Visions of an Enduring World: Jacoulet and the People of OceaniaMain MenuIntroduction: The Pacific Islands and Paul JacouletDisappearing ParadiseAdornments of ParadiseLeisure of ParadiseCloseness to NatureBibliographyUSC Pacific Asia Museumd5c1cdb8968a27aeb8620e4c0c5fc7e36e111c30
BELLE DE YAP ET ORCHIDEES, QUEST CAROLINE (Yap Beauty and Orchards, West Carolines)
12020-10-09T11:11:56-07:00Curtis Fletcher3225f3b99ebb95ebd811595627293f68f680673e381503Paul Jacoulet Japan, c. 1934 Woodblock print Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Richard W. Child 1981.117.4plain2020-12-24T11:49:33-08:009.5433333333333,138.16583333333USC Pacific Asia Museumd5c1cdb8968a27aeb8620e4c0c5fc7e36e111c30
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12020-10-12T11:44:51-07:00Closeness to Nature19gallery2020-12-24T13:02:25-08:00What is your favorite Jacoulet portrait? How do you interpret the subjects of his prints? What do you think Jacoulet wants you to feel when you see his work?
Jacoulet’s focus on paradisal leisure and adornments evoke this theme of his subjects’ proximity to nature as a sign of “primitiveness”: primitive ways that inferred a natural progression to civilization through colonization. Between his watercolors and prints his subjects shift back and forth between melancholy and mischief as Jacoulet interprets their collective shift into “civilization” at the time of Japanese colonization. Overall Jacoulet provides a snapshot of Western understanding of the Pacific Islanders in the 20th century and how his art contributed to the sentiment of disappeared communities.
12020-10-12T11:42:19-07:00Naked Bodies8plain2020-12-17T14:21:48-08:00An important characteristic of many of Jacoulet’s portraits is the nakedness of the people. It brings attention to the unique adornments of his subjects that refer to cultural markers of the islands. It also exoticizes his islander subjects by invoking ideas of “primitiveness” that would disappear in the civilized world. His original watercolors of many of these works would often have sadness reflecting in the eyes of the islanders, premature wrinkles, and gray strands. These elements are Jacoulet’s interpretation of an aging and disappearing people.
What do you find intriguing about Jacoulet’s images?
Paul Jacoulet Japan, c. 1934 Woodblock print Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Richard W. Child 1981.117.4 The adornments on the Yapese women signal cultural meanings. The sennit necklace in the portrait indicated a sexually mature woman eligible for marriage. Her tattoos on her arms and hands suggests she is part of a high caste as she lives in a socially stratified society that included slavery until after World War II.
KAP-KAP NECK ORNAMENT Solomon Islands Clam shell and coral beads hung on nylon string Gift of Jarlan Givelber 1995.97.10 Kap-Kap ornaments are white discs made from a giant clam shell and worn as a suspended pendant, on headbands, or on belts by men of the Solomon and Santa Cruz Islands. They were worn into battle and festivals as a sign of personal wealth and status. The size and quality of the Kap-Kap indicated a person’s social status. This one has incised natural designs possibly derived from fish and bird motifs. Others may also have a decorative layer of openwork tortoise shell. Kap-Kaps are traded throughout Melanesia and still have high value for their beauty.
