Woodblock Prints of the Sino-Japanese War 1894-95

These are amazing! Japanese Meiji woodblock prints were churned out by the dozens during the Sino-Japanese War 1894-1895. They were mostly imaginative images based on news reports (done by many different artists). One artist, who produced more than 70 prints, was Kobayashi Kiyochika (a few examples of his excellent work are shown above- from the Sharf Collection, Museum of Fine Arts Boston). There are more images and story to be found on this beautiful site:

 LINK

(Throwing Off Asia II by John W. Dower, MIT edu)

Oregon Coast Tour 1940

Bathers at Cannon Beach in 1940

LINK for the coast tour, photos taken in 1940 (Oregon State Archives).

Not all that much has changed! You can see why I love Oregon.

Os Gemeos Left Their Mark on L.A.

I'm a little late blogging this one. The Prism Gallery in L.A. had this amazing show and installation by Os Gemeos (twin brothers from Brazil), but it closed a week ago. I wish I could have seen this. I saw a huge show of theirs at Deitch Projects in NYC a few years ago that blew me away. I'll never forget it. Fecal Face blog has a ton of photos of the opening here. It looks like they created another magical environment. They spent six weeks on the installation alone. Los Angeles was lucky to have them.
George Condo is next at the Prism.

Van Gogh's Birthday

This is a little thumbnail from Van Gogh's illustrated letters to Emile Bernard. He has written notes on the sketch: "blue", "orange". Dig the checkerboard dress on the woman with the fan. Happy Birthday, Van Gogh! More letters here: Morgan Library

Art Dress for Spring

Click to enlarge

I like this dress design...down to the shoes. It is by Hermes.

For more examples of "abstract art" dresses 2012 go here.

The Art of Amy Crehore

ArtofAmyCrehore

Marjorie Miller Illustrations 1924-35

Click images to enlarge

Here are three illustrations by an artist named Marjorie Miller. I can't find out much about her, but I really like them. They have a Japanese flair. Here's a link to a couple more . Apparently she only illustrated from 1924 to 1935. That doesn't surprise me, but she was good!

The Art of Amy Crehore

15th Century Italian Book Box

So fascinating! For carrying books (made between 1465 and 1485).

It is hard to stop looking through the Morgan Library's collection:

Morgan Library and Museum