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diff --git a/42811.txt b/42811.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b3538a3 --- /dev/null +++ b/42811.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2554 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Japanese Colour-Prints and Their Designers +by Frederick Gookin + + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no +restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under +the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or +online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license + + + +Title: Japanese Colour-Prints and Their Designers + +Author: Frederick Gookin + +Release Date: May 25, 2013 [Ebook #42811] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JAPANESE COLOUR-PRINTS AND THEIR DESIGNERS*** + + + + + + [HARUNOBU. Lovers walking in Snow.] + + HARUNOBU. Lovers walking in Snow. + + + Japanese Colour-Prints and Their Designers + +A Lecture Delivered Before the Japan Society of New York on April 19, 1911 + + + + + + By Frederick William Gookin + + + + +New York +The Japan Society + +1913 + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +JAPANESE COLOUR-PRINTS AND THEIR DESIGNERS +CATALOGUE OF A LOAN COLLECTION OF JAPANESE COLOUR-PRINTS + INTRODUCTION + CATALOGUE + + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +HARUNOBU. Lovers walking in Snow. +MORONOBU. Nobleman and two Ladies at Seashore. +KIYOMASU. Actors' Boating Party +MASANOBU. Geisha playing Samisen. +TOYONOBU. Actor reading Letter +KIYOMITSU. Daimyo Procession Game. +HARUNOBU. Young Woman before Torii. +HARUNOBU. The Sleeping Elder Sister. +HARUNOBU. The Sleeping Elder Sister. +HARUNOBU. The Sleeping Elder Sister. +HARUNOBU. Woman reading Letter. +KORYUSAI. Musume leaping from Temple Balcony. +SHUNSHO. Woman in Red. +KIYONAGA. Holiday Group at Gotenyama. +KIYONAGA. Picnic Party. +BUNCHO. Actor as Woman talking to Men. +KIYONAGA. Man and two Women approaching Temple. +SHUNCHO. Women watching Girls bouncing Balls. +EISHI. Fete in a nobleman's palace. +SHARAKU. Two Actors. +UTAMARO. Woman with a Musical Toy. +TOYOKUNI. Women in Bath House. +HOKUSAI. Fuji from Ushibori. +HIROSHIGE. Pines at Hammamatsu. + + + + + + +JAPANESE COLOUR-PRINTS AND THEIR DESIGNERS + + +In the annals of art production the colour-prints designed by the master +artists of the Ukiyoe school occupy a unique place. They represent a +plebeian art which was not a spontaneous upgrowth from the soil, but, so +to speak, a down-growth or offshoot from an old and highly developed art +of aristocratic lineage. + +This elder art had its fountain-head in ancient China. That country, +during the Tang and the Sung dynasties (618-905, 960-1280), was the seat +of an aesthetic movement during which painting and other arts reached an +extraordinarily high development. To the works produced during this great +flowering-time of art the Japanese painters of the classical schools +turned for inspiration and enlightenment. These works were distinguished +by singleness of purpose, rhythmic vitality, and synthetic coherence, and +by a clear conception of the essential that goes far beyond anything +elsewhere attained, and which, when fully apprehended, must inevitably +force a revision of Western ideas and criteria. + +The art of ancient China and of the earlier Japanese schools is an art +refined, poetic, and intensive to the last degree. It is based upon +profound understanding of aesthetic laws. The artists were carefully +grounded in the fundamental principles that govern all art, whether +Oriental or Occidental. The result of this training is apparent in the +homogeneity of their works. In Europe very confused notions have prevailed +as to what should be done and what is permissible in art. Not even the +great artists have always seen clearly; had they done so, it cannot be +doubted that Western achievement would have attained a much higher level +than it has ever reached. + +In the Japanese modifications of the ancient Chinese art its traditions +and aesthetic ideals were sedulously preserved. With only rare exceptions, +the artists--and under this head it is necessary to include potters, +lacquerers, metal-workers, swordsmiths, and others--were drawn from the +upper classes. Many of them were in the service of the daimyo, and did not +sell their productions, but received from their noble patrons regular +stipends in koku of rice. Seldom did any of their works find their way +into the hands of the common people, who had little opportunity, +therefore, to become familiar with them. Gradually, however, as the number +of paintings, statues, and other art objects multiplied and the temples +were filled with votive offerings, the classical art made its impress upon +buildings, wearing apparel, and utensils of all sorts; its conventions and +principles were laid hold of by all classes and became the heritage of the +entire people. + + [MORONOBU. Nobleman and two Ladies at Seashore.] + + MORONOBU. Nobleman and two Ladies at Seashore. + + +The social fabric in old Japan was one of sharp distinctions. At the upper +end of the scale were the Emperor; the kuge, or court nobles; the daimyo, +or lords of the two hundred and fifty-one provinces; and the samurai, or +hereditary military men, from whom were recruited the officials, priests, +and scholars. Between these and the lower classes was an almost +immeasurable gulf. Highest among the heimen, or commoners, were the +farmers. Below them were the artisans, and still lower were the merchants, +innkeepers, servants, and the like; while lowest of all were the eta, or +outcasts, a class comprising scavengers, butchers, leather-workers, and +others engaged in what were considered degrading occupations. + +Under the peaceful regime of the Tokugawa shoguns there was a sociological +change that in the cities almost amounted to a transformation. The most +salient feature was the rise of the tradesmen and artisans to wealth and +power. Many places of amusement sprang up, restaurants and tea-houses +multiplied, jugglers, story-tellers, musicians, and other itinerant +entertainers found audiences in every street, fetes were frequently held +in the temple compounds, the theatre rose to a position of prominence, and +the yukwaku, or courtesan quarters, with their medley of attractions, +became established institutions. + +The art of the Ukiyoe was a direct outcome of the gay life of this time. +The inception of the school dates back to the closing years of the +sixteenth century, when a reaction set in against the Chinese classicism +of the Ashikaga period. This manifested itself in the choice of Japanese +instead of Chinese subjects, and in novel treatment in which features of +both the classic Kano and Tosa styles were combined, but which in many +respects broke away from academic traditions. The reputed leader of the +revolt was Iwasa Shoi, better known as Matahei, son of the Daimyo of +Itami; but other distinguished artists, notably Kano Sanraku, also painted +pictures in the new manner, which was not then held to constitute a +distinct school. The subjects being drawn from the life of the people, +these pictures were called Ukiyoe. E is the Japanese term for a picture or +drawing.