The Global Garden Lecture Series - Bonsai in Japanese Prints: The Aesthetic Context for a Delightful Horticultural Art Form

Ivan Hanthorn is conservator at the Iowa State University Library and associate professor. Bonsai is an ancient art form, recorded in Japanese graphic arts since the 12th century. There are some particularly delightful representations of bonsai found in woodblock prints of the 19th and 20th centuries. Such prints provide an opportunity for a dialog, for they not only depict in static form a living art but they are also a rich design resource for those involved in contemporary bonsai and Japanese gardening. Slides, prints, and bonsai will be a part of this presentation.