“All my work is based to some extent on Japanese art.” –Vincent van Gogh Vincent van Gogh’s (1853–1890) encounter with Japanese ukiyo-e prints during his time in Paris was decisive for the direction that his art would take in the years to come. He enthusiastically assembled a collection of the prints with the idea of dealing in them, and soon was captivated by their colorful and cheerful imagery and style, which began to exert a dramatic influence on his own work. Gradually this enchanted world became his main artistic reference point. From then on, he positioned himself as an artist in the Japanese tradition in order to gain a reputation with the avant-garde of the day. This gorgeous publication offers a detailed reassessment of the impact Japanese printmaking had on Van Gogh’s creative output. Featuring essays by the world’s leading Van Gogh experts, this book details the ways in which the artist constructed his understanding of a Japanese aesthetic and his utopian ideal of a so-called primitive society, and incorporated these into his own vision and practice. The size, nature, and importance of Van Gogh’s own collection of Japanese prints are also explored. Lavish illustrations include oil paintings and drawings by Van Gogh as well as a selection of the Japanese works that so captured his imagination.

Van Gogh and Japan

Arts & Photography

Van tilborgh, Louis

Bakker, Nienke

Uhlenbeck, Chris

Homburg, Cornelia

Kōdera, Tsukasa

History & Criticism

Mercatorfonds

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (18391892) created some of the most spectacular designs in 19th century Japanese woodblock prints. The last comprehensive overview of Yoshitoshis work was published almost twenty years ago, but advances in scholarship since then have resulted in a re-evaluation of his work. This publication draws from the Ed Freis collection, which was assembled over the course of thirty years. It illustrates numerous works from Yoshitoshis early career, including several prints that have to date not appeared in Western language catalogues.The two essays in the volume by Chris Uhlenbeck and Amy Reigle Newland take new approaches in the discussion of the art and life of Yoshitoshi, and depend little on the usual, at times dubitable, sources frequently used to paint a portrait of the artist. Chris Uhlenbeck offers insight into Yoshitoshi through a discussion of extant prints. He charts the development of Yoshitoshis work from the late 1850s, when he received his first substantial commissions from various publishers, to his death at the age fifty-three in 1892. Amy Reigle Newland establishes Yoshitoshis position among his peers using contemporary accounts found in types of popular guidebooks known as nazorae saiken(ki) (riddle guidebooks) and in the emerging press. The more than 160 illustrations in the volume are fully annotated. Ed Freis has selected a handful of Yoshitoshis signature works to highlight the details of process and variant editions. Maureen de Vries succinctly describes the often complex, layered iconography of Yoshitoshis imagery. Robert Schaap has created a valuable pictorial appendix of all Yoshitoshis documented serial works.

Yoshitoshi: Masterpieces from the Ed Freis Collection

Newland, Amy Reigle

Hotei Pub

Waves of renewal traces the history of Japanese printmaking following an era of decline beginning in the late nineteenth century. The early twentieth century witnessed the emergence of two principal printmaking movements. The first--shin hanga (new print)--reinvented and revitalised the conventional genres of landscape, beauties and actors. Shin hanga adhered to a traditional production method that was based on the cooperation between artist, block-cutter, printer and publisher. At the same time, it strove to forge a new visual language in both style and technique. The second--sōsaku hanga (creative print)--was inspired by the dialogue between Western and Japanese art and aesthetics. In the main, sōsaku hanga adherents advocated the participation of the artist in the entire creative process from design to production. Waves of renewal is the most comprehensive publication to date to focus on the holdings of the Nihon no hanga collection in Amsterdam. The 277 prints included showcase the sophistication of shin hanga and the boldness of sōsaku hanga. An introductory essay sets the stage, followed by ten shorter essays by noted scholars in the field that centre on aspects integral to our understanding of early to mid-twentieth century Japanese printmaking. Each print is documented and annotated in the extensive catalogue section. Contributors: Chris Uhlenbeck; Amy Reigle Newland; Shōichirō Watanabe; Setsuko Abe; Kendall H. Brown; Mikiko Hirayama; Junko Nishiyama; Chiaki Ajioka; Noriko Kuwahara; Kiyoko Sawatari; Maureen de Vries

Waves of Renewal: Modern Japanese Prints, 1900 to 1960; Selections from the Nihon No Hanga Collection, Amsterdam

de Vries, Maureen

Graphic Design

Mount Fuji has always stirred the imagination of artists. Many Japanese print artists, including some of the greatest, such as Hokusai and Hiroshige, have attempted to capture the spirit of the mountain in their designs. This book offers an overview of the many faces of Mount Fuji as seen through the eyes of such artists. The introduction focuses on Mount Fuji in mythology, early portrayal, pilgrimage history, and its depiction in Japanese prints -- in particular, in the work of Hokusai and Hiroshige. The book also contains chapters on Mount Fuji seen from the Tôkaidô, Fuji and the "Chûshingura" drama, Fuji and poetry ("surimono"), Fuji seen from Edo (present-day Tokyo) and "The thirty-six views of Mount Fuji."

