ITALIAN BOOK REVIEWS

AIAS. 2024

AIAS. 2024

Rating: Excellent, a beautifully produced book, and an important reference to southern European stones. 

Associazione Italiana Amatori Suiseki. 180 pages, No ISBN.


n late October 2024, the AIAS held its 27th annual congress and exhibition in Martina Franca in Puglia Italy. The annual meetings are held in different regions of Italy and are typically hosted by a local bonsai club. Once again, the AIAS staged an exceptional display of 83 stone displays. A remarkable diversity of fine stones was exhibited. The rocks were assigned to one of five broad categories: landscape, object, biseki, contemplative, and multiple stones.   


This year, viewing stone connoisseur Martin Pauli, an artist and maker of fine watches, from Switzerland was the honored guest and judge. Once the judging was completed and awards presented, Pauli led a walking tour of the exhibit and comments on each stone for the participants. This volume has a detailed account of the evaluation system Pauli used to judge the exhibition. This system is based on Japanese standards for displaying suiseki in a tokonoma. He used a point-based system using twelve criteria.


This volume is a valuable reference for serious students of viewing stone appreciation. Attending one of the AIAS annual exhibitions is a treat and a good learning experience. Investing in a trip to Italy to attend their next exhibition in the future is highly recommended. 


AIAS. 2023

Associazione Italiana Amatori Suiseki


Rating: Excellent, a fine volume that features some of the finest viewing stones collected in Italy. This is a must-have book for stone connoisseurs worldwide. 

144 pages. No ISBN. No Price given

 

Year after year, the AIAS stages a major exhibition primarily of excellent Italian viewing stones. Their 26th annual Congress, held October 13-15 in Forli, Italy, demonstrates the leadership role that the AIAS plays in European stone appreciation. This is due, in large part, to the officers of this fine organization headed by their president Luciana Queirolo. Approximately 12,000 people viewed this exhibit.


The twenty-six AIOAS Congress was held in Forti, Italy was hosted by the Bonsai Club Forli. This year’s exhibition consisted of 79 displays, including eight multi-tiered stands with several small rocks. Each of the seventy-nine displays is included in this catalog. The stunning photographs in this catalog were taken by Ulisse Maccaferri, a long-time member of the AIAS. The text is in Italian and English.


The award-winning stones and stone displays in the exhibition are presented first, followed by the stones in five distinct categories: landscape (36), object (18), biseki (5), contemplative (12), and multiple stones (8). Chiara Padrini, one of the founders of the AIAS, was invited to judge the 79 entries and comment on the stones. Her comments on the award winners are given at the end of this volume.




AIAS, 2021

Suiseki

Rating: Excellent, a valuable reference for viewing enthusiasts and stone connoisseurs

Associazione Italiana Amatori Suiseki. 118 pages. No ISBN. No price given


The Associazione Italiana Amatori Suiseki (AIAS) held its 24th annual congress and an exhibition in the Stazione Leopolda in Pisa from November 5-7, 2021. The event, featuring 79 stones, was hosted by the Bonsai Art Club of Pisa. The majority of the suiseki on display were either landscape or object types. This volume documents this important display of high-quality stones. Each stone in the exhibit was allotted a full page, thus, it is possible to observe detailed aspects of each entry.


Landscape and object-shaped limestone rocks dominated the entries in this book. Stones from other regions of Italy are becoming more frequent at the AIAS conventions. Excellent stones are exhibited from Tuscany, Calabria, Puglia, Dalmazia, Campania, and Lombardy. An award-winning stone from Calabria in the biseki category is reminiscent of some of the colorful red and green stones found in the northern California Trinity River watershed. Several susieki from Japan were also displayed in this three-day exhibition.


The AIAS has rightfully earned a reputation for staging well-thought-out displays of excellent stones. Their annual exhibitions are among the best in Europe. 

AIAS, 2020

Suiseki

Rating: Excellent, a must for serious students of viewing stones and suiseki. 

Associazione Italiana Amatori Suiseki. 105 pages, no ISBN. No price given.


The Associazione Italiana Suiseki (AIAS) was unable to hold their annual convention and exhibition due to the Covid-19 virus. Instead, the AIAS invited its members to participate iualityqn a project to publish a photo catalog of outstanding stones. Each member submitted multiple photographs of one stone for evaluation.  If accepted, the images were sent to Martin Pauli, a well-respected European connoisseur of Japanese susieki, for comment. Pauli wrote his opinion on a series of features for each stone included in this volume. These features are form, mass and shape, quality, color, texture, age, natural feeling, and daiza.


