This page is referenced by:

• 1 2020-10-12T11:44:51-07:00 Closeness to Nature 19 gallery 2020-12-24T13:02:25-08:00 What 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 20^th century and how his art contributed to the sentiment of disappeared communities.
  
  
  
  
  
• 1 2020-12-17T15:51:55-08:00 Aesthetic vs. Utility - Continued 8 plain 2020-12-17T15:57:40-08:00 LA TRESSEUSE DE PANIERS. ROMOUE, YAP (The Basket Weaver) 
  Paul Jacoulet
  Japan, c. 1948
  Woodblock print
  Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Richard W. Child
  1982.133.45
  Here we see one of the few exacting tasks depicted in Jacoulet’s portraits: a straightforward scene of a basket weaver working. Romoue, Yap is the setting of this print, idyllically depicted in the background. It stands out among Jacoulet’s work as it moves away from Jacoulet’s aesthetic of paradisal leisure and was unexpectedly popular during its release.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  BABY CARRIER
  Yap, Caroline Islands, 20^th Century
  Plaited palm leaves 
  Gift of Madeline and Robert Sharples, in memory of Paul Sharples
  1999.65.1
  Women were often the makers of fiber and textile arts in Micronesia and they commonly plaited pandanus and palm leaves similar to this baby carrier. Fine baskets in Yap often held personal items such as leaves, betel nuts, and lime. In Pohnpei and Nauru women plaited dress mats and skirts, decorating their plaited leaves with shells, seeds, and feathers that would indicate clan affiliation.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  LE BETEL, YAP  (The Betel Nut Boy, Yap) 
  Paul Jacoulet
  Japan, c. 1940
  Woodblock Print
  Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Richard W. Child
  1981.117.33
  This rare and popular first printing depicts a young boy combining coral lime, mint leaves, and the betel nut with a pestle. Betel nuts are used as an intoxicating stimulant in the Pacific Islands.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  PESTLE
  Micronesia
  Wood
  Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Bennett
  1988.41.12