CM: It is interesting to note that the American painter Stanwood Badger was born in 1904, which is the year Lafcadio Hearn died, as if it were an instance of reincarnation. When in 1936 he visited the family home of Lafcadio in Matsue, Badger appreciated the overpowering spell of Japanese culture. The two pictures he drew demonstrate the particularities of the East that are in many respects diametrically opposite to the West. The Interior View reveals all that is intrinsically essential to Japanese culture: the floor is covered with 'tatami' mats that require one to walk in sandals; the walls are made of rice paper, thus forcing one to respect the other’s privacy; the 'shoji' windows are instrumental in making the inside of the house communicate with the outside; and, finally, in keeping with the 'kazari' tradition, the artworks are temporarily displayed depending everytime on the visitor.
[Megakles Rogakos 08/2009]
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
ROGAKOS, MEGAKLES The Open Mind of Lafcadio Hearn 2009 The American College of Greece - ACG Art, Athens