(1) Ukiyo, as originally written, had a Buddhistic signification +and was applied to the secular as distinguished from the ecclesiastical +world. Literally the word means "the miserable world," but as now used it +may be more accurately translated as "the passing (or floating) world of +every-day life." + +Perhaps for the reason that Ukiyoe themes were not considered quite +dignified, and because they did not express poetic ideas, the Ukiyo +paintings of Matahei and his contemporaries and successors, though prized +and much sought after, were seldom signed, and the identification of their +authorship is a matter of extreme difficulty. For more than half a century +works in this manner continued to be produced in considerable numbers, but +the movement did not crystallize into a school until, in the person of +Hishikawa Moronobu, a leader appeared to give it form and direction. +Moronobu was an artist of rare distinction. His paintings were eagerly +sought by the daimyos and the wealthier samurai. But Moronobu was a man of +the people, and it was as a designer of book illustrations and later of +ichimai-ye, or single-sheet prints, that he gave the impetus to Ukiyoe. +For fifty years or more prior to his time books with engraved +illustrations had been published in Japan, but they were comparatively few +and the illustrations were poor and crudely executed. The twelve drawings +Moronobu made for a book of instruction for women in etiquette and +hygiene, published in 1659, marked a decided advance. This, so far as we +know, was the first of a long series of books illustrated by him. Their +popularity was deservedly great, and by them his fame became wide-spread. +The illustrations were printed in black from blocks similar to those from +which the text was printed, and were characterized by fine broad treatment +and a rather wiry but strong and expressive outline. + +About 1670 Moronobu began to issue large single-sheet prints which could +be affixed to screens or mounted as kakemono. These prints, which were +impressions in black from one block only, are known as sumi-ye--_sumi_ +being the Japanese name for Chinese--or, as we incorrectly call it, +India--ink. They were designed to be coloured by hand, and apparently a +part of the edition was so coloured before being placed on sale by the +publishers. At first this colouring consisted of a few touches of +yellow-green crudely laid on; later it became more elaborate, and +occasionally we meet with prints that are very beautifully coloured, but +in such cases it is impossible to tell when or by whom the colouring was +done. The probability is that in some instances it was the work of +purchasers of the prints. + +Moronobu's pupils, of whom there were many, devoted themselves almost +exclusively to painting. After his death in 1695, the production of prints +fell chiefly into the hands of Torii Kiyonobu and his son Torii Kiyomasu, +two artists who take rank among the most talented men of the Ukiyoe +school. Moronobu had taken for the subjects of his prints historic +incidents, the manners and customs of the people, and, in particular, +women and their occupations and amusements. To these the Torii artists, +seeing a new and fertile field for the print-designer in the rise of the +theatre as a popular form of entertainment, added portraits of actors in +the costumes of their most admired roles. Especially esteemed were +Kiyonobu's portraits of the first DanjuIroI. During the Genroku period +(1688-1704) the people developed a passion for the theatre that amounted +to veritable madness. In the first quarter of the eighteenth century this +reached a height that sorely troubled the Tokugawa rulers. To check it +various expedients--among them the exclusion of women from the stage--were +tried. They only added fuel to the flame. Certain gross practices were +abolished. This helped to purify the theatre, but also to perpetuate it by +removing the seeds of what must inevitably have meant its early decay. +Actors of distinguished ability became popular idols. Their comings and +goings were like royal progresses. Wherever they went, were it to view the +cherry blossoms at Ueno, for a boating party on the river, or for a visit +to the Yoshiwara, they moved in state. Yet their rank in the social scale +was so low that they were looked upon as little better than eta. The +earliest actors were contemptuously termed _kawara-mono_ (river-bed folk), +from the fact that the first theatrical performances in Japan were upon a +stage erected in the dry bed of the Kamogawa at Kyoto. The stigma that +attached to their origin and to the vulgarity of the early performances +has never been entirely lifted. Many of the Ukiyoe artists felt it a +degradation to make drawings of actors. Nevertheless the popular demand +created a supply, and for more than a century a large proportion of the +enormous output of prints consisted of theatrical scenes and portraits of +the performers. + + [KIYOMASU. Actors' Boating Party] + + KIYOMASU. Actors' Boating Party + + +Many of the prints produced during the early years of the eighteenth +century were large single figures of actors, geishas, and women of the +Yoshiwara. These were broadly treated, with strong, free brush-strokes +based upon the technique of the Kano masters and quite different from +Moronobu's style, which was more nearly like that of the Tosa painters. +Each of the classical schools, I may explain, had its own peculiar +methods, for which brushes of special shape were required. In their +spontaneity, their freedom, their glorious sweep of line, these prints are +among the finest works of the Ukiyoe school. Among them are many +masterpieces of linear composition. Yet by the people of the upper classes +they were regarded as hopelessly vulgar. Though the Kano painters used +similar sweeping strokes, they laid great stress upon carefully modulated +tone. The notan, or lightness and darkness of the ink in different parts +of the drawing, was an essential quality. It should not be confused with +chiaroscuro, the science of light and shade. Notan signifies merely +difference in lightness and darkness of tone. In the early prints this did +not appear. All the lines were uniformly black. And the addition of +colouring which was looked upon as coarse and gaudy was a further offence +to persons of refined taste. + +Our vision not being hampered by the canons of the Kano academy, we can +appreciate the distinguished character of these compositions. +Unquestionably the brush-work of a Sesshu, a Motonobu, or a Tanyu--to name +a few only of the most eminent of the Japanese painters--has a precious +quality not to be found in any printed line.(2) Nevertheless the primitive +Ukiyoe prints have a freshness and vital force peculiarly their own. The +word "primitive" as applied to these prints calls for a word of +explanation. They are primitive, not in their art, which is highly +developed, but merely as regards its application to wood-engraving. + +The failure of Japanese connoisseurs to appreciate Ukiyoe art is not, +however, entirely or even principally because of its technique. The art of +the classical schools is deeply imbued with poetic feeling and usually is +dignified in subject. Ukiyoe art, on the contrary, is flippant, whimsical, +comic. Except when it deals with portraits, landscapes, or birds and +flowers--subjects that are not strictly Ukiyoe--it is seldom that the things +depicted are intended to be taken quite seriously. In nearly every picture +there is some joke, open or cleverly hidden, some amusing fantasy in the +shape of a modern analogue or travesty of popular myth, well-known tale, +or historical event. Sly hits at the vices or follies of the aristocrats +are not uncommon. A very large proportion of the subjects deals with the +theatre and the denizens of the Yoshiwara. To the Japanese of the upper +classes Ukiyoe art was a synonym for the art of the underworld. It is not +surprising that they failed to appreciate its merit. To give Ukiyoe +paintings or prints an honourable place in one's house was a confession of +lack of taste. Were there no other reason, the subjects for the most part +rendered them unfit, if not impossible. The prints were indeed amusing, +and therefore many of them were saved; but they were looked upon much as +we regard the pictures in our comic periodicals. Even when the art in +these is good, it is hard to disassociate it from the humour and to enjoy +it for itself alone. More commonly we fail to appreciate it as art or even +to think of it as such. So it was with the prints. To the Japanese they +appeared little better than children's toys. In considering