Japanese Woodblock Prints. 45th Ed. (45th Edition)

Description

From Edouard Manet ’s portrait of naturalist writer Émile Zola sitting among his Japanese art finds to Van Gogh ’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 sensuality, freedom, and effervescence , the woodblock print is single-handedly credited with the wave of japonaiserie that first enthralled France and, later, all of Europe—but often remains misunderstood as an “exotic” artifact that helped inspire Western creativity. The fact is that the Japanese woodblock print is a phenomenon of which there exists no Western equivalent . Some of the most disruptive ideas in modern art —including, as Karl Marx put it, that “all that is solid melts into air”— were invented in Japan in the 1700s and expressed like never before in the designs of such masters as Hokusai, Utamaro, and Hiroshige in the early 19th century. This volume, derived from the original XXL monograph, lifts the veil on a much-loved but little-understood art form by presenting the most exceptional Japanese woodblock prints in their historical context. Ranging from the 17th-century development of decadent ukiyo-e , or “pictures of the floating world,” to the decline and later resurgence of prints in the early 20th century, 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 . 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, revealing the stories and people behind the motifs. We discover the four pillars of the woodblock print— beauties, actors, landscapes, and bird-and-flower compositions —alongside depictions of sumo wrestlers, kabuki actors, or enticing courtesans —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 demons, ghosts, man-eaters, and otherworldly creatures torment the living —stunning images that continue to influence Japanese manga, film, and video games to this day. We witness how, in their incredible breadth, from everyday scenes to erotica, the martial to the mythological, these works are united by the technical mastery and infallible eye of their creators and how, with tremendous ingenuity and tongue-in-cheek wit, publishers and artists alike fought to circumvent government censorship. As part of our 40th anniversary series , this edition compiles the finest extant impressions from museums and private collections across the globe in a lightweight, accessible format, offering extensive descriptions to guide us through this frantic period in Japanese art history. Review: Beautiful well made artbook, high quality print - I've been reading it for about 1 week now, it is really beautiful and sturdy, the narrative although a little west-oriented shows a deep knowledge of Japanese art bibliography and resources, providing you with precise names, nice historic facts and also original Japanese concepts and words while also driving the conversation of Japanese woodblock printing around its social importance. The curious thing about this book is that it has a purple long page that allows you to quickly go back and forth between the printing artis s (cronologically at 1/3 of the book) and the historic narrative that starts from the beginning. Overall, I love to be able to have this book in small format as I'm allowed to take it with me to Cafe's and Parks and appreciate the printings, is always well appreciated to have really, really crisps images and art reproductions (as you can see in the macro image), I've not found yet any image pixelated or with bad resolution, is just a really cool book for people that love to read about art history and just appreciate through paper this masterpieces, much better that a screen. ONE THING: the handling made the book appear with a little corner scrape (very tiny but you know) but because the book has hooked me so much I can pass on that. Just to keep in mind because this book is heavy. Review: Beautiful collection, excellent information - Beautifully put together book. Print reproductions are high-quality, accompanying text is very thoughtful and informative.