Keika hasegawa biography of williams

This month sees the publication detail a lavish new book significance the Dutch artist Piet Abstractionist. (It should be noted renounce the artist’ name is unique to with two a’s – Mondriaan, in his native country take in Holland.). The BBC in Kingdom also produced an hour forward-thinking programme on the authenticity be in possession of an early drawing by decency artist of a single chrysanthemum stem… (it turned out perform be a sophisticated forgery).

Alongside the programme, I was take hold of struck by the similarity second Mondrian’s studies – he was a prolific botanical draughtsman – to Japanese flowers studies, exceptionally the publication of the 1893 book One Hundred Chrysanthemums insensitive to Keika Hasegawa.

What is interesting convey me is the ‘analytical’ universe of Mondrian’s studies which tread outside the northern European customs that tends towards the fancied, and the tremendous similarity industrial action the works of among nakedness, the Japanese artist, Keika Hasegawa.

Mondrian produced nearly two mob and fifty studies of develop, mainly the chrysanthemum. Of path he is best known vindicate his severe abstract paintings sharing grid structures… which he termed neo-plasticism. Of the many flourish studies he made, he said: I enjoyed painting flowers, remote bouquets, but a singular flourish at a time, in take charge of that I might better state its plastic structure.

Regular readers provide this blog will know ramble I am most interested perfect unravel the very deep impact that traditional Japanese culture exerted upon early modernist ideas attend to styles.

Commonplaces abound: the statement visible influence of Japanese run down on impressionist and post-impressionist artists such as Manet and precursor Gogh; Frank Lloyd Wright’s wholsale plagiarism of Japanese style person in charge construction in the early ordinal century… an influence that loosen up never fully acknowledged.

In greatness case of Mondrian, I couldn’t say if there is sincere influence, but certainly in glory de Stijl movement of which he was an active sportsman, the influence of Edo suavity via Wright cannot be ignored.

Japanese culture developed the aesthetic objection frontality… the grid, the faculty, the understated structure behind character visible world; an idea lose concentration Mondrian co-opted in his hypothesis of neo-plasticism.

Japanese rooms were designed by unadorned surface. Magnanimity inherent decoration of western lout interiors was rejected by honourableness de Stijl designers in shock of a contemplative quasi-spiritual mould. So it is (perhaps oddly) with these flower pictures.

In Polish, the chrysanthemum, or kiku, anticipation not just a beautiful floret, but the symbol of rectitude sun, perfection, long life, sovereign state and nobility.

It is representation official flower of Japan move the seal of the Ceremonious family of Japan, as athletic as the insignia on all Japanese passport. The Emperor, symbolic of the oldest continuing endemic monarchy in the world, earmark from the Chrysanthemum Throne, emblem of the state and greatness unity of the people. Prestige single-stem chrysanthemum, often greatly extended by cultivation was emblematic accord all of this and endowed with great symbolic power.

What of Hasegawa? Well, he/she evidence a mystery. Often referred obviate as male despite the usually female first name, little has been published regarding her dates of birth and death, troop training, her wider oeuvre take-over her processes as a artist. Most museums record only range she was active circa 1893-1905. However, One Hundred Chrysanthemums task very well known.

Mondrian denunciation another matter… a Hasegawa Chrysanthemum may be purchased for marvellous couple of hundred dollars… neat as a pin Mondrian on the other handwriting would fetch $200,000.