Origins of manga and anime

 

It was the simple clacking of two wooden sticks on a street corner that signaled to children the start of kamishibai, a popular pastime during Depression-era Japan. Kamishibai means “street theater using painted illustrations.” Author Eric P Nash examines the little-known art form and predecessor to modern-day anime and manga in his recent book “Manga Kamishibai: The Art of Japanese Paper Theater,” published by Abrams ComicArts.

Storytellers would travel from town to town with their butai (miniature stage) on the back of a bike. The setup was reminiscent of a Punch and Judy show, but instead of puppets the narrator would slide a series of poster boards with watercolor illustrations in and out of the box. He would act out the script, which was written on cards placed on the back of a board.

Each show consisted of three stories of about 10 minutes each: an adventure for boys, a domestic drama for girls and then a simple comic story. The majority of performances ended in a cliffhanger, forcing eager audiences to return the next day.
Nash, a New York Times writer and research editor and author of several books on architecture, has always been a fan of comics. It was while reading the book “Getting it Wrong in Japan” that he came across kamishibai, a word he had never seen before, and decided to dig further. Unable to find any book on the topic in English, he traveled to Japan two years ago to investigate and found more than 300 images in two children’s libraries in Osaka and Tokyo and discovered countless contributions that kamishibai had made to the comics genre.

UCLA's Clark Library to receive Shakespeare collection

 

A trove of volumes related to William Shakespeare and dating as far back as the 15th century is headed for a new home at UCLA.

The collection, which will be stored at the university's Clark Library in the West Adams district, features 72 books related to Shakespeare, includes a 1685 fourth folio of his works.

It also includes two histories that Shakespeare is said to have used as the basis of his plays, a second edition of the King James translation of the Bible published in 1613 and a 1603 book by French essayist Montaigne.

The books, which were published between 1479 and 1731, belonged to a collection by Paul Chrzanowski,  a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Northern California. The volumes are worth an estimated $2 million.

Read the full story at the Jacket Copy blog.

-- David Ng

Photo: a portrait believed to depict William Shakespeare. Credit: Associated Press

'Ancient Paths, Modern Voices' illuminates Chinese culture in O.C.

My Sunday Arts & Books story on the "Class of 1978" -- the first group of Chinese musicians who were allowed to pursue their music studies at the Beijing Central Conservatory after the 10-year tumult of Mao Tse-tung's Cultural Revolution -- serves as a preview for the wide-ranging "Ancient Paths, Modern Voices: A Festival Celebrating Chinese Culture" that begins Oct. 11 with music, film, theater and cultural events at various Orange County locations including the Orange County Performing Arts Center, South Coast Plaza and the Orange County Museum of Art. The group is named for the year the artists entered the conservatory.

The expansive festival, which continues through Nov. 24, is an offshoot of Carnegie Hall's Oct. 21-Nov. 10  festival in New York. The West Coast version is presented by Segerstrom Center for the Arts and Philharmonic Society of Orange County.

Monster Mash: Prince Charles foundation under investigation; remembering Patrick Swayze; Bolshoi Theatre funds scrutinized

--Undue influence? An architectural foundation sponsored by Prince Charles is under investigation by British authorities to determine if it interfered in planning disputes or influenced the choice of architects on certain projects.

--In memoriam: Patrick Swayze, the classically trained dancer who became a movie star, died yesterday at age 57.

--Paying tribute: A London production of the musical "Dirty Dancing" will hold a minute of silence today in honor of Swayze.

--Funny accounting? Russian officials are investigating the alleged mishandling of funds for renovation at Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre.

--Money problems: The Charlotte Symphony in North Carolina faces budgetary uncertainty.

--Struggling to survive: Artists in Pakistan are finding ways to persevere in the face of possible attacks.

--On tour: Alan Cumming will bring his one-man stage show to the Geffen Playhouse this season.

--Bold choice: Philadelphia has selected Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel "The Complete Persepolis" for its 2010 One Book, One Philadelphia program.