this we should +not overlook the important circumstance that when first printed they were +in general less charming than they are to-day. The wonderful colour that +makes them so entrancing has come in large measure through the mellowing +influence of time. Not infrequently this has wrought transformations that +would seem incredible did not close study show clearly the changes that +have taken place. + + [MASANOBU. Geisha playing Samisen.] + + MASANOBU. Geisha playing Samisen. + + +Even to-day inherited prejudice prevents wide-spread appreciation of the +prints in the land of their origin. Our enthusiastic admiration is still +more or less a mystery to our neighbours across the Pacific. Only now, +when most of the fine prints have passed into the hands of European and +American collectors, are the Japanese connoisseurs beginning to understand +how it is that the Western art-lover, unfettered by any traditional point +of view and not disturbed by any meanings the subject may hold or suggest, +is able to perceive the glorious colour, the superb composition, the +masterly treatment and rare beauty to which they have been blind. + +The history of art is everywhere among civilized peoples a record of the +influence of a succession of ideas, each in turn dominating for a longer +or a shorter period the character of what is produced. When an idea has +sufficient vitality to constitute the germ of a specific type of art, and +artists of creative genius are inspired by it, the votaries working under +the stimulus of a common ideal form what we designate as a school. "When +left to pursue its course of development unchecked," each marked type of +art, as John Addington Symonds pointed out in one of his essays, "passes +through stages corresponding to the embryonic, the adolescent, the +matured, the decadent, and the exhausted," This sequence, he showed, was +clearly marked in the evolution of Italian painting, the Attic and the +Elizabethan drama. Any of the classic schools of Japanese painting, the +Kose, the Yamato, the Sesshu, or the Kano, would furnish an excellent +illustration, though in studying these movements it would be necessary to +follow them back to their Chinese antecedents. The Ukiyoe school affords a +particularly striking example. In the works of the earlier +artists--Moronobu, Kiyonobu, Kiyomasu, and the KwaigetsudoI group--we find +superabundant vigour, swift inspiration, and splendid though sometimes +brutal force. The note of prophecy that these works contain is found also +in those of the next generation of artists, foremost among whom was +Okumura Masanobu. The fire of enthusiasm still glows brightly, but more +attention is paid to subtleties of style, to beauty of detail, and to the +development of technical processes. Hand-coloured prints are superseded by +those in which the colour as well as the black outline is printed. Ukiyoe +has become an art of the printed pictures which in large measure have +taken the place of paintings. + +Then, after a brief interval of eager experiment and rapid changes, comes +the flowering-time, when a group of great artists turn out by the thousand +works in which spiritual intensity is combined with grace, beauty, +refinement of composition, and technical perfection. This is the epoch of +Harunobu, ShunshoI, Shigemasa, Koryusai, Kiyonaga, and ShunchoI. + +The decline of the initial impetus that brought the school into being is +plainly apparent in the works of the next generation. Utamaro was an +artist of the very first rank, whose genius cannot be gainsaid; Eishi and +Toyokuni were only a little less brilliant; but it was their misfortune to +come upon the scene when the cycle of animating ideas had been exhausted. +Too virile to be content merely to echo the performances of their +predecessors, they spent their energy in inventing variations upon the +perfected type. It was the only course open to them, but it led steadily +and swiftly downward, though neither the artists nor the people who +gleefully applauded each successive innovation were conscious of the +decadence. + +With the appearance of still another generation of artists upon the scene, +the degradation of the school was complete. Artistic feeling was obscured +by blatant vulgarity and affectation. There was a steady letting down to +the level of the popular taste, which was steadily lowered in consequence. +The skill of the more able artists was expended in the production of works +interesting chiefly as _tours de force,_ more remarkable for technical +than for artistic merit; the tendency toward exaggerated drawing became +more pronounced; colouring grew more crude, raw, and over-vivid. +Coincident with this decline in the art of the Popular School was a change +for the worse in the fashions of the time. Loud patterns for brocades and +other fabrics came into vogue; garments became showy and elaborate; +coiffures, more especially those of the demi-monde, were often startling +in their extravagance. As the prints were accurate mirrors of contemporary +life, in these changed fashions may be found a partial explanation of the +inferiority of the works of the later men. The Ukiyoe RyuI was a school of +design which laid its impress upon all of the arts. The prints were but +one of its phases, though the principal and the most distinguished of +them. The rise, culmination, and disintegration took place all along the +line. Toward the middle of the nineteenth century the Ukiyoe school sank +into the dotage of decrepitude, and then into the sleep from which there +is no awakening. I choose this phrase deliberately. An art that is of the +past can never be revived. We may strive to work in the style of Harunobu +or of Kiyonaga. All we can do is to copy their forms and imitate their +mannerisms. We cannot possibly get our inspiration from the same source as +they; that dried up at the fountain-head long ago. The best work we can do +in their style must necessarily lack creative force and be without a spark +of real vitality. + +Primarily the charm of the Ukiyoe colour-prints is due to the fact that +the leading masters of the school were artists of exceptional power. It is +also due to the fact that most of them(3) made print-designing their chief +occupation, to which they devoted their thought, time, and skill, and that +with rare exceptions they were less distinguished as painters. + + [TOYONOBU. Actor reading Letter] + + TOYONOBU. Actor reading Letter + + +From about 1670, when Moronobu began to issue single-sheet prints, until +about 1742, a period of at least seventy years, the prints were in black +outline and were coloured by hand. They were, in fact, cheap paintings. +Early in the eighteenth century the chief pigment used in colouring them +was red lead. The Japanese name for this pigment is tan, and the prints +upon which it appears are designated as tan-ye. About 1710 yellow and +citrine were commonly used with the tan. Four or five years later a new +style of hand-colouring, said to have been devised by Torii Kiyonobu, came +into vogue and greatly modified the style in which the prints were +designed. In place of tan he substituted beni, a very beautiful but +fugitive red extracted from the saffron. This was used in combination with +a greenish yellow (probably gamboge) and low-toned blues and purples. +Finer details were introduced into the designs, and the colouring in +general was more carefully done. In response to a growing demand for less +expensive pieces smaller prints (hoso-ye) became common. To give +brilliance to the pigments a little thin lacquer (urushi) was mixed with +them, and, while wet, parts of the design were sprinkled with metallic +powder, which was probably applied by blowing it through a small bamboo +tube. These prints were known as urushi-ye, or lacquer prints. A little +later the custom grew up of painting parts of the prints with black +lacquer. + +Not until the year 1742 did the practice begin of applying