We now jump ahead more than a hundred years, to the turn of the 20th century, with an image taken from a book published in Meiji 34 (1901), 'The Favorite Flowers of Japan'. The book was originally issued as a promotion effort by a Yokohama-based company that specialized in supplying Japanese plants to the overseas market. They commissioned Mishima Shoso, an artist well known for his work in the kuchi-e genre, to do the botanical illustrations.

The style may be familiar to some of my collectors, because I used another image from this book - a bonsai - in my previous Treasure Chest collection. And I suppose it is the same thing that has attracted me this time, and which I hope you also find attractive - the wonderful way in which the designer has utilized the empty white space of the paper. This is a hallmark of Japanese art, and is one of the things that had such a tremendous impact on western artists when they first saw such work.

It might seem a bit silly to say such a thing, but a great deal of the attractiveness of many Japanese prints resides in what is not there, in the empty space. And as if that wasn't enough, the designer has played another game with us, by directing our attention away from what should be the main focus of the image. The group of half-open leaves at left is drawn sharply and coloured strongly, while the main floral cluster is pushed to one side, barely drawn at all, and printed with only vague suggestions of colour.

But it all adds up to a picture-perfect whole. Omission and redirection; it begins to remind one of the Japanese language itself, and of course this is no coincidence. Images and poetry have been inextricably linked in this culture for many centuries. Now that I think of it, perhaps this image can provide inspiration for those of you who are so inclined - it is certainly beyond my skills, but that empty white space is just crying for a 5-7-5 haiku in beautiful calligraphy.

David

June 2010