About the Book
CHAPTER I ART AND THE DRAMA I always agree with that man who said, ȜLet me make the nationșs songs and I care not who frames her laws,ȝ or words to that effect, for, in my opinion, nothing so well indicates national character or so keenly accentuates the difference between individuals and nations as the way in which they spend their leisure hours; and the theatres of Japan are thoroughly typical of the peopleșs character. It would be utterly impossible for the Japanese to keep art out of their lives. It creeps into everything, and is as the very air they breathe. Art with them is not only a conscious effort to achieve the beautiful, but also an instinctive expression of inherited taste. It beautifies their homes and pervades their gardens; and perhaps one never realises this all-dominating power more fully than when in a Japanese theatre, which is, invariably, a veritable temple of art. But here with us in the West it is different. We have no art, and our methods merely lead us to deception, while we do not begin to understand those few great truths which form the basis of oriental philosophy, and without which perfection in the dramatic art is impossible. For example, the philosophy of balance, of which the Japanese are past masters, is to us unknown. The fact that Nature is commonplace, thereby forming a background, as it were, for Tragedy and the spirit of life to work, has never occurred to us; while the background of our Western play is not by any means a plan created by a true artist upon which to display the dramatic picture as it is in Japan, but simply a background to advertise the stage-managerșs imitative talent. The result is, of course, that the acting and the environment are at variance instead of being in harmonic unity. But we in the West have not time to think of vague things, such as balance and breadth and the creating of pictures. What we want is realism; we want a sky to look like a real sky, and the moon in it to look like a real moon, even if it travels by clock-work, as it has been known to do occasionally. And so real is this clock-work moon that we are deceived into imagining that it is the moon, the actual moon. But the deception is not pleasant; in fact, it almost gives you indigestion to see a moon, and such a moon, careering over the whole sky in half an hour. In Japan they would not occupy themselves with making you believe that a moon on the stage was a real oneȔthey would consider such false realism as a bit of gross degradationȔbut they would take the greatest possible pains as to the proper placing of that palpably pasteboard moon of theirs, even if they had to hold it up in the sky by the aid of a broom-stick. WATCHING THE PLAY In Japan the scenic work of a play is handled by one man alone, and that man is the dramatic author, who is almost invariably a great artist. To him the stage is a huge canvas upon which he is to paint his picture, and of which each actor forms a component part. This picture of his has to be thought out in every detail; he has to think of his figures in relation to his background, just as a Japanese architect when building a house or a temple takes into consideration the surrounding scenery, and even the trees and the hills, in order to form a complete picture, perfect in balance and in form.... About the Author
Mortimer Menpes (1855-1938) was, in his own words, a painter, etcher, raconteur andAaAA rifle-shot.
Born in Port Adelaide, Australia on February 22, 1855, Menpes attended art classes as a young man and in 1975, married Rosa Mary Grosse. The couple had a son and two daughters, one of whom, Dorothy Whistler Menpes, was artist James McNeil Whistlers namesake and goddaughter.
After moving to England with his family in 1878, Menpes continued his art studies at the Royal College of Art, South Kensington, and exhibited at a Royal Academy exhibition for the first time in 1880. It was around this same time, during a sketching tour of Brittany, he first met Whistler.
In 1887, Menpes traveled to Japan and upon his return to London, held his first one-man show, at Dowdeswells gallery. In the years that followed that show and his concurrent falling-out with Whistler, Menpes traveled widely and continued his own etching and painting. Later, and often working with his daughter Dorothy, he published a number of illustrated books, including the first edition of Whistler As I Knew Him. Menpes died in Pangbourne, England, on April 1, 1938. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
22%
Quick View
The Psychology of Money (Tamil)
Housel, Morgan
₹251 ₹322
30%
Quick View
My First Library: Boxset of 10 Board Books for Kids
Wonder House Books Editorial
₹524 ₹749
29%
Quick View
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MONEY (DELUXE EDITION)
Housel, Morgan
₹425 ₹599
40%
Quick View
My First Book of Patterns: Pencil Control
Wonder House Books Editorial
₹89 ₹149
33%
Quick View
Atomic Habits
James Clear
₹597 ₹891
19%
Quick View
Animals Tales from Panchtantra
Wonder House Books
₹816 ₹1,008
Quick View
Moral Story Books for Kids (Set of 10 Books)
Maple Press
₹272
30%
Quick View
World’s Greatest Books For Personal Growth & Wealth (Set of 4 Books) : Perfect Motivational Gift Set
Dale Carnegie, Napoleon Hill, Dr. Joseph Murphy & George S. Clason
₹489 ₹699
24%
Quick View
Power of Your Subconscious Mind
Joseph Murphy
₹209 ₹275
29%
Quick View
Colouring Books Boxset
Wonder House Books
₹447 ₹629
28%
Quick View
Don't believe everything you think
NA
₹214 ₹297
40%
Quick View
Think & Grow Rich: THE 21st CENTURY EDITION
Napoleon Hill
₹119 ₹199
Product Details
- ISBN-13: 9781548016302
- Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
- Binding: Paperback
- Language: English
- Returnable: N
- Width: 60 mm
- ISBN-10: 1548016306
- Publisher Date: 12 Jun 2017
- Height: 0 mm
- No of Pages: 354
- Weight: 589.67 gr
Quick ViewJapan, a Record in ColourDorothy Menpes
₹1,281 
Quick ViewJapan, a Record in ColourDorothy Menpes
₹1,440 
Quick ViewJapan A Record in ColourDorothy Menpes
₹600 8%
Quick ViewJapan A Record in ColourDorothy Menpes
₹1,082 ₹1,176 5%
Quick ViewJapan A Record in ColourDorothy Menpes
₹718 ₹756 
Quick ViewJapan, a Record in ColourDorothy Menpes
₹1,596 
Quick ViewJapan, a Record in ColourDorothy Menpes
₹1,540 
Quick ViewJapan, a Record in ColourDorothy Menpes
₹1,573 16%
Quick ViewJapan; A Record in ColourDorothy Menpes
₹5,645 ₹6,720 
Quick ViewJapan: A Record in ColourMenpes Dorothy
₹1,744 
Quick ViewJapan, a Record in ColourDorothy Menpes
₹2,626 
Quick ViewJapan, a Record in ColourDorothy Menpes Mortimer Menpes
₹2,382 
Quick ViewJapan, a Record in ColourDorothy Menpes Mortimer Menpes
₹2,076 
Quick ViewJapan, a Record in ColourDorothy Menpes Mortimer Menpes
₹2,275 
Quick ViewJapan, a Record in ColourDorothy Menpes Mortimer Menpes
₹2,275 
Quick ViewJapan, a Record in ColourDorothy Menpes Mortimer Menpes
₹1,662 8%
Quick ViewJapan, a Record in ColourDorothy Menpes Mortimer Menpes
₹2,168 ₹2,357 10%
Quick ViewJapan, a Record in ColourDorothy Menpes Mortimer Menpes
₹3,033 ₹3,370 7%
Quick ViewJapan, a Record in Colour...Dorothy Menpes Mortimer Menpes
₹1,934 ₹2,070 
Quick ViewWar impressions, being a ...Dorothy Menpes
₹1,473 
Quick ViewWorld Pictures; Being A R...Menpes Dorothy
₹1,574
