Painted Fans of Japan - 15 Noh Drama Masterpieces

Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company. Very Good+. 1969. Seventh Printing; Hardcover. Color Illustrations; 5 x 5 ; 41 pages; 7th printing from 1969, originally published in 1962. Hard cover is shaped like a fan, very clever binding. Brocade fabric cover, some light rubbing, scuffing, sunning. Gold end papers. Pages are thick, stiff paper.. Illustrated with 15 color pictures of the fans used in Noh dramas, each illustration covering parts of 2 pages. Although not entirely like the traditional Ukiyo-e prints that were being produced at much the same tine as these fan prints, one can see many similarities. Utterly intriguing and charming. The chief purpose of this modest little book is to present for Westerners some of the gorgeous paintings found on fans used in tne traditional Japanese Noh drama. Painting as limited to conform to the fan shape has teen practiced for hundreds of years in Japan, even by such immortal artists as Sotatsu and Korin. Until now, however, there has heen no popularly available volume of reproductions to reveal the almost limitless possibilities in color, design, and perspective within this restricted form of painting, The artists whose works are reproduced in this book are unknown. Bibliography. .