The vast majority of the stones featured in this book are Italian, followed by several entries from other European countries, and a few stones from Japan. The quality of the stones illustrated in this volume is a clear indication of the advanced level of understanding among the members of AIAS of the Japanese style stone appreciation. Fifty stones are included, each with a full-page photograph and an opposing page of comments by Martin Pauli. The combination of quality photographs together with Pauli’s assessments make this is truly an outstanding contribution from one of the world’s leading organizations. 

Covello, V T & Y Yoshimura 1994

L’Arte del Suiseki. Collezionare pietre: raccolta, esposizione e uso con I bonsai

Rating: Good, a valuable but somewhat outdated reference
Societa Nazionale del Verde, Milano.

This is an authorized Italian translation and publication of Covello and Yoshimura’s 1984 edition of The Japanese Art of Stone Appreciation: Suiseki and Its Use with Bonsai. As a result of this publication, many Italian bonsai enthusiast could learn about Japanese style stone appreciation. This has led to the development of a strong nationwide group of avid stone aficionados in Italy that follow Japanese style suiseki. This volume was the sole book in Italian until Antonio Ricchiari’s book Suiseki pietre d’arte was published in 2001. These two volumes serve as important references for Italian stone enthusiasts.

Queirolo, L 2017

XIX Associazione Italiana Amatori Suiseki Congresso Nazionale—Edizione 2016 

Rating: Excellent, an important reference to Italian stone appreciation culture and the many contributions that the AIAS has made over nearly two decades
Tokuma Shoten, Tokyo. 318 pp. No ISBN number. 1300 Yen when published.

This is an impressive volume that generously illustrates the various types of stones collected and appreciated in Japan beginning with the northern-most island of Hokkaido and progressing southward region by region. Other than one color photograph, the illustrations are black and white. Two or three stones are illustrated on each page, and each has a brief caption including dimensions. Each stone is shown in a  carved wood base or positioned in a tray. Text is limited to a twenty-eight page section at the end of the book. It is a good volume for stone enthusiasts to see the range of rocks utilized at this time.

Ricchiari, Antonio 2001

Suiseki pietre d’arte

Rating: Excellent, a great introduction to the art of stone appreciation
Progetto Bonsai. Palermo. 144 pp. No ISBN. 25.3 Euros when published.

This is the first Italian language book on stone appreciation and helps explain why the hobby of collection and displaying unusual stones is so well established in Italy. It is an excellent book that provides a brief introduction to both Chinese and Japanese stone appreciation culture. Ricchiari relies heavily upon the earlier work of Covello and Yoshimura; thus, his volume emphasizes Japanese practices and conclusions arrived at by members of the European Suiseki Association. He introduces readers to the philosophy supporting Japanese suiseki and the Japanese concepts of wabi, sabi, shibui and yugen. He presents a detailed classification system that has intrigued western stone hobbyists more than their Japanese counterparts. A fairly detailed account of displayed techniques is presented; however, there is an over emphasis on precise measurements which is one of the misconceptions that western stone enthusiasts have about Japanese display techniques. It ends with a nice introduction to bonkei (tray landscape), saikei (miniature landscape scene), and hako-niwa (miniature garden).

This is soft bound, generously illustrated volume with an attractive design and layout. There is a 23-page photographic gallery in the middle of the book to provide new stone hobbyists with examples of different fine stones and how to display them. Ricchiari is also the author of a 1995 book on bonsai. His contributions to the Italian art of bonsai and stone appreciation are significant.

Mari, Roberto 2008

Giottolandia

Rating: Very good. This small volume in Italian opens the door to a new type of stone for viewing stone enthusiasts
Giunti Editore S.p.A., Florence and Milan. 64 pages, ISBN 978-88-09-06308-2. Nine Euros.

The Nanjing Rain Flower pebbles, famous for their colors and patterns, were among the first stones collected and appreciated as aesthetic objects. Their appeal continues to the present as thousands of collectors in China regularly exhibit these stones submerged in small white bowls with water. Now, the Italian version of these small stones are presented in Giottolandia. Mari has been collecting rare and unusual small pebbles along the coasts and rivers of central southern Tuscany. These stones have extraordinary patterns. Mari described them as “where colors and lines form compositions of absolute beauty—such as the beauty of some sunsets and of infinite variety.” This volume clearly illustrates that small stones can be just as fascinating as the larger pattern stones that are collected.

