Japanese Art Deco : : Geisha Girl (The Bride)

Japonisme is a rare art form these days.

In contrast to my other Japonisme paintings (Oriental Beauty, Young Geisha)*, I've given The Bride a more wood block print look - like the flat ukiyoe prints you see by Utamaro and Kunisada.

*The first two have a more modeled form (3D modeling) as western art aesthetics play a larger role. This could be easily understood by citing the works of James McNeill Whistler and Robert Blum.

So we have established that elegant Art Deco can adapt to any nationalistic style and period. It's a matter of degree as to what extent the style is reinvented with traditional concepts (realism), or more decorative and graphic ideas... applying broken tones and broken chords if you will.

The flat and decorative quality of Japanese wood block prints owes much of its charm from the linework. The beauty of lines define the composition and interconnected patterns that form the image. Simple? So it seems, for that's the other part of its charm. The artist must carefully design and balance each line and counter line, each shape and pattern and color and tone. And above all ... make all of these tonal in quality. Not so simple a thing!

Painting White : Deceptively Simple !

In regards to the color, as flat as the white (Japanese geisha) skin tone looks, it is actually composed of infinitely subtle greys! So the modeling in this case depends so much on the edges---as you would in a painting with flat frontal lighting. (examples of this are Olympia by Edouard Manet and impressionist mother and child paintings by Mary Cassat). I like Bouguereau's white drapery, and of course you can't discuss Orientalism without mentioning that Apostle of the Grey - James McNeill Whistler.

Orientalism

As I unveil more of my paintings, I will continue to feature a continuum between flat decorative works and realistic three dimensional (illusory) works. Orientalism and Western Painting are two such opposite poles that I like to bridge by way of Art Deco and Art Nouveau, and Japonisme.

Some of my favorite artists who share this aesthetic are Whistler and Gustav Klimt. My late art mentor Theodore Lukits painted orientalist subjects and I was exposed to his extensive collection and fine art. His training included studies under Alphonse Mucha, the famous Art Nouveau master. Other influences include the illustrator Edmund Dulac.

Art Deco suits the graphic style of publishing quality calendars - particularly with international themes. So I'm working out a way to publish some of my work as calendars. It would help if you could give me some feedback later (via Content 2.0 ).

Until then, subscribe to my feeds for updates. This way you don't have to deal with more email :)

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