Mount Fuji: Sacred Mountain of Japan

Molenaar, Merel

Hotei Publishing

Japanese Erotic Fantasies: Sexual Imagery of the Edo Period. Japanese Erotic Fantasies presents over 200 images, principally from the Edo period but also from the following Meiji era. Many of these works - drawn from international private and museum collections - are reproduced here for the first time. The catalogue is introduced by an essay from Chris Uhlenbeck which examines the history, meaning, function and market concerns of shunga. Ellis Tinios examines the facets of male-male sex in shunga imagery and the morphology of erotic books. Cecilia Segawa Seigle uses poetic and literary traditions to elaborate upon the relationship between shunga and women of the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter, and in a second shorter essay Seigle describes what a visit to the quarter would entail. Margarita Winkel considers the similarities and differences between sexually explicit illustrated books and gesaku literature. This is followed by a fully illustrated catalogue divided into six sections, each of which are prefaced by a brief introduction. Two short pieces on the sex shop Yotsumeya by Margarita Winkel and the genius of the Meiji artist Kawanabe Kyosai by Oikawa Shigeru also compose this catalogue section. The additional inclusion of a guide of book and print formats, glossary, exhaustive bibliography and Japanese character artist/title index make Japanese Erotic Fantasies the most in-depth study to date in English on the subject of Ukiyo-e erotica.

Japanese Erotic Fantasies: Sexual Imagery of the Edo Period

Winkel, Margarita

Japanese prints, and Japan in general, are highly popular nowadaysbr Japanese printmaking in the first half of the 20th century is relatively unknownbr Growing number of collectors of the genre of shin hanga [modern prints] in the US and in Europe Book contains a unique selection of prints, drawn from two private collections, and from the family of publisher Watanabe, who was the driving force behind the new print movement Accompanies a traveling exhibition in 3 countries 
Twentieth-century Japanese printmaking has come in for relatively little attention. Classic Hokusai and Hiroshige landscapes and Utamaro's beautiful images of women remain the dominant form. All the same, since the 1990s museums and private collectors have shown a growing interest in shin hanga (‘new prints'): balanced designs printed on luxurious paper, with the finest pigments and in smaller editions. They are the fruit of the traditional yet highly successful collaboration between artist, publisher, block-cutter and printer. It is not so much in their subject matter as their visual language that shin hanga prints set themselves apart from their traditional precursors. Where the classically depicted women were stylized and idealized, their more recent counterparts are based on real models, individually recognizable and full of emotion. The modern landscapes, meanwhile, are impressionistic rather than figurative, using a range of color nuances to achieve highly atmospheric results. This book offers a unique selection with which to explore 20th-century Japanese printmaking. The prints it reproduces are mostly drawn from two large private collections, and, by way of great exception, items from the family collection of the publisher Watanabe, the man who started it all.

Shin Hanga: The New Prints of Japan. 1900―1950

Dwinger, Jim

Ouweleen, Philo

Ludion Publishers

This book sheds light on the often mysterious iconography in Japanese prints Lavishly illustrated with over 130 prints of women and men, from the heyday of Japanese printmaking A passionate introduction to the intriguing art of Ukiyo-e 
Women and men – strong, proud, tragic or beautiful – from the heyday (1765–1865) of Japanese printmaking are this book's subject. It seeks to dig below the surface of the prints to describe the often subtle iconography employed in these masterful creations by the most famous artists of their time. It begins with Suzuki Harunobu's subdued and introverted scenes of women seated on verandas. The book then moves on to the spectacular ‘big face' (okubi-e) portraits of prostitutes and Kabuki actors by artists like Kitagawa Utamaro, Toshusai Sharaku and Utagawa Kunimasa. Frail ‘streetwalkers', forced by circumstance into the lowest ranks of prostitution, are transformed into elegant beauties, obscuring their tragic existence. The spectacle of heroes from Japan's rich mythological and pseudo-historical past crowd the printed sheet. Stern-faced actors drawn by the confident hands of Utagawa Toyokuni and his pupil Kunisada demonstrate the economy of line and powerful expression of the woodblock medium. Each print is explored in the finest detail in order to explain the riddles of Ukiyo-e: the intriguing and captivating mode of visual expression that would have such a profound influence on Western art.

The Riddles of Ukiyo-e: Women and Men in Japanese Prints

Individual Artists

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