--Health scare: Chinese artist and political activist Ai Weiwei writes that he underwent cranial surgery in Germany.

--Cluck, cluck: PETA is looking to convert a Virginia prison slated for closure into a "chicken empathy" museum.

--Strategic alliance: Two U.K. auction houses -- Bloomsbury Auctions and Dreweatts -- are joining forces.

--Big-name show: Artists John Currin, Julian Schnabel and Francesco Vezzoli have created original works for a new exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Opera House.

-- David Ng

Photo: Prince Charles. Credit: Associated Press

It's not just alpacas for Matthew Modine

Now that ‘80s film star Matthew Modine is an actor of a certain age, he has a little more time in his schedule. And he has been turning that into lemonade, snapping up intriguing opportunities in the theater. In his latest venture, Modine plays guess who in Blair Singer’s Hollywood satire, “Matthew Modine Saves the Alpacas,” which has its world premiere at the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood on Wednesday.

In 2004, he worked with Arthur Miller on his last play, “Finishing the Picture,” for its premiere production at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre. The play explored the collapse of Miller’s marriage to Marilyn Monroe during the filming of their 1961 movie, “The Misfits.” Modine’s character was a stand-in for the younger Miller himself.

Then as fate would have it, he also worked with director Robert Altman on his last project, another Miller play – the first British production of “Resurrection Blues,” at London’s Old Vic Theatre (where Kevin Spacey is artistic director) in 2006. Modine played a New York ad exec.

A purported Frida Kahlo archive is the subject of dispute

A corollary to Godwin's Law says that, in any dispute, the first person to mention Adolf Hitler loses, because the argument has been instantly and irretrievably degraded. The Holocaust's villainy is singular.

In the current dust-up over a soon-to-be-published book about an archive of ephemera attributed to iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, a researcher who denounced it as a total fake also called the book the biggest fraud against the public since the 1983 publication of the bogus Hitler diaries. Applying Godwin, that's one strike for authenticity.

The previously unknown archive is the subject of Princeton Architectural Press's forthcoming book, "Finding Frida Kahlo." It’s hard to say whether or not the archive's 1,200 items, including everything from sketchy small paintings to a recipe for corn flan, are genuine. But it's worth noting that none of those who have gone on record to denounce it -- including more than a dozen art historians, museum professionals, dealers and artists, plus an errant blogger or two, mostly in Mexico City but some in New York -- has ever laid eyes on the material. (The Hitler diaries commenter also confessed, "I admit, I haven't seen the works ... ") Godwin doesn't say what to do in that disheartening case, but the word "degraded" certainly still applies.

Coincidentally, I have seen the purported Kahlo archive -- not once, but several times. (For lots more photos, click through to the jump.) In Sunday’s Arts and Books section I'll have a story about the dispute, plus some thoughts on what's driving the controversy -- and what needs to happen next.

-- Christopher Knight

Monster Mash: Norton Simon painting still questioned; UCLA faculty fight back; Riccardo Muti takes new post

 -- Court ruling: The rightful ownership of a work of art depicting Adam and Eve, currently at the Norton Simon Museum, is still up in the air despite a court decision Wednesday on art that was looted during the Holocaust.

-- Rallying point: UCLA faculty have launched an online campaign to save the university's arts library from the chopping block.

-- Creative gathering: The India Art Summit, the country's largest contemporary art fair, is without  one of India's most famous painters due to fears of attacks by Hindu extremists.  

-- Cutting back: Christie's reportedly has abandoned plans to start an art-investment fund and lending division.

-- Star turns: John Lithgow and Jennifer Ehle will star in a new play by Douglas Carter Beane opening February at New York's Second Stage Theatre.

-- In the works: Architect Santiago Calatrava discusses his plans for the new transportation hub at New York's Ground Zero site.

-- Moonlighting: Conductor Riccardo Muti will take the top spot at Rome's opera house while continuing to serve as music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

-- Something different: Novelist Margaret Atwood has created a one-hour theatrical production as part of her new book tour.

