In this book, my art-historical research lens focuses on Japanisme, the 19th century wave of Japanophilia that took over France, thanks to the island nation opening its ports for international trade. Specifically, it focuses its gaze a few decades earlier, on Hokusai’s Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji (c. 1830-2), to analyze how this particular series successfully addressed Japanese ambivalence towards the West both in medium and composition. I also argue that this print series influenced the likes of Whistler and Monet to kick-start impressionism.
So it’s a lot! But hopefully engaging and coherent along the way 😀
I’ve written more about the subject at INKBRUSHMOOD, an art-historical blog where I occasionally write about ukiyo-e, and at Ediciones Pluma Verde, a small publisher of poetry, artbooks, fiction and non-fiction.
I’d love to get reviews on this! If you are interested in a free book, e-mail me at hello@robmarielopez.com and I will send you a copy for review.
Hello everyone! Thank you for visiting my online portfolio! I suppose there is no better way to officially inaugurate RL version 2.0 by sharing some great news: I was chosen as Outstanding Reviewer of the Year (2025) by the editorial office of the Chinese Medicine and Culture, an academic journal.
What an awesome honor! It has been quite rewarding in itself to provide insights to the manuscripts which are sent my way.
To celebrate my time at the journal, here are some of the published articles which I had the opportunity to review:
“Anatomical Retrofitting: Pi (脾) as Spleen and the Persistence of Ontological Ambivalence” by LI, Lan A.
One of the first articles I had the opportunity to review. Li coherently introduces the reader to the history of Pi (the Spleen meridian in traditional Chinese medicine) and its evolution as a concept throughout the years. As what is perhaps a surprising point for Western practitioners, the Spleen meridian once included the functions of the pancreas, pointing to the complexity of TCM understanding.
In a case of Western medicine reflecting what was already well-known in TCM, a study which analyzed the effect of particular digitalized vocalizations on TCM meridians found that the Hu vocalization, ranging from 2000 – 5000 Hz, positively affected the Spleen meridian (in that it actually produced a quantifiable response), supporting the dynamic nature of internal viscera as Li’s paper found.
“A Preliminary Study of the Relevance of Zhu You Shu and Narrative Medicine” by SUN, Qimeng; ZHAO, Lan; BAI, Xuerui; JIANG, Jiabao; QIU, Nan.
This quality paper explains the foundations of Zhu You Shu, a form of spiritual healing in traditional Chinese medicine, to establish a parallel with the three focuses and three elements of narrative medicine—an intervention which is very similar to narrative psychotherapy in principle and practice.
While the paper overall is solid work, the inclusion of case examples are especially useful for the reader/clinician who wishes to view Zhu You Shu in action. Also relevant are the figures, particularly figure 3, which explains the interoperability (or association) between Zhu You Shu and Narrative Medicine. One can see how both work together like a woven thread, guiding the patient’s narrative towards healthy, psychological closure, following the resolution of their symptoms.
“Clinical Humanistic Needs of Chinese Medicine Treatment of Chronic Urticaria from the Perspective of Narrative Medicine” by LIU, Shuchen; REN, Tengfei; Yaqoob, Muhammad Danish; ZHOU, Rongxin
Another interesting paper which reconceptualizes the TCM treatment of chronic urticaria from the perspective of narrative medicine. Specifically, such a treatment helps assess and treat non-biological causes of chronic urticaria, to improve the effectiveness of resulting interventions.
