Art history seminars begin

Ruthie Newman will be giving a series of eight art history seminars starting April 10 in the Orcas Library meeting room. The course will be entitled, “The Floating World Meets the West: Arts and Crafts of Japan and China, and Their Effects on Western Perceptions of the World.”

Ruthie Newman will be giving a series of eight art history seminars starting April 10 in the Orcas Library meeting room. The course will be entitled, “The Floating World Meets the West: Arts and Crafts of Japan and China, and Their Effects on Western Perceptions of the World.”

Japanese woodblock prints, paintings, ceramics, textiles and architecture had a strong impact on the art of the 18th through the 21st century in the West. Chinese export ware and its influence will also be viewed.

The class will examine the world of the prints of the Ukiyo-e – “The Floating World” – as well as the impact of the world Expositions and the Japanese pavilions in London and Chicago upon Impressionists, Post Impressionists, and Art Nouveau movements in the West. “The Mikado” and “Madame Butterfly” were inspired on many levels by these Great Expositions, says Newman.

Classes will be on Thursday afternoons from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m., April 10 through May 29. Register at the Orcas Library. For more information, call Ruthie Newman at 376-8538.