Emiko Nakano’s Japanese translation of Virginia Gardner Troy’s book “Anni Albers and Ancient American Textiles: From Bauhaus to Black Mountain” is now available
Emiko Nakano, a former professor of textile design at Tokyo Zokei University, has translated Virginia Gardner Troy’s 2002 book Anni Albers and Ancient American Textiles: From Bauhaus to Black Mountain into Japanese.
Emiko Nakano, a former professor of textile design at Tokyo Zokei University, has translated Virginia Gardner Troy's 2002 book Anni Albers and Ancient American Textiles: From Bauhaus to Black Mountain into Japanese. The book is one of the most comprehensive studies of Albers's weavings and traces the artist's interest in Andean textiles, which she considered "the most outstanding examples of textile art [from which] we can learn most." From Troy's book: "Using Andean textiles as her guides, Albers developed an innovative approach to the teaching, practice, and understanding of weaving in the twentieth century, paving the way for the medium of fiber to be included in the fine arts mainstream." This admiration for and connection to the art of the ancient past was rooted in Albers's desire to find design solutions for the modern age. Troy's book reveals how Albers's weavings, teaching, and life connected the past to the present. Thanks to Nakano's translation, the link between Ancient American weavings, the Bauhaus, and Black Mountain College now extends to Japan. Art critic Hiroshi Ogawa says the book "will fill in what's missing in the field of modern art history in Japan."