AusBonsai

Here are a few Japanese trees from 1971. I notice that they are styled in a more open and ''free'' way
Not so much attention given to wiring every twig and layering every branch into a compact and overly dense fashion. IMO the result is a more natural appearance when compared with modern trees. (styling)
Comments?

White


White


White


Ezo


Shimpaku



Black


Black


White


Maple? or hornbeam? Who would deliberately style a tree with two equally dominant trunks? We are told not to yet it works. Very natural appearance. Breaking the rules!


White


Shimpaku


Shimpaku

Black


Ezo


Shimpaku. Look at the beautiful cascading branch here. This is not done anymore. Why? Notice how you can see through to the small branches beneath. Too dense today IMO


Shimpaku


Modern Shimpaku.....What happened?

I think it can be put down to 'fashion', the current fashion of highly manicured trees has probably been driven by the desire to win shows based on what has won previously. If less stylised trees start winning shows because they look more natural that will become the latest fashion. Similar comparisons can be made with which size is desirable. Times will change according to demand.

Gerard wrote:I think it can be put down to 'fashion', the current fashion of highly manicured trees has probably been driven by the desire to win shows based on what has won previously. If less stylised trees start winning shows because they look more natural that will become the latest fashion. Similar comparisons can be made with which size is desirable. Times will change according to demand.

I hope so. I just wonder why the manicured trees started winning the prises in the first place..

treeman wrote:

Gerard wrote:I think it can be put down to 'fashion', the current fashion of highly manicured trees has probably been driven by the desire to win shows based on what has won previously. If less stylised trees start winning shows because they look more natural that will become the latest fashion. Similar comparisons can be made with which size is desirable. Times will change according to demand.

I hope so. I just wonder why the manicured trees started winning the prises in the first place..

Probably because the judges who choose the final winning tree's are often sponsors, not bonsai artists themselves.

Interesting concepts.

Bonsai today in many ways looks somewhat artificial.

The images from way back when look more like trees.

I wonder if this change in style has anything to do with promotion of events, images and videos online? People copying extremes etc

What happened to less is more?

I also prefer yesterdays heroes! Like everything that people do, we are always looking for something to differentiate us from the norm. Then people copy the new and the new becomes the norm then people start looking for something different and so the cycle goes on. Ever noticed how fashion keeps repeating itself after a while? Same with bonsai.

Remember Kimura's spectacular jins and sharis? Within a few years you couldn't see a juniper tree without them because seemingly every tree just had to be covered with them. The effect was watered down, and only the very best stayed in my memory for any length of time.

Thanks for the pics Treeman. Very natural looking trees.

I heard one of the western apprentices talk about this. If a client is paying lots of money to professionals to style trees they want to see evidence of the work. The more groomed the tree looks the easier it is to justify the bill. This reinforces the trend for 'poodles'. This does not mean it is a bad thing, you can't dispute taste.

Great post Mike!
We also prefer the more "natural yesterday look" of less is more and not the too manicured artificial looks where some "artists" try too hard to copy the rough and rugged look of some mountain pines etc. !
Cheers,
R&M

MoGanic wrote:

treeman wrote:

Gerard wrote:I think it can be put down to 'fashion', the current fashion of highly manicured trees has probably been driven by the desire to win shows based on what has won previously. If less stylised trees start winning shows because they look more natural that will become the latest fashion. Similar comparisons can be made with which size is desirable. Times will change according to demand.

I hope so. I just wonder why the manicured trees started winning the prises in the first place..

Probably because the judges who choose the final winning tree's are often sponsors, not bonsai artists themselves.

If that's the case then something is not right with the system. The judges should be seasoned bonsai professionals shouldn't they?
I'm sure the manicured trend will eventually become out of fashion as someone mentioned. I've been waiting the fashion of singing like a cat on heat to die out...and I'm still waiting....I have to rush for the remote every time an add for the X factor comes on! That's what a lot of these trees have become. Hollywood X factor trees with no soul.

I wonder whether WWII had anything to do with this. I understand that most bonsai were either destroyed or hidden in gardens because bonsai was seen as diverting resources away from the war effort. It would have taken quite a few years to restyle the few bonsai that were left and longer to grow and collect new specimens and get them looking manicured.

1971 was 26 years after the war ended but I'm not sure what resources were being put into bonsai during that time.
Just my thoughts on an alternative conclusion..........

G'day treeman, just wondering what publication these trees came from? Was it a bonsai contest book or a teaching manual?

Thanks

Adam

Webos wrote:G'day treeman, just wondering what publication these trees came from? Was it a bonsai contest book or a teaching manual?

Thanks

Adam

Don't know if it was a competition but it was from an exhibition. The only thing I can understand are the numbers 71'

Great post, Mike, thanks for sharing!

Sadly I think trends for greater grooming are going to continue while people are doing the same to themselves. Who'd have thought a person could make a living ripping hair off people's private parts, gluing acrylic nails on, or tweezing eyebrows for clients would be common enough that you could earn a living from it... The money people spend on trying to look "beautiful" would stagger some... and I suspect that this is rubbing off onto bonsai made to look like topiary.

Give me those natural shapes from 1971 any day!

In a way these trees remind me of photos of athletes and movie stars from the sixties and seventies. If you compare their physiques with those expected today, honed, toned and pumped up with steroids, I think theres a definite paralell with the trees that take the gongs these days.
This is not to detract from the extraordinary levels of skill, patience and technique that go into their creation, but my preference is for a much gentler, more natural look.
Thanks for posting!