The Costumer's Bookshelf:
The Kimono Inspiration: Art and Art-to-Wear in America
reviewed by Eleanor Farrell
This new publication by the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C., complements a current exhibit at the museum exploring the use and meaning of the kimono in America, but the volume is more than an exhibition catalogue. The first section, "The Kimono in American Art and Fashion, 1853-1996", includes an essay by Nancy A. Corwin, curator of European and American Decorative Arts at the Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, on Japonisme in U.S. culture. The importance of collectors of Japanese artifacts, such as Frank Lloyd Wright, as well as the influence of Orientalism on the Arts and Crafts and Dress Reforms movements, fashion designers including Paul Poiret and others, and the incorporation of the kimono into Western theater and dance, are all covered, with accompanying illustrations.
Part Two covers the Art-to-Wear movement, which began in the early 1970s, and the importance of the kimono to fabric artists and modern designers, with an extensive write-up of the field by gallery owner and author of the definitive Art to Wear, Julie Schafler Dale. The work of many San Francisco area artists, including Ana Lisa Hedstrom, John Marshall, Marla Weinhoff, and Jean Williams Cacicedo, is included. Finally, Yoshiko I. Wada, fellow at the Center for Japanese Studies, University of California, Berkeley, specializing in the study of Japanese textiles, gives a detailed history of the kimono, plus an essay on changing attitudes toward the kimono in Japanese culture.
In addition to hundreds of color photographs of traditional kimonos, art-to-wear and modern pieces, the book is lavishly illustrated with drawings showing traditional Japanese dress, photographs of kimonos and twentieth century kimono-inspired fashion, reproductions of paintings by Western artists influenced by the exoticism of Oriental culture (such as James Abbott McNeill Whistler and Claude Monet), and more. There are extensive notes from each essay, plus a detailed bibliography and a glossary of terms used.
This is a gorgeous, informational and inspirational book, highly recommended for any costumer interested in the history of kimonos and their influence on American art and design. Anyone who will be visiting the Washington, D.C. area before September 1, 1996, is also encouraged to see this exhibit at the Textile Museum, as well as the facility's extraordinary library of textile- and costume-related publications. The Textile Museum is located at 2320 S Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20008-4088. Telephone: 202/667-0441.
The Kimono Inspiration: Art and Art-to-Wear in America, edited by Rebecca A.T. Stevens and Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada, The Textile Museum, Washington, D.C., Pomegranate Artbooks, San Francisco, 1996. Soft cover, 208 pp, $34.95. ISBN 0-87654-598-3. (Also available in hard cover edition)
Reprinted from The Costumer's Scribe 6:6, June 1996.