colour by +impressions from flat wood blocks. Why the invention should have been so +long delayed, and why, after it was once made, nearly fourteen years more +should have elapsed before the number of colour-blocks was increased +beyond two, are questions to which no certain answer is yet forthcoming. +It is incredible that during the forty years when innumerable +hand-coloured prints were issued no one should have conceived the idea of +printing the colour as well as the black outline. Without doubt some +practical difficulty connected with the printing stood in the way. +Possibly the thing that awaited discovery was the trick of mixing rice +paste with the colour to keep it from running. Or, as is more likely, it +took a long while to discover a practical method of securing accurate +register in impressions made upon damp paper which was liable to stretch +or shrink during the printing process. Whatever the problem may have been, +the honour of the solution is due to Okumura Masanobu. Being a publisher +as well as an artist, he was no doubt alive to the economic advantage of a +cheaper process and to the attraction of novelty. Some years earlier he +had invented the hashira-ye, or pillar-print, and had also put forth a +series of prints that show a fair understanding of the laws of linear +perspective to which he gave the name of Ukiye. Being an artist as well as +a publisher, Masanobu perceived that the change in process called for a +change in the style of the designs. The very first of the new prints, +therefore, were characterized by finer and more exquisite detail than was +suitable for the hand-coloured editions. The colours used were beni and a +soft green; and the name beni-ye, which had been applied to the +hand-coloured prints in which beni was used, was also given to them. A +happier selection of colours could not have been made. By thinning the red +and modifying the hue of the green a wide range of effects was secured. +Almost every possible combination and variation was tried during the +fourteen or fifteen years that the beni-ye were in vogue. The world is far +richer because of this long period before the number of colour-blocks was +increased, since time was afforded to work out the decorative +possibilities resulting from the limitation to two colours and black and +white. This limitation demanded fine skill and creative resource in the +invention of pattern and the distribution of the colours employed.(4) The +results achieved were remarkable. Until one has seen them it is impossible +to realize that so much life and vivacity of colouring could be given by +impressions from two blocks charged with rose and green. + + [KIYOMITSU. Daimyo Procession Game.] + + KIYOMITSU. Daimyo Procession Game. + + +By many the beni-ye are regarded as the choicest products of the school. +So charming were they when first printed that they speedily drove the +urushi-ye prints out of the market, with the exception of the tall +hashira-ye, or pillar prints, of which hand-coloured editions continued to +be produced for a year or two, to satisfy those who still wished paintings +rather than prints. Most of the beni-ye that have survived until our time +are very much faded. The beni has quite generally turned into a soft +yellow or disappeared altogether. The green is more stable, but that also +has in many instances become a warm citrine or russet. Extremely rare are +the specimens in which the original colour has not suffered material +modification. + +From the testimony of the prints themselves it appears probable that very +soon after Okumura Masanobu issued the first prints in beni and green, +similar prints were put forth by Nishimura Shigenaga, Ishikawa Toyonobu, +Torii Shiro (otherwise Kiyonobu the second), and all the Yedo +print-designers, among them the veteran Torii Kiyomasu. None of these men +seems to have attempted any marked departure from the type established by +Okumura. About 1755, however, a group of young men appeared upon the +scene, who were fired with zeal for further experiments. The leaders were +Torii Kiyomitsu, Kitao Shigemasa, and Suzuki Harunobu. Kiyomitsu began by +trying novel colour schemes such as two tones of beni instead of beni and +green. Then he tried a third colour-block. After this new developments +followed in rapid succession. The variety and range of the colour schemes +broadened almost from day to day. At first the wider resources proved an +embarrassment, but the mastery attained in dealing with the simpler means +soon enabled the artists to take advantage of them. Invention was +stimulated. In 1764 a printer named Kinroku discovered a method by which +printing in colours from many blocks became possible. We can only guess at +the nature of the difficulty that was surmounted; but as it is known that +the printing was usually done upon dampened paper, it is evident that the +stretching or shrinking of the sheets, to which I have already referred, +must have proved extremely troublesome, and that every additional block +must have multiplied the liability to defective register. It is reasonably +safe to assume, therefore, that to find some means of overcoming this was +the problem which remained unsolved for so many years. + + [HARUNOBU. Young Woman before Torii.] + + HARUNOBU. Young Woman before Torii. + + +The name of Suzuki Harunobu is familiar to every admirer of Japanese +prints. It is in large measure to his genius that the development of +full-colour printing is due. He was not only the first artist to make use +of the new process, but he took advantage of it to bring out prints of a +novel type. Very dainty and graceful these were, and in the poetic +allusions or quiet humour with which they were charged, and in the quality +of the brush-strokes with which the drawings were executed, they made a +direct appeal to men of taste. Success was instantaneous. By the year 1765 +Harunobu had come to the front and distanced all competitors for popular +favour. The serenity and compelling charm of his compositions brought him +wide fame. Realizing the possibilities that now lay before him, he proudly +exclaimed, "Why should I degrade myself by the delineation of actors?" His +ambition, he said, was to become "the true successor of the painters in +the department of printing"; that is to say, to design prints that should +be worthy substitutes for paintings. Instead of restricting himself to a +few primary or secondary hues and the variations resulting from their +superposition, he mixed his colours to get the precise tint desired, and +he used as many colour-blocks as were needed for the effects at which he +aimed. The Yedo-ye, or Yedo pictures, as the prints had been called from +the fact that they were produced only at the eastern capital, were now +denominated nishiki-ye, or brocade pictures, from the number of colours +woven together in them. To the printing itself, the charging of the blocks +with colour, the character and quality of the pigments and of the paper +used, Harunobu gave careful attention, and these things were greatly +improved as a result of his experiments. + +Under his leadership the art now entered upon the period of its greatest +triumphs. In the eager search for novel subjects scarcely anything was +left untouched. History, mythology, and romance, the numberless fetes and +merrymakings of the people and the daily routine of their lives, +representations of celebrated poets and heroes, scenes from the drama, +portraits of popular actors and courtesans, the revels of the Yoshiwara, +animals and plants, familiar scenes and famous landscapes, furnished +motives for almost endless broadsheets and book illustrations. No other +art was ever more crowded with human interest. + +The forward movement in print-designing at this epoch was helped on by a +number of highly gifted artists who seem to have worked together to some +extent. Katsukawa ShunshoI, who took up the theatrical branch of +print-designing