom and
Non-dual, this is Method Tantra. From the three famous
Father Tantras of the Yamari Cycle, Rakta [Red],
Krishna [Black], and Bhairava [Terrifying], this is
the uncommon protector of the Vajrabhairava." (Ngor
Ponlop Ngawang Legdrup, 19th century).'
The
Picture Gallery of I.K. Aivazovski. 'Ones upon a
time, I was walking by the Nevski Avenue in Saint
Petersburg and went into a book store. On one of the
shelves I saw an album of Aivazovski's paintings. From
the very childhood I love sea, and my admiration of
the painter's pictures grew with years. You guessed
right, I have bought the album and brought it with me
to US. '
'But... In the August of 1995 my poor apartment was
flooded and the album became badly damaged. In a bare
grief I originally wanted to throw it away but then,
amazing, an idea came to my mind. I took the book
apart, page by page, and decided to digitize its
contents. ' 'You realize that after sitting in the
water for quite a while the pictures had lost their
original quality but, nevertheless, I will do my best
to present them as well as I can. ' ' "It could be
a great electronic exhibition", I thought, so here you
see the implementation of this idea. I have splitted
all the pictures by the years they were painted. '
A
Virtual Tour of 10 Downing Street. 'The first
domestic house known to have been built on the site of
Number 10 was a large dwelling leased to Sir Thomas
Knyvet, a Parliamentarian and Justice of the Peace. It
was Knyvet who arrested Guy Fawkes for the Gunpowder
Plot of 1605. After his death the house passed to his
niece, Mrs. Hampden, the aunt of Oliver Cromwell.
'
'The front part of the house we see today, and the
adjoining house at Number Eleven, were built by a
Harvard graduate and property speculator called George
Downing. He acquired rights to the site during the
brief period of Parliamentary rule in the 17th
Century. A portrait of the man, who was widely
regarded as a profiteering rogue, now hangs in the
Entrance Hall. '
'The very ordinary address and the modest terraced
façade are deceptive, giving little clue to the real
size and grandeur within. Number 10 in fact consists
of two houses. The house which faces Downing Street is
a typical late 17th century town house. But it
conceals a complicated building which was refronted in
the 18th C and enlarged in the 20th C. A corridor
joins this house to what was once a mansion in its own
right, with a walled garden and a view across Horse
Guards' Parade. The two houses were joined in 1732
when the property became an official government
residence. '
Working
in Paterson: Occupational Heritage in an Urban
Setting 'presents 470 interview excerpts and 3882
photographs from the Working in Paterson Folklife
Project of the American Folklife Center at the Library
of Congress. The four-month study of occupational
culture in Paterson, New Jersey, was conducted in
1994. Paterson is considered to be the cradle of the
Industrial Revolution in America. It was founded in
1791 by the Society for Establishing Useful
Manufactures (S.U.M.), a group that had U.S. Secretary
of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton as an advocate. The
basis for Paterson's manufacturing potential was the
Great Falls on the Passaic River. Paterson went on to
become the largest silk manufacturing center in the
nation as well as a leader in the manufacture of many
other products, from railroad locomotives to firearms.
The documentary materials presented in this online
collection explore how this industrial heritage
expresses itself in Paterson today: in its work sites,
work processes, and memories of workers. The online
presentation also includes interpretive essays
exploring such topics as work in the African-American
community, a distinctive food tradition (the Hot Texas
Wiener), the ethnography of a single work place
(Watson Machine International), business life along a
single street in Paterson (21st Avenue), and
narratives told by retired workers. '
Francesco
Solimena: Death of Messalina.
'A Roman soldier pulls back his sword to stab the
Empress Messalina, Emperor Claudius's spectacularly
unfaithful wife, fending off her mother attempts to
intercede. '
Costanzi:
Immaculate Conception.
'Above an elaborate sunburst with her monogram, the
Virgin Mary dominates the central panel. Saint Luke,
holding a scroll that reads " Ecce Virgo" or "Behold
the Virgin," occupies the left panel, and Saint John
the Evangelist looks up at her from the right.
Costanzi used the typical light palette, weightless
putti and angels, and artificial sky of Italian Rococo
architectural decorators.'
Ant
Farm Teaches Children About Toil, Death.
'Wonderco, a Pasadena-based educational-toy
manufacturer, unveiled its new Playscovery Cove Ant
Village Monday, touting the ant farm as a fun,
interactive way to teach children ages 5 and up about
unceasing, backbreaking toil and the cold, inescapable
reality of death.'