-- Art controversy: Scholars are denouncing a new stash of Frida Kahlo paintings as fakes.

-- Flexibility: The Sacramento Ballet has found creative ways to deal with the economic recession.

-- Live forever: The trailer for the upcoming movie "Fame" is now online.

-- David Ng

Photo: A gallery at Norton Simon Museum. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

Angered UCLA faculty rallies to save arts library

Culture Monster reported Saturday that UCLA is considering closing down its arts library and merging the collection with an existing facility because of an overall budget shortfall at the university.

The news has provoked strong responses from local academics and now faculty members at UCLA have started an online campaign to save the library.

"Our goal is to keep the library open but also to demand more transparency," Steven Nelson, an associate professor in UCLA's Department of Art History, said in an interview this morning.

Nelson and George Baker, also a professor in the art history department, have launched a Facebook page and an online petition intended to rally support for the library. In less than a day, the petition has attracted more than 350 signatures from all over the world.

In addition, they have sent a formal letter to university librarian Gary Strong, signed by 69 faculty

Book review: Michael Gross' 'Rogues' Gallery'*

A profile of Thomas P. Campbell in a recent issue of the New Yorker limns the Metropolitan Museum of Art's new director in what instantly became the standard portrait when news broke that he got the job last September. He's a scholarly and unassuming curator, not known for being adept at the social razzle-dazzle that generates publicity and philanthropy, and therefore a surprising choice to lead a major American art museum.

The fact that Campbell's 2002 sleeper-exhibition, “Tapestry in the Renaissance: Art and Magnificence,” utterly transformed the place of monumental woven imagery in art's history books, all while drawing more than 200,000 wide-eyed visitors to the museum's darkened galleries, hovers in the background as a genuine if picturesque accomplishment for a director's portfolio, more quaint than indispensable.

Michael Gross' new book about the Met is one example of why we commonly think this way about art museums and what drives them. “Rogues' Gallery: The Secret History of the Moguls and the Money That Made the Metropolitan Museum” (Broadway Books, 545 pp., $29.95) is stuffed with assorted Morgans, Vanderbilts, Rockefellers and their more recent brethren — not to mention “sistren,” such as Brooke Astor, Jayne Wrightsman and Annette de la Renta. But it doesn't provide the kind of deep insight into a major cultural institution one wants from social history.

Nor is it good, gossipy summer beach-reading, alas.

UCLA has arts library on chopping block

Facing drastic budget reductions this year, UCLA has begun implementing cuts across its departments to make up for an estimated $131-million shortfall. Among the proposed victims is one of Los Angeles' largest cultural resources -- the arts library on the Westwood campus.

The university has confirmed that it is looking at eliminating the library, which contains more than 270,000 volumes in the fields of art, architecture, design, film, television, theater and more. If the plan is approved, UCLA will shut down the arts library in the Public Policy Building and move some of the collection to a facility shared with another library.

"This doesn't mean we would stop serving the arts community," said Gary Strong, the university's head librarian. "We would do this from a different location. The fact is that we cannot support all of the separate libraries that we currently have."

Strong added that UCLA's chemistry library is also under consideration for elimination. No layoffs from the library staff are currently planned, he said, declining to elaborate on any other plans. "I don't know what's next in terms of the budget."

The UCLA library system supports 12 facilities on an annual operating budget of about $40 million, according to the university. A spokeswoman at UCLA said study teams are being organized to examine the operational effect of closing the arts and chemistry branches. "What will not change, however, is the Library’s steadfast focus on offering collections and services," she said in a statement.

The entire UC system is experiencing budget cuts of more than $800 million across its 10 campuses. A final decision about the fate of the arts and chemistry libraries is expected this fall or winter. The last branch to close was the physics library in 2003.

-- David Ng

Photo: One of the libraries at UCLA. Credit: Stephanie Diani