that Harunobu scorned, is one of the most distinguished +masters of the Ukiyoe school. He was a designer of marked power, a +colourist of the first rank. His works are not yet appreciated as they +should be, but the finest of them yield pure aesthetic delight of most +exalted quality. Kitao Shigemasa, Ippitsusai BunchoI, and Isoda Koryusai +also rank among the first-rate men of this period. In the contest for +popular favour during the ten years following the death of Harunobu, which +took place in the summer of 1770, it has been said that the guerdon rested +upon Koryusai, but that is a mistake, for both ShunshoI and Shigemasa +stood higher in the estimation of qualified judges. All, however, were +surpassed a few years later by Kiyonaga, the last great artist of the +Torii line and the culminating figure in the history of the Popular +School. He conquered by the rugged strength and marvellous quality of his +brush-strokes, by the richness of his colouring and the ripe mastery he +displayed over all the resources of his craft. But also he created a new +type of design--that which found expression in the great diptychs and +triptychs that stand as the triumphs of colour-printing. At the height of +his power his influence over his contemporaries was so great that, without +exception, the younger men among them copied his style as closely as they +could. + +When Kiyonaga, about 1793, stopped designing prints, the decadence had +already set in. The decade that followed was a period of rapid +deterioration, with Utamaro as its particular evil genius. Yet many of the +most splendid of the prints were produced in that decade. Where shall we +look for anything finer than Eishi's wonderful series with the chocolate +background, or his triptychs of the Prince Genji series? Where shall we +find anything to equal the brilliant characterization of Sharaku's actor +portraits? Where else shall we turn for such marvellously facile rhythmic +line, such swift, vital handling as that which made Utamaro's masterpieces +the despair of his many imitators? Toyokuni also designed many fine +prints; but as he was a man of less force than the others I have named, he +fell faster and farther than they did, and fewer of his works command our +admiration. + + [HARUNOBU. The Sleeping Elder Sister.] + + HARUNOBU. The Sleeping Elder Sister. + + +I have left myself little time to speak of two eminent artists, both of +them world-renowned, who by their genius made the latter years of the +Ukiyoe school as notable in their way as any in its entire history. Either +Hokusai or Hiroshige might well engage our attention for an entire +evening. Both were extraordinarily prolific; Hokusai was the more +versatile and has the wider reputation. Both are among the greatest +landscape artists the world has ever known. Their numerous prints of +landscapes are a revelation of the possibilities of originality in +composition and variety of interest in this field. Unless one has studied +these prints in fine examples, it is impossible to realize how great is +their merit. This is true of all the prints, but particularly true of +Hiroshige's. Between the best impressions and the very good ones the +difference is really astonishing. But the best are so extremely rare as to +make it probable that because of the difficulty and the cost of printing, +very few of them were issued--the publishers finding cheaper editions more +profitable. + +Though classed as Ukiyoe artists, Hokusai and Hiroshige really represent a +separate movement which undoubtedly would have crystallized into a +distinct school had worthy followers arisen to carry it forward, had the +times been different, and, last but not least, had the genius of the two +masters been less transcendent. + +In this sketch of the history of the art of Ukiyoe colour-printing only +the more salient features have been touched upon. Of the prints themselves +it is not too much to say that the finest of them are the most beautiful +specimens of printing that have been done in any land at any time. + +Yet none but the most primitive methods--or what from our point of view may +seem such--were employed. The most wonderful among all the prints is but a +"rubbing" or impression taken by hand from wood blocks. The artist having +drawn the design with the point of a brush in outline upon thin paper, it +was handed over to the engraver, who began his part of the work by pasting +the design face downward upon a flat block of wood, usually cherry, sawn +plankwise as in the case of the blocks used by European wood-engravers in +the time of Duerer. The paper was then scraped at the back until the design +showed through distinctly in every part. Next, the wood was carefully cut +away, leaving the lines in relief, care being taken to preserve faithfully +every feature of the brush-strokes with which the drawing was executed. A +number of impressions were then taken in Chinese ink from this "key block" +and handed to the artist to fill in with colour. This ingenious plan, +which is manifestly an outgrowth of the early custom of colouring the ink +prints (sumi-ye) by hand, and which perhaps would never have been thought +of had not the colour itself been an afterthought, enabled the artist to +try many experiments in colour arrangement with a minimum amount of +labour. The colour scheme and ornamentation of the surfaces having been +determined, the engraver made as many subsidiary blocks(5) as were +required, the parts meant to take the colour being left raised and the +rest cut away. Accurate register was secured by the simplest of devices. A +right-angled mark engraved at the lower right-hand corner of the original +block, and a straight mark in exact line with its lower arm at the left, +were repeated upon each subsequent block, and, in printing, the sheets +were laid down so that their lower and right-hand edges corresponded with +the marks so made. The defective register which may be observed in many +prints was sometimes caused by unequal shrinking or swelling of the +blocks. In consequence of this, late impressions are often inferior to the +early ones, even though printed with the same care, and from blocks that +had worn very little. The alignment will usually be found to be exact upon +one side of the print, but to get further out of register as the other +side is approached. + +The printing was done on moist paper with Chinese ink and colour applied +to the blocks with flat brushes. A little rice paste was usually mixed +with the pigments to keep them from running and to increase their +brightness. Sometimes dry rice flour was dusted over the blocks after they +were charged. To this method of charging the blocks much of the beauty of +the result may be attributed. The colour could be modified, graded, or +changed at will, the blocks covered entirely or partially. Hard, +mechanical accuracy was avoided. Impressions differed even when the +printer's aim was uniformity. Sometimes, in inking the "key block," which +was usually the last impressed, some of the lines would fail to receive +the pigment, or would be overcharged. This was especially liable to happen +when the blocks were worn and the edges of the lines became rounded. A +little more or a little less pigment sometimes made a decided difference +in the tone of the print, and, it may be noted, has not infrequently +determined the nature and the extent of the discolouration wrought by +time. + + [HARUNOBU. The Sleeping Elder Sister.] + + HARUNOBU. The Sleeping Elder Sister. + + +In printing, a sheet of paper was laid upon the block and the printer +rubbed off the impression, using for the purpose a kind of pad called a +_baren._ This was applied to the back of the paper and manipulated with a +circular movement of the hand. By varying the dampness of the paper and +the degree of pressure the colour could be forced deep into the paper, or +left upon the outer fibres only, so that the whiteness of those