Hinoki cypress by Dan Robinson. From Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees. An excellent example of a naturalistic bonsai.
I think it’s time to revisit a discussion that seems to provoke plenty of interest each time we bring it up (there were 35 comments to this post back in 2011 and numerous comments to previous posts on topic). It’s also timely given that Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees is now back in print and Dan Robinson’s bonsai play a big part in the discussion.
A note about Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees that I neglected to mention last post: By agreement with the publisher, we are not discounting this book. No point waiting around for a lower price.
Judging from your comments, the discussion about the virtues of highly refined Japanese bonsai vs a more naturalistic western style (championed by Walter Pall among others) is a topic that many of you are interested in.
I won’t say much here, but if you want to read an impassioned comment on the topic by someone named David (and my reply), check the comments on a post titled ‘Nature, Picasso & the Hand of Man‘.
To whet your appetite, here’s an excerpt from David’s comment: “To be fair and honest I don’t believe in “extremely” naturalistic views from artists like Walter Pall, Dan Robinson and a thousand European artists who “sell” this naturalistic approach to Bonsai. In the end they just look like they love the art but they can’t be real bored of wiring again and again and styling their trees for 20 years in a row searching for true perfection like TRUE Japanese Artists have done for more then a 1000 years.”
An excellent example of a highly refined Shimpaku juniper. By an unidentified Japanese bonsai artist. From our Masters' Series Juniper book (due back in print in November, 2015).
This rather famous Norway spruce by Walter Pall has appeared in several places, including Bonsai Today issue 106. Walter is a strong proponent of the naturalistic style.
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I highly admire Walter Pall’s work. I too am a natualistic fan. I just have my humble opinion on this issue. Wiring over and over for twenty years searching for perfection is a neat way to complicate the art but to take what God has already made beautiful and perfect and display it in a manner that is honoring the ‘origional artist’ is what bonsai is all about.
If the tree brings you in and creates the same feeling that standing by a beautiful tree in nature does then job well done. To be honest some of these overly sculpted and highly refined bonsai while great works of art lose me on the connection to nature and that blissful feeling it creats
Hi David,
‘that blissful feeling it creates’….sold!
Surviving centuries old Japanese bonsai that have been refined for many generations can be valued in the manner of a DaVinci or Rembrandt painting. But paintings by contempory artists who paint like DaVinci or Rembrandt generally aren’t valued in the same manner. Evolution in painting aided by an occassional revolution such as by the Armory Group have changed the way painting styles are valued, just the way Walter Pall, Ryan Neal and others are having an effect on the way bonsai styles are appreciated throughout the world today. I like Walter Pall’s FAIRYTALE bonsai style better than the unnatural look of the traditional old Japanese bonsai.
I thought the idea of bonsai was to emulate a tree that lives in nature. Not sure I’ve seen any highly stylised shimpaku with excessive carving in nature.
The highly refined and polished Japanese bonsai which receive Kokufu awards are maintained and styled by professional bonsai artists on behalf of the owners of the bonsai. The Kokufu awards are given to the owners who are named. The bonsai artists are not named in the awards, they are paid by the owners who are not artists but rich business men. The perfection of finish justifies the substantial fees which the professionals are paid for the year-round maintenance and styling of the trees, and the high price the owner has paid to purchase the bonsai masterpiece in the first instance. They are seen as extremely expensive objects of beauty.
Walter Pall is not in this position. He describes himself as an amateur and
he means it. He is therefore fortunate to be free to express himself as he wishes artistically without having to conform to the views of an owner of the tree . No doubt this the position of most Western bonsai artists.
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a quote from the post:
“To whet your appetite, here’s an excerpt from David’s comment: “To be fair and honest I don’t believe in “extremely” naturalistic views from artists like Walter Pall, Dan Robinson and a thousand European artists who “sell” this naturalistic approach to Bonsai. In the end they just look like they love the art but they can’t be real bored of wiring again and again and styling their trees for 20 years in a row searching for true perfection like TRUE Japanese Artists have done for more then a 1000 years.” ”
[/quote]
Now this I call a great quote. It seems to have become acceptable for some journalists to just invent facts to support their statements. I wonder whether it is already acceptable to do so in a civilized argument.
Here to the ‘facts`:
– A thousand European artists don’t do naturalistic style. To my knowledge I am the only big name who does it. If my omnipresence lead you to believe that a thousand Europeans do it I thank you for the compliment. European big names all do Modern Bonsai Style which now is gradually becoming popular in America. Modern Bonsai Style is mainly a Japanese style.
– Naturalistic artists do not ‘sell’ their direction, they just do it. They often have to defend themselves for uncalled attacks by fundamentalists, which you then mistake for ‘selling’.
– Naturalistic styling requires endless wiring again and again until the hand of man totally disappears. Someone who does not like wiring should not do this style. Well he probably should do Ikebana anyway. :D
– Japanese artists were not ‘allowed’ to wire until before the big war, which is only 80 years ago. They started to groom their trees more and more in the sixties. So this ‘true perfection ‘ started only fifty years ago.
There seems to be some dislike of Europeans in general. Well, we have many lunatics who dislike Americans in general. So it is OK to pay them back. :D
The only thing in the quote that is fully acceptable is the total dislike of naturalistic style in bonsai. This is fine. Bonsai is an art form and art is about taste. Arthur wrote, however, how his taste has changed considerably. So be aware!
Wow, talking about “Tales from the crypt”. Reviving such an old topic….I feel like I am 30 years-old again! That was when those epic battles about the topic took place.
At the beginning, there was the love of nature. A few special people collected and nurtured these little trees, and did with them whatever their hearts desired. There were no styles and rules. The limit was only their imagination.
This is something I made up, of course, not sure how exactly happened, but I know that it must have happened this way. Those were the days of the “shameless bonsai freedom”.
Fast-forward a few hundred years (maybe a thousand), and here we are: the standard is set by those who make money off it. And the only way one can make money from anything in this world, is to replicate a business model over and over again. So, naturally, technique had to rule over imagination. Creating an original work of art is hard. Hard enough to do it once a month, never mind doing it on a daily basis. So, I don’t blame the Japanese masters for what they inevitably had to do, to make a living. It’s tedious and repetitive work, and the results are stunning.
Add to the mix the fact that bonsai became a “competitive sport” these days, and the pressure to out-do one another in the area of craftsmanship resulted in even more china-doll-like bonsai trees. Again, it’s the natural progression of an art-form becoming commercialized.
Luckily, there are those who don’t have to make a living from bonsai. The lack of pressure, once again, created a fertile soil for the imagination and artistry (and to be fair, few of the Japanese professionals have the luxury for doing the same). So naturally, this is where the innovations had to come from: the amateurs.
Of course, at some point, the naturalistic bonsai may become just as popular as the neo-classical (=modern) bonsai, and will inevitably become corrupted by stylistic clichés. At that point, it will just be another “style”. But we are still years away from that, and I am enjoying it in the meantime. And we are very lucky to have Walter Pall and Dan Robinson as their iconic messengers.