Japanese Woodblock Prints

<p>From <strong>Edouard Manet</strong>’s portrait of naturalist writer <strong>Émile Zola</strong> sitting among his Japanese art finds to <strong>Van Gogh</strong>’s meticulous copies of the Hiroshige prints he devotedly collected, 19th-century pioneers of European modernism made no secret of their love of Japanese art. In all its <strong>sensuality, freedom, and effervescence</strong>, the woodblock print is single-handedly credited with the wave of <em>japonaiserie</em> that first enthralled France and, later, all of Europe—but often remains misunderstood as an “exotic” artifact that helped inspire Western creativity.<br /><br /> The fact is that the Japanese woodblock print is a phenomenon of which <strong>there exists no Western equivalent</strong>. Some of <strong>the most disruptive ideas in modern art</strong>—including, as Karl Marx put it, that “all that is solid melts into air”—<strong>were invented in Japan in the 1700s </strong>and expressed like never before in the designs of such masters as <strong>Hokusai, Utamaro, and Hiroshige </strong>in the early 19th century.<br /><br /> This book lifts the veil on a <strong>much-loved but little-understood art form</strong> by presenting the <strong>200 most exceptional Japanese woodblock prints</strong> in their historical context. Ranging from the <strong>17th-century development of decadent <em>ukiyo-e</em></strong>, or “pictures of the floating world,” to the decline and later resurgence of prints in the <strong>early 20th century</strong>, the images collected in this edition make up an unmatched record not only of a unique genre in art history, but also of the shifting mores and cultural development of Japan.<br /><br /> From mystical mountains to snowy passes, samurai swordsmen to sex workers in shop windows, each piece is explored as a work of art in its own right, <strong>revealing the stories and people</strong> behind the motifs. We discover the four pillars of the woodblock print—<strong>beauties, actors, landscapes, and bird-and-flower compositions</strong>—alongside depictions of<strong> sumo wrestlers, kabuki actors, or enticing courtesans</strong>—rock stars who populated the “floating world” and whose fan bases fueled the frenzied production of woodblock prints. We delve into the horrifying and the obscure in prints where <strong>demons, ghosts, man-eaters, and otherworldly creatures torment the living</strong>—stunning images that continue to influence Japanese manga, film, and video games to this day. We witness how, in their incredible breadth, from <strong>everyday scenes to erotica, the martial to the mythological</strong>, these works are united by the<strong> technical mastery and infallible eye of their creators</strong> and how, with tremendous ingenuity and tongue-in-cheek wit, publishers and artists alike fought to circumvent government censorship.<br /><br /> Three years in the making, this XXL edition presents reproductions of the finest extant impressions from the vaults of museums and private collections across the globe—many <strong>newly photographed especially for this project</strong>. Some <strong>17 stunning fold-outs</strong> invite us to study even the subtlest details, while<strong> extensive descriptions</strong> guide us through this frantic period in Japanese art history.<br /><br /> Features: The work of <strong>89 artists</strong>, from the world-renowned to the unfamiliar <strong>7 chapters</strong> organized chronologically to trace the history of the medium from 1680 to 1938 17 fold-outs, <strong>hand-folded</strong> due to their size and specifications Exclusive reproductions from museums and private collections An appendix listing all artists and works </p>