below the +surface would shine through, giving the peculiar effect of light which is +seen at its best in some of the surimono (prints designed for distribution +at New Year's or other particular occasions) by Hokusai and his +contemporaries. Uninked blocks were used for embossing portions of the +designs. The skill of the printer was a large factor in producing the best +results. Even the brilliancy of the colour resulted largely from his +manipulation of the pigments and various little tricks in their +application. The first impressions were not the best, some forty or fifty +having to be pulled before the block would take the colour properly. Many +kinds of paper were used. For the best of the old prints it was thick, +spongy in texture, and of an almost ivory tone. The finest specimens were +printed under the direct personal supervision of the artists who designed +them. Every detail was looked after with the utmost care. No pains were +spared in mixing the tints, in charging the blocks, in laying on the paper +so as to get the best possible impressions. Experiments were often tried +by varying the colour schemes. Prints of important series, as, for +example, Hokusai's famous "Thirty-six Views of Fuji," are met with in +widely divergent colourings. + +The pigments most frequently used were comparatively few, and different +lots of the same pigment seem to have been far from uniform in hue. As to +this and some other points upon which we should be glad to have light, no +very certain information exists. We do not know how soon some of the +colours began to fade. Internal evidence indicates that in some instances +the change took place within a comparatively short time, as in the case of +the lovely blue used by Harunobu and ShunshoI chiefly as a colour for sky +and water. It appears to have been a compound tint formed of blue mixed +with some other colour to modify its intensity. In the change which +followed--possibly a chemical one--the blue disappeared in whole or in part, +leaving in its stead a buff hue having peculiar depth and a soft, velvety +texture. To our eyes the modified colour is often far more beautiful than +the original, but the variation, it may safely be asserted, was not +desired by the artist. + +The quality of the colour wrought by these changes explains why it is not +possible to-day to reproduce the prints successfully. The printing process +is still in use, and, as the plates in such publications as "Kokka" +attest, very splendid results are still yielded by it. But some of the old +pigments cannot now be obtained; and if they could be, we should still +have to wait long years for time to mellow the prints made with them. +Indigo can be had, but it is not the same indigo and its colour is not +quite like the old, which was extracted from blue cloth imported from +China. Beni can be made, but the secret of the blue added to it to produce +the divine violet seen in many of the prints has been lost, as has that of +the precious moss-green used by Utamaro. Many reproductions have been made +during the last twenty-five years, and some of them are extremely clever; +but the printing lacks depth, and when placed beside the old works they +appear dull and lifeless. + +Colour-prints were made for many purposes. To some extent they were used +as advertisements. Incidentally they served as fashion plates. Some were +regularly published and sold in shops. Others were designed expressly upon +orders from patrons, to whom the entire edition--sometimes a very small +one--was delivered. The number struck from any block, or set of blocks, +varied widely. Of the more popular prints many editions were printed, each +one, as might be expected, inferior to those that preceded it. Not +infrequently the Yedo publishers removed from their out-of-date blocks the +marks showing their imprint, and sold them to publishers in Osaka and +Nagoya, by whom poor and cheap editions were issued. Eiraku-ya of Nagoya, +in particular, is said to have bought many old blocks, some of which were +revamped in various ways before being reprinted. + + [HARUNOBU. The Sleeping Elder Sister.] + + HARUNOBU. The Sleeping Elder Sister. + + +In a number of instances, when blocks had worn out or had been +accidentally destroyed in the fires by which Yedo was ravaged, the artists +were called upon to make new drawings of the same subjects. Usually, in +such cases, the second design differed very little from the first, save in +such details as the patterns upon the garments of the figures and the +styles of hair arrangement, which invariably reflected the current mode. +Kiyonaga's "Iris Garden" and his well-known triptych "Ushiwaka Serenading +Jorurihime" are notable examples of this practice. Two designs of each of +these were issued, the intervals between the appearance of the first and +second being, in each instance, about three or four years. For the later +editions of many of the prints designed by Harunobu changes were made in +the blocks, and the number was sometimes increased and sometimes +decreased. After his death re-engravings of a number of his prints appear +to have been made, as well as forged works in imitation of his style to +which his name was attached. + +Most of the prints were sold at the time of publication for a few sen. The +finer ones brought relatively higher prices, and such prints as the great +triptychs and still larger compositions by Kiyonaga, Eishi, Toyokuni, +Utamaro, and other leading artists could never have been very cheap. In +general, however, the price was small and they were regarded as ephemeral +things. Many were used to ornament the small screens that served to +protect kitchen fires from the wind, and in this use were inevitably +soiled and browned by smoke. Others, made into kakemono or mounted upon +the sliding partitions of the houses, perished in the fires by which +Japanese cities have been devastated; or, if in houses that chanced safely +to run the gauntlet of fires, typhoons, cloudbursts, and other mishaps, +their colours faded and their surfaces were rubbed until little more than +dim outlines were left. These lost prints include a very large proportion +of those that were most beautiful, and especially of those having +inoffensive subjects. + +Fortunately, though the upper classes did not consider the prints as works +of art, that did not prevent them from buying them for the entertainment +they afforded. The samurai, though they considered it degrading to take +part in the amusements of the lower classes and affected to despise the +vulgarity of the theatre, sometimes attended the performances in disguise. +And when they returned to their home provinces with their feudal lords +after the six months of every year spent in the capital, they usually +carried with them large quantities of prints. Country people visiting Yedo +rarely returned without taking many of these cheap souvenirs of the city +to distribute among their neighbours. Of course many were destroyed, but +the Japanese have always been accustomed to take care of their +possessions, and so many thousands of prints were neatly packed away in +boxes and placed in the kuras, or fireproof storehouses. There they were +often spoiled by mildew, the dread foe of the Japanese housewife, and +eaten by insects. Those pasted in albums, as were many of the noted series +by Hokusai and Hiroshige, fared better than the loose ones. + + [HARUNOBU. Woman reading Letter.] + + HARUNOBU. Woman reading Letter. + + +Thus it has come about that in spite of the enormous number printed, +really choice specimens are very rare. Of many of the most important only +two or three copies in good condition are known. Even at the time of their +issue the number of those in what may be called the "proof" state could +not have been large. The best printing, as has already been pointed out, +was not only difficult and relatively expensive--perhaps prohibitively +expensive in many instances except