| Title | : | Night Parade Of Dead Souls: Japanese Ghost Paintings (Ukiyo-e Master Series) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1840683120 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781840683127 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 96 |
| Publication | : | First published November 30, 2013 |
"Night Parade Of Dead Souls", the first book of its kind to be published in English, collects 70 of the most striking and disturbing Japanese ghost images from classic art, and offers an essential glimpse into the twilight strata of Japanese art, popular myth, and religious belief. The artists featured range from obscure painters to the venerated ukiyo-e artist Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, who created numerous ghost paintings around 1880. All the paintings, which range in date from 1750 to the early 20th century, are shown at full-page length, and in full colour throughout.
The Ukiyo-e Master presenting seminal collections of art by the greatest print-designers and painters of Edo-period and Meiji-period Japan.
Night Parade Of Dead Souls: Japanese Ghost Paintings (Ukiyo-e Master Series) Reviews
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Disturbingly fascinating.
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I put this book on my Christmas wish list this year, not really expecting to get it due to its macabre nature (but still so desperately interested that I gave it a shot) and was subsequently delighted to receive it as a gift from my husband's parents! I think it's the illustration used for the cover image that grabbed my attention so firmly, and perhaps it's the reason my benefactors couldn't resist buying it and taking a peek for themselves before surprising me with it :)
Eastern ideas of death, ghosts, spirits, the afterlife, they're all so intriguingly different from what I grew up with here in America. This book illustrates that difference, literally and figuratively, extremely well. The images are good quality reproductions (seemingly; I've never seen the originals) and some include additional close-up shots showing further detail. There are plenty of illustrations to view and they cover an interesting range of “yuurei” interpretations, both well-known (think “The Ring”) and bizarre (vagina-face ghost, anyone?).
The only complaint I have about the book is its lack of detail about most of the pieces featured. There is a nice, full-page foreword (a great deal of which I had already read on the back cover) followed by a smaller section of notes before the artwork begins but after that, all you get is a figure number, the title of the piece, and the author's name, if known. I would have really liked to read a little blurb about each entry, or at least one every few pages, detailing information about the artist, the time period in which the piece was made, the story meant to be told, even things like the piece's current residence or general information about common themes seen throughout the illustrations.
My complaint aside, I am still very happy to finally own this book (I've wanted it for years, this was just the first time I actually asked for it). The range of styles and subjects covered was inspiring to me as an illustrator, and the various differences I began noticing between these Japanese yuurei and the Western ghosts and spirits I'm more used to led me to formulate questions and theories that made me feel not only perceptive and clever, if I do say so myself, but also fascinated, curious, and eager for more information (hence my big complaint). I want to know why, I want to know how, I want to know the history and the genesis, and more than anything, I want to see what influences these amazing, disturbing, beautiful images will have on my own artwork.
If you love creepy things and traditional Japanese ukiyo-e artwork, I highly recommend this book, even considering how little it will explain to you about the images it presents. Just looking is enough :) -
Second book I have seen with women's sex organs replacing human faces and no description of what it's suppose to mean. I don't mind I just wish someone would explain.
