Riddle in Nine Syllables

1550 Emerging Infectious Diseases • www.cdc.gov/eid • Vol. 18, No. 9, September 2012 “A elephant, a ponderous house / A melon strolling on two tendrils” is how Sylvia Plath described herself in “Metaphors.” In addressing her physical condition, the poet was acknowledging the psychological toll of changes to the female body during pregnancy, which she termed “a riddle in nine syllables.” The immensity of these changes has long preoccupied artists too, while the public health implications were left to physicians and others concerned with maternal and child health. It was along these lines that artist Paul Jacoulet addressed the theme of maternity in Le Trésor (Corée) (The Treasure [Korea]), on this month’s cover: maternity as a stage of life. Like Japanese master printer and painter of women Kitagawa Utamaro (1753–1806), a formative infl uence, Jacoulet was interested in mother and child as a special population, depicting them in their daily activities as persons with individuality and character. Jacoulet was born in Paris, a frail child, “like a damaged little worm,” ill with chronic bronchial problems. His family moved to Japan when he was very young. He grew up in Tokyo fi rmly grounded in Japanese culture, multilingual, with early training in music, dance, drama, and calligraphy. But art prevailed. “Almost before I spoke, I was glad to have a pencil in my hand.” He started to paint at age 11 under artist Seiki Kuroda (1883–1924), who taught Western art theories to the Japanese. Jacoulet grew up next door to ukiyo-e authority Yone Noguchi, father of sculptor Isamu Noguchi. Isamu’s mother, American writer Léonie Gilmour, taught Jacoulet English. An avid student of ukiyo-e, the woodblock print genre, Jacoulet quickly mastered and abandoned it for a style, uniquely his own, which combined exacting technique and Japanese brushwork with Western infl uences (Paul Gauguin, Édouard Manet, Henri Matisse) from his frequent trips to Paris and from a personal approach to line drawing and color use. Jacoulet was an innovator. He introduced embossing for added texture and enriched his prints with colored micas, crushed pearls, lacquers, and silver, gold, Paul Jacoulet (1902–1960) Le Trésor (Corée) Japan, 20th century Ink and paper (overall 23.5 cm × 30.2 cm; image 14.6 cm × 9.8 cm; card 14.6 cm × 9.8 cm) Pacifi c Asia Museum, Pasadena, California, USA, Gift of Eleanor L. Gilmore www.pacifi casiamuseum.org