for a small number of impressions--but +when the blocks had worn so that the edges of the finest lines had lost +their sharpness, it was quite impossible. Collections of prints were +rarely made. Literary men often saved such as were inscribed with odes of +especial merit, or had recondite meanings that appealed to them, and to +their care we are indebted for the preservation of the majority of those +that have survived in perfect or nearly perfect condition. + +For those who have learned the elements of their language the charm of the +prints is very great. I should perhaps say the charm of some of the prints +is very great; for, as we learn what we ought to admire, we learn to +discriminate, at first between the works of the different artists, then +between different works by the same artist, and finally between different +copies of the same work. The truth is that the prints are only in a remote +sense to be spoken of as reproductions. Each impression is more or less an +individual work of art; the difference in quality between one and another +is often astonishingly wide. + +In conclusion it may be well to specify briefly some of the qualities in +the prints that appeal to people of taste. In the first place, there is +the compelling charm of colour. Equally notable are excellence of +composition, grace, beauty, and sweep of line, distinctive character, +daringness of conception, and perfect balance of both line and mass. +Collectively the prints furnish the clearest exemplification of the basic +principles of design that the world has to offer. Nowhere else can we find +so much accomplished with simple means. Technically, also, they fulfil +every requirement. Considered merely as wood-engravings, they are of the +first order of excellence. Though the drawing is seldom scientifically +accurate, it is, nevertheless, of exquisite refinement and subtlety. In +short, the best prints are creative works of very high order which amply +justify our admiration because of their intrinsic merit. + + [KORYUSAI. Musume leaping from Temple Balcony.] + + KORYUSAI. Musume leaping from Temple Balcony. + + + + + +CATALOGUE OF A LOAN COLLECTION OF JAPANESE COLOUR-PRINTS + + +THE JAPAN SOCIETY OF NEW YORK + + +FIFTH AVENUE BUILDING. APRIL 19 TO MAY 19, 1911 + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +The leading masters of the Ukiyoe school were a group of very great +artists. The names of Kiyonaga, Harunobu, Okumura Masanobu, Utamaro, +Hokusai, and Hiroshige belong in the category of those whose fame is +world-wide. + + [SHUNSHO. Woman in Red.] + + SHUNSHO. Woman in Red. + + +The finest of the colour-prints designed by these men and their +fellow-artists are masterpieces of rare distinction. This does not mean +that all of their works should be so classed. The method by which the +prints were produced enabled the artists to turn them out rapidly, and +many were made that were trivial in character. They served almost as many +purposes in their time as engravings, etchings, lithographs, and the +photographic process reproductions do with us to-day. Naturally they +varied widely in merit and in quality. Many have been preserved, but the +important prints by the greater artists are unfortunately very rare; few +of them have survived the vicissitudes of time, and fewer still in good +condition. + +The inception of the Ukiyoe school dates back to the early years of the +seventeenth century, when a painter named Iwasa Matahei, departing from +the traditional subjects of the painters of the classic schools, made +pictures of dancing-girls and scenes of every-day life. The first prints +were made about 1660 by Hishikawa Moronobu and were in simple black +outline. They were sometimes coloured by hand with a few touches of colour +roughly laid on, probably by the publisher's assistants. + +In the early years of the seventeenth century a style of colouring known +as _tan-ye_ (from the predominant use of a red-lead pigment known as tan) +came into vogue. A little later prints were sold with more elaborate +hand-colouring. Lacquer was mixed with the pigments to give them +brilliancy, and the prints were known as _urushi-ye,_ or lacquer prints. +In or about the year 1742 Okumura Masanobu began to make the first true +colour-prints. For these he used only two colours, green and a soft red +called _beni,_ and the prints were known as _beni-ye._ For some years +difficulties connected with the printing prevented the use of more than +two colour-blocks, and not until 1764 was a method discovered which made +it possible to use as many blocks as might be required. Suzuki Harunobu +was the first artist to take advantage of the discovery. The prints +designed by him during the next six years are among the finest works of +the school. Under his guidance and that of Katsukawa Shunsho, the art of +colour-printing was brought to perfection. Then followed a period when +many prints of precious quality were produced. The culmination was reached +during the seventeen hundred and eighties, when Torii Kiyonaga turned out +his marvellous single sheets, diptychs, and triptychs. + +Many splendid prints were designed in the next decade. It was then that +Eishi made his delightful triptychs, that Sharaku stirred the people of +Yedo with his wonderful caricature portraits of popular actors, and that +Utamaro gained wide fame by the products of his facile brush. It was, +however, a period of decadence, and by the end of the century a +considerable distance had been travelled upon the downward path. + +The prints made in the nineteenth century were, for the most part, coarse +and gaudy, the chief exceptions being those designed by Hokusai and +Hiroshige. These men, though classed as of the Ukiyoe school, in reality +represent what may more properly be termed another "movement" growing out +of, but distinct from, the Ukiyoe art that reached its apogee under +Kiyonaga. + +While the present exhibition includes specimens of most of the different +kinds of prints--some of them, more especially the earlier ones, of extreme +rarity--historical completeness has not been attempted. The aim has been +rather to show such prints of exceptional quality and beauty as are +available in New York. + + FREDERICK W. GOOKIN + + + + +CATALOGUE + + + + HISHIKAWA MORONOBU + + +Moronobu, who was born probably in 1625 and died in 1695, was the first +important Japanese artist to design prints. As a painter he is highly +renowned. He illustrated many books and made a considerable number of +single-sheet prints, which were all either in plain black or coloured by +hand. His works are now very rare.(6) + + +LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED + + +_ 1 Large sumi-ye (ink print)._ Matsukaze-Murasame; a nobleman and two + ladies at the seashore watching two women dipping salt water in + buckets. +_ 2 Sumi-ye._ A man and a woman seated on the floor of a room. +_ 3 Sumi-ye._ Woman reading from a book to a man reclining on the floor + by her side. Near them a maid-servant and utensils containing + refreshments. + + +LENT BY A COLLECTOR + + +_ 4 Sumi-ye._ Scene in the Yoshiwara. + + + + TORII KIYONOBU + + +Founder of the Torii line and one of the leading artists of the Ukiyoe +school. Inventor of the tan-ye, or prints coloured by hand with red lead +(Japanese _tan)_. He was born in 1664 and died on August 22, 1729. His +style of drawing was characterized by great boldness and vigour. + + +LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED + + +_ 5 Large tan-ye._ The actor Dekijima Hanya as a woman seated upon a + sakura tree in bloom. +_ 6 Small tan-ye._ The actor Ikushima Daikichi as a woman holding two + small dogs. +_ 7 Small tan-ye._ The actor Kamimura Kichisaburo as a dancing-girl. +_ 8 Large hand-coloured print._ The actor Ikushima Daikichi as an oiran + on parade, followed by OItani Hiroji as a servant holding an + umbrella over her. +_ 9 Tall hand-coloured print._ The actor Bando Hikosaburo. + + +LENT