George Tsutakawa

Aware of the ``symbolic quality of water all over the world,'' Tsutakawa, a noted painter and sculptor, began designing fountains in 1958. Today, aged 80, he is recognized as one of the world's foremost fountain designers , incorporating aspects of water's role in nature--falling, enveloping, accumulating--into the structure of the metal sculpture, eschewing what he sees as the gratuitious squirting and spurting of traditional Western fountains. This volume, published in conjunction with an exhibition at the Bellevue Art Museum in Washington State, is an insightful, engrossing chronicle of the artist's life and work. Interspersed with generous illustrations are Kingsbury's examinations of Tsutakawa's use of different media, including the sumi ink method, his experience with various aesthetic concepts, particularly cubism and surrealism, and his synthesis of Western and Eastern traditions. Of note is the artist's discovery of obos , ritually stacked rock formations found in the Indian Himalayas, which exert a powerful influence over his fountain designs. University of Washington art history professor Kingsbury's works include Art of the Thirties: The Pacific Northwest . (Dec.)