Book suggestions for Ukiyoe tarot???

catlin

Hi guys,
Ok, I am not sure if this is the right place or if it should be moved to Tarot books + Media section (Moddies, feel free to move):

What are the best reading suggestions for discovering the floating world of the Ukiyoe tarot??? Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.
 

Sophie

I love that deck!!!

I bought myself a book on Ukiyo-e art, to get to know the period and the art/symbols better. Also, because it's loosely Marseille-based, any book that helps with the TdM should be of help with the Ukiyoe.

Finally, I took a leaf out of Cerulean's many books, and have read the Ukiyoe in conjuction with two slim Japanese poetry books: 100 Poems from the Japanese, translated by Kenneth Rexroth, a fabulous poet in his own right; and Love Poems from the Japanese - same translator-poet. The combination works beautifully.
 

catlin

Helvetica, your suggestions sound excellent to me! Do you have the title of the Ukiyo-e art book at hand?
 

Sophie

Images du Monde flottant : Peintures et estampes japonaises XVIIe-XVIIIe siècles by Hélène Bayou. It's a heavyweight coffee-table book, the catalogue of an exhibition of Ukiyo-e art at the Grand Palais. It has some beautiful reproductions and learned text.

If you don't read French, there are several produced in English (just do a search for "Ukiyo-e" or "Floating World")- and you might find some in German too.
 

catlin

Thanks for the suggestion, luckily I am fluent in reading French so I can try to get the original version.
 

catlin

Thanks a bunch for the links, dear roppo.

Didn't Vincent van Gogh study the art of Hokkusai and Hiroshige? I remember at least one picture of him with definetly a "floating world" taste to it.
 

catlin

Ha, must be indeed my lucky day today: just spotted a French "Images du monde flottant" offered by a German book seller :) , 400 pages of French to read, that is heaven for me!!!

BTW, what are the Kan-ei genre paintings mentioned in one of the links you offered, roppo?
 

roppo

Well, catlin...though I'm a Japanese, I'm more interested in Western Medieval Art than Ukiyo-e tradition. My recent purchase is a good copy of "Biblia Pauperum" (lol). As to the Kan-ei genre paintings, all I can do is to introduce you to an informative site.

http://www.shimayuri.com/japan-art/ukiyoe/index.html

P.S. yes, Van Gogh was greatly influenced by Ukiyoe, and he often expressed his wish to go to Japan, a wish never fulfilled. It's one of the reasons of his immense popularity in Japan.
 

catlin

Thanks a bunch, roppo. Now I can do some further investigation :)
 
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