BY SAMUEL ISHAM. + + +_ 10 Urushi-ye._ Ichikawa Monnosuke as a strolling player carrying a + monkey on his back. + + +LENT BY HOWARD MANSFIELD. + + +_ 11 Urushi-ye._ The elopement of Yaoya Hanbei and O-Chiya. + + +LENT BY A COLLECTOR. + + +_ 12 Urushi-ye._ A dancing-girl. + + + + TORII KIYOMASU + + +Eldest son of Kiyonobu, whom he succeeded as the head of the Torii line. +His work closely resembles that of his father. He was born about 1685 and +died on January 2, 1764. + + +LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED. + + + [KIYONAGA. Holiday Group at Gotenyama.] + + KIYONAGA. Holiday Group at Gotenyama. + + +_ 13 Large sumi-ye._ An actors' boating party on the Sumidagawa. +_ 14 Large tan-ye._ The actors Yoshizawa Ayame and Kanto Koroku. +_ 15 Large tan-ye._ The actors Kanto Koroku and Ikushima Daikichi. +_ 16 Large beni-ye._ Ichikawa DanjuIroI as an enraged warrior. +_ 17 Beni-ye._ Onoe KikugoroI in a female role. +_ 18 Beni-ye._ Scene from a drama. The actors Tomazawa SaijiroI (on + horseback), OItani Hiroji, and Segawa KikunojoI. The beni has turned + to a low-toned yellow. +_ 19 Urushi-ye._ Scene from a drama. OItani Oniji (on horseback) + threatening Sannogawa Ichimatsu in the role of a woman who has + seized his bridle rein. +_ 20 Beni-ye._ Scene from a drama. Sawamura SojuIroI as Sasaki no + SaburoI and Nakamura TomijuIroI as Mago no Koroku. + + + + FURUYAMA MOROMASA + + +Pupil, and perhaps the son, of Moronobu. He devoted himself chiefly to +painting, but designed a few prints, most of which are ukiye, or +perspective pictures, in the style of Okumura Masanobu. + + +LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED + + +_ 21 Large hand-coloured ukiye, or perspective print._ A game of ken in + a room in a nobleman's house. + + + + OKUMURA MASANOBU + + +One of the most eminent of the Ukiyoe artists. His drawings were greatly +admired for their rare combination of force and refinement, and he +exercised wide influence over his contemporaries and successors to the end +of the eighteenth century. He was the first artist to use blocks from +which prints were coloured in flat tints. These were printed in the red +known as beni, green, and black, and were known as beni-ye. He was also +the first artist to make the tall, narrow pillar prints (ha-shira-ye), and +was the inventor of the perspective prints which he called _ukiye._ His +true name was Okumura Genpachi, and he was commonly known as honya +(bookseller) Genpachi, from the fact that he was the proprietor of a +wholesale and retail book and print shop at the sign of the "red gourd" in +Tori-shio choI, Yedo. + + +LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED + + +_ 22 Large sumi-ye._ Woman seated by a writing-table, reading a book. +_ 23 Urushi-ye._ Bando Hikosaburo as a warrior resisting the opening of + a castle door. +_ 24 Tall beni-ye._ A geisha playing upon a samisen. +_ 25 Large sumi-ye._ A woman with a pet cat watching a man dip water + from a chozubachi. + + +LENT BY A COLLECTOR + + +_ 26 Large beni-ye._ Segawa KikunojoI as an oiran lighting her pipe at a + hibachi in the hands of her kamuro, and Sannogawa Ichimatsu as a man + holding an umbrella over her. +_ 27 Undivided beni-ye triptych._ Street scene. A boy kneeling to put on + a woman's geta; a man playing upon a shakuhachi; and another man + carrying an umbrella. +_ 28 Undivided triptych._ Three women carrying umbrellas. + + + + OKUMURA TOSHINOBU + + +Toshinobu, the son of Masanobu, was an artist of decided talent who died +young. His known works, which resemble those of his father, are all +urushi-ye, and were designed about 1730-1736. + + +LENT BY A COLLECTOR + + + 29 Ichimura Uzaemon as a dancing-girl. + 30 Woman dressing. + 31 Sanjo KentaroI in a female role. + + + + TSUNEKAWA SHIGENOBU + + +An early Ukiyoe artist of whom little is known. His prints are extremely +rare. + + +LENT BY A COLLECTOR + + +_ 32 Urushi-ye._ Arashi Wakano in the role of Shida no KotaroI. + + + + NISHIMURA SHIGENAGA + + +Son of Shigenobu. Born in 1697 and died in 1756. An artist of ability who +exercised marked influence upon the development of the school. His prints +are very uneven in quality. + + +LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED + + +_ 33 Tall hand-coloured print._ The actor Sannogawa Ichimatsu as a woman + holding a folded letter. + + +LENT BY A COLLECTOR + + +_ 34 Urushi-ye._ Segawa Kikunojo as a woman holding a warrior's helmet. +_ 35 Beni-ye._ Procession of the Corean ambassadors. + + + + ISHIKAWA TOYONOBU + + +One of the most important of the Ukiyoe masters. Born in 1711, died in +1785. Pupil of Shigenaga, and probably of Masanobu whose style he closely +assimilated. + + +LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED + + +_ 36 Large beni-ye._ The actors Segawa Kikunojo and Sannogawa Ichimatsu. + + +LENT BY SAMUEL ISHAM. + + +_ 37 Wide print from three colour-blocks._ Women and children at the + seashore. + + +LENT BY A COLLECTOR. + + +_ 38 Tall hand-coloured print._ Segawa KikunojoI as a woman reading a + letter. +_ 39 Two sheets from a beni-ye triptych._ Musume carrying umbrellas. + + +LENT BY HAMILTON EASTER FIELD. + + +_ 40 Beni-ye._ Mother and son. +_ 41 Print from three colour-blocks._ Boys rolling a large snowball. +_ 42 Print from three colour-blocks._ Man struggling with a refractory + umbrella; a woman looking on. + + + + TORII KIYOHIRO + + + [KIYONAGA. Picnic Party.] + + KIYONAGA. Picnic Party. + + +Pupil of Kiyomasu. His known works are exclusively beni-ye, executed from +about 1745 to about 1755. + + +LENT BY HAMILTON EASTER FIELD. + + +_ 43 Beni-ye._ Nakamura HatsugoroI as Sakura no Suke. + + + + TORII SHIRO + + +Known as Kiyonobu the second, all of his prints being signed Torii +Kiyonobu. He was the eldest son of Kiyomasu. Worked from about 1740 to +about 1755, when it is probable that his death occurred. Some of the most +charming of the beni-ye prints are from his hand. + + +LENT BY HOWARD MANSFIELD. + + +_ 44 Beni-ye._ Yamamoto IwanojoI as a woman dancing by a fox-trap in a + rice field under a blossoming cherry tree. + + + +TORII KIYOMITSU + + +Second son of Kiyomasu, whom he succeeded as the head of the Torii line. +An artist of distinction. Was the first to add a third colour-block to the +original two. He was born in 1735 and died in 1785. After 1765 he designed +only a few prints, and appears to have designed none later than about +1768. + + +LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED + + +_ 45 Wide print from three colour-blocks._ The NoI performance of + "Musume DoIjoIji." +_ 46 Wide print from three colour-blocks._ Daimyo procession game by + women and children. +_ 47 Print from three colour-blocks._ Iwai HanshiroI as a woman reading + a letter while seated upon a carabao. +_ 48 Beni-ye._ Scene from a drama. Ichimura KamezoI (standing) as Wakemi + GoroI and Nakamura TomijuIroI as Akoya. + + + + SUZUKI HARUNOBU + + +The central figure in Ukiyoe and the eminent master under whose hand the +art of colour-printing was brought to perfection in the sixties of the +eighteenth century. He was a draughtsman of extreme elegance and power, +and his works have a charm that is peculiarly their own. He died on July +7, 1770, when, says Shiba Kokan in his book "Kokan Kokai-ki," he "had +hardly passed his fortieth year." + + +LENT BY SAMUAL ISHAM. + + + 49 Girl attendant in an archery gallery gathering up arrows. One sheet + of a diptych. + 50 A young woman showing a caged bird to a young man seated before her, + and surreptitiously taking a love letter from him. + 51 A vendor of fan mounts stopping to talk to a young woman standing in + front of a shop. +_ 52 Hashira-ye._ Woman writing a love letter. +_ 53 Hashira-ye._ Woman holding a pet dog. + 54 Burlesque scene. Girls carrying Daikoku (the genius of wealth--one of + the "Seven Fortune-beings"). + + +LENT BY HOWARD MANSFIELD. + + + 55 Girls carrying Daikoku. A later impression with different colouring