TJARDES, Tamara J. 1961-

PERSONAL:

Born June 19, 1961.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Museum of International Folk Art, P.O. Box 2087, Santa Fe, NM 87504-2087. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, NM, former curator of Asian and Middle Eastern collections.

WRITINGS:

One Hundred Aspects of the Moon: Japanese Wood-block Prints by Yoshitoshi, University of New Mexico Press (Santa Fe, NM), 2003.

SIDELIGHTS:

As a curator of Asian and Middle Eastern art at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Tamara J. Tjardes organized a successful exhibition of nineteenth-century Japanese artist Tsukioka Yoshitoshi's woodblock prints in 2001; this inspired her to produce her first book, One Hundred Aspects of the Moon: Japanese Woodblock Prints by Yoshitoshi. Yoshitoshi specialized in a form of art known as ukiyo-e, which, as Tjardes told Santa Fe New Mexican writer Craig Smith, filled a niche in Japanese publishing at the time that is comparable to today's tabloids and comic books: "They were very much used in social commentary in a cartoon type of way, a way to comment on the aristocracy and the samurai class. Satire. The current Japanese anime and manga comic traditions owe a great deal to ukiyo-e." Although, Tjardes noted, "There are a couple of books out there on Yoshitoshi, big ones, and you can get reproductions," she "wanted something that was a little more accessible in a smaller format and not inundated with text." Her book, then, contains one hundred prints of the artist's work. Santa Fe New Mexican contributor Lynn Cline called the book "a glorious celebration of one of Japan's last great woodblock artists."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT), March 16, 2003, Dave Gagon, "'Moon' Is Stunning Tribute to Yoshitoshi," p. E8.

Library Journal, May 1, 2003, Nadine Dalton Speidel, review of One Hundred Aspects of the Moon: Japanese Woodblock Prints by Yoshitoshi, p. 110.

Santa Fe New Mexican, June 2, 2000, Ellen Berkovitch, "Callooh! Callay!," p. 20; February 14, 2003, Craig Smith, "Faces of the Moon," p. 26; December 26, 2003, Lynn Cline, "Fine Print Written Word," p. 40.*