Poetic imagination in Japanese art : selections from the collection of Mary and Cheney Cowles / Maribeth Graybill, editor, Jeannie Kenmotsu, co-editor, Michiyo Morioka, co-editor ; assisted by Sangah Kim ; essays and catalogue entries by Paul Berry, Maribeth Graybill, Michiyo Morioka, Joshua S. Mostow, Sadako Ohki, Arata Shimao.

Portland, Oregon : Portland Art Museum, [2020]

283 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 32 cm

Published in conjunction with the exhibition Poetic Imagination in Japanese Art: Selections from the Collection of Mary and Cheney Cowles, organized by the Portland Art Museum and held there October 13, 2018-January 13, 2019.

"Assembled over the last four decades and still growing, the Mary and Cheney Cowles collection of Japanese art is one of the finest in private hands in North America. What began for Cheney Cowles as an almost casual interest in collecting early Imari ware evolved, over time, into a passion for Japanese paintings and calligraphy. This volume focuses on what the authors found to be a compelling, recurring thread within that variety: a predilection for visual poetry. Occasionally, the text or image will illustrate or allude to a specific verse; more often, the relationship to poetry is more intuitive and rooted in a long-standing pictorial tradition. From the meditative serenity of Soei's White Herons and Reeds (early sixteenth century) to the heartwarming lyricism of Yosa Buson's Visiting a Friend in Plum Valley (1781) or the frenzied energy of Tomioka Tessai's Admiring the Moon from a Grotto (1916), the paintings illustrated in this volume suggest, rather than specify. Like the resonant verses in classical Chinese or Japanese, rich with nuanced layers of signification, the pictorial images invite the viewer's full attention and participation to complete their meaning"-- Provided by publisher.

English

December 09, 2020

Includes bibliographical references and index.