A variety of these small pebbles are beautifully illustrated in this soft cover book. Two short contributed essays precede a longer article The Discovery of Giottolandia by Mari. Most of this book is devoted to color illustrations of “Italian Rain Flower” pebbles. Each stone resembles a contemporary abstract paintings where lines intersect and colors sharply contrast with each other.

Queirolo, Luciana 2019

XXI Congresso Nazionale – Edizione 2018

Rating: Excellent. Major exhibitions held in other countries should follow the examples set by the AIAS
Associazione Italian Amatori Suiseki, 128 pages. No ISBN Number. 25 Euros. Sarzana, Italy. 136 pages. No ISBN number. 25 Euros.

Once again, the AIAS demonstrates why this organization is a world leader in viewing stone appreciation. This book provides information about their 2018 annual convention held in Florence in October. Background information about the AIAS, past conventions, and detailed information about the current venue, Il Tepidarium del Roster, is included. The majority of the book is devoted to full page illustrations of each stone exhibited at this convention. A photograph of each exhibitor and their contact information is included to promote interaction between the AIAS members. The quality of the stones was excellent and many were displayed using traditional Japanese methods. Lectures were given by Edoardo Rossi and Tom Elias. Awards are given to the best stones in each several categories and these are featured in this volume.

This type of documentation of a major exhibition is important in that it provides a valuable record of the event but it also serves as an important document for stone lovers in other countries to learn about quality stones and excellent display techniques.

Rossi, E 2016

Kazari, L’arte di esporre il Bonsai e il Suiseki (The Art of Displaying Bonsai and Suiseki)

Rating: Excellent, recommended for anyone wishing to learn more about the Keido School of display
Crespi Editori, Parabiago, Italy. 256 pp. ISBN 88-87257-28-0. 49.50 €.

This newly published book about the art of displaying bonsai and suiseki is truly excellent. It represents the culmination of many years of study in Japan by Rossi with leading bonsai and display masters including Yamada, Kobayashi, and Sudo. Rossi embraced the Keido School of display that was established in 1986 when Katayama Teiichi established his Keido Katayama reflecting his strong advocacy for refined displays using traditional Japanese tokonoma, display tables, scrolls and small accessories.

This volume is divided into thirteen well illustrated chapters beginning with the importance of the display of bonsai and suiseki. Following chapters are devoted to the tokonoma, use of space, screens, positioning bonsai and suiseki in display spaces, elements used in display, display tables, accompanying plants, and small accessories (tenpai). Each chapter has numerous photographs showing the correct and incorrect ways of displaying tree and stones.

This is a beautiful, well designed, large format book that will appeal to a wide audience interested in learning more about this subject. The text is in Italian and English. The translator and editor provided a clear and concise English translation of the Italian text. Thus, this book is a valuable resource to English reading enthusiasts of bonsai and stone appreciation.

Schenone, A 2009

I Suiseki, Magiche Pietre dell’Appennino (Suiseki, Magical Stones of Appennino)

Rating: Excellent, a good introduction to Italian Ligurian stones
Quaderni del Lascito Cuneo. 79 pp. Documentation Centre of the Muncipal Library of San Colombiana Certenoli. No ISBN number or price given.

This is this is an important early book in Italian on Asian style stone appreciation. It was produced by long-time stone collectors Andrea and Mirella Schenone and features stones from their collection. They were collecting stones for their natural beauty long before they heard of Japanese suiseki. Several other stone collectors were enlisted to write short articles about Japanese suiseki and about the geology of the Ligurian region where the Schenones live. Vincent Covello and Yuji Yoshimura’s earlier book on suiseki provides much of the basis for the definition and classification of suiseki.

The second majority of the book—pages 26-78, is devoted to to full-page illustration of many of the stones in the Schenone’s personal collections. Ligurian palombino stones dominate those illustrated, some in color and the remainder in black and white. The palombino stones are composed of limestone and are generally lighter in color and softer than most of the Japanese suiseki. Despite that, most of the stones are beautiful landscape scenes although there are several great animal figure stones illustrated as well.
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