Roger Keyes
REGISTRATION CLOSED!!! Ehon: The Artist and the Book in Japan

Wednesday, October 25, 2006
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Series Title:  Reflections of the Culture: Fashions, Styles, and Trends

South Court Auditorium, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, 5th Avenue and 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788 (directions)

Utagawa Kunisada, portrait of the kabuki actor Ichikawa Danju¯ ro¯ VII (Sanjo¯) in two roles, Naka Theater, Osaka, 1829. Color woodcut from Edo sanj¯oren Ichikawa Sanj¯oshi e okuru ky¯oka (Edo, 1829).Spencer Collection

WE ARE NO LONGER TAKING RESERVATIONS FOR THIS EVENT. Ehon—or “picture books,” in Japanese—are part of an incomparable 1,230-year-old Japanese tradition. Created by artists and craftsmen, most ehon also feature essays, poems, or other texts written in beautiful, distinctive calligraphy. They are by nature collaborations: visual artists, calligraphers, writers, and designers join forces with papermakers, binders, block cutters, and printers. The books they create are strikingly beautiful, highly charged microcosms of deep feeling, sharp intensity, and extraordinary intelligence. In this program renowned scholar, Roger Keyes, traces the history and evolution of these remarkable books through images from the Spencer Collection of The New York Public Library, one of the foremost collections of Japanese illustrated books in the West. Dr. Roger S. Keyes, a visiting scholar in East Asian Studies at Brown University, has written many books and articles about Japanese prints, most recently a catalogue raisonne of the prints of Katsuskika Hokusai. This event is co-sponsored with the Ukiyo-e Society of America.

Related Exhibition:  Ehon: The Artist and the Book in Japan

Cost:  THIS EVENT IS FULL. WE ARE NO LONGER TAKING RESERVATIONS.

Program Information:
Celeste Bartos Education Center
These programs are free and open to the public, and are presented in the Library's South Court (enter from Astor Hall). Seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Rooms will be opened 10 minutes prior to the class beginning. For questions, send an e-mail to SouthCourt@nypl.org or call (212) 930-9284.