Art in the Encounter of Nations: Japanese and American Artists in the Early Postwar Years

In a critical history of what museum directors and grant proposal writers often refer to as Japanese-American artistic exchange, Winther-Tamaki (art history, U. of California-Irvine) examines the early postwar decades, when the US military defeat of Japan riveting the two countries together in a dramatically unequal relationship. After surveying some theory, he looks at the Japanese margins of American abstract expressionism, calligraphy and pottery, and the work of Isamu Noguchi. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)