Background
Soper, Alexander Coburn was born on February 18, 1904 in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Son of Alexander Coburn Junior and Bertha (Dunlop) Soper.
(Once slighted as mere copying from China, the arts of Jap...)
Once slighted as mere copying from China, the arts of Japan are now seen as a unique alternation of advances and withdrawals. At times the islanders produced Chinese-style works of great beauty, unmatched on the continent. When they chose to be independent, their art differs at every level. Sculpture, and even more painting, are concrete, sensuous, and emotional, speaking directly to all. All that was most native in architectural taste survived the periods of Chinese monumentality - huge temples and gridiron city plans - with little change. The rambling, wood-paper-and-bamboo dwelling re-emerged 1000 years ago, almost as it may still be seen today.
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(With almost 4000 years of artistic evolution - from the S...)
With almost 4000 years of artistic evolution - from the Shang Dynasty to the end of the Ch'ing in this century - the Chinese boast a longer span of cultural history than any other race. The abiding influence of tradition is stressed by both authors. Confucian restraint and Taoist escapism, among other religious and philosophical ideals, are constantly re-appearing and the importance of Buddhism in Chinese architecture is evidenced in the text and illustrations. But side by side with the world of the mind, conditions of material prosperity are also revealed as potent forces in art.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0300053347/?tag=2022091-20
(Once slighted as mere copying from China, the arts of Jap...)
Once slighted as mere copying from China, the arts of Japan are now seen as a unique alternation of advances and withdrawals. At times the islanders produced Chinese-style works of great beauty, unmatched on the continent. When they chose to be independent, their art differs at every level. Sculpture, and even more painting, are concrete, sensuous, and emotional, speaking directly to all. All that was most native in architectural taste survived the periods of Chinese monumentality - huge temples and gridiron city plans - with little change. The rambling, wood-paper-and-bamboo dwelling re-emerged 1000 years ago, almost as it may still be seen today.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140561080/?tag=2022091-20
Soper, Alexander Coburn was born on February 18, 1904 in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Son of Alexander Coburn Junior and Bertha (Dunlop) Soper.
AB, Hamilton College, 1925. Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary), Hamilton College, 1962. Master of Fine Arts in Architecture, Princeton University, 1929.
Doctor of Philosophy, Princeton University, 1944.
He was a longtime editor of the journal Artibus Asiae and professor at the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University. He lived in Japan for some time, before returning to Princeton and earning a Doctor of Philosophy in art history in 1944. He taught at Bryn Mawr College, and then at the Institute of Fine Arts (IFA) for more than 30 years from 1960.
After retiring from full-time teaching in the 1980s, he remained a doctoral adviser at IFA. Soper served as editor of the academic journal Artibus Asiae from 1958 until his death in 1993.
In 1990, he became the ninth person to be awarded the Charles Language Freer Medal by the Smithsonian Institution. He died at his home in Rosemont, Pennsylvania on January 13, 1993, at the age of 88.
(With almost 4000 years of artistic evolution - from the S...)
(Once slighted as mere copying from China, the arts of Jap...)
(Once slighted as mere copying from China, the arts of Jap...)
Major United States Marine Corps Reserve, 1941-1946, PTO. Member American Academy Arts and Sciences, British Academy.
Married Suzanne T. Smyth, June 15, 1929 (deceased August 1986). Children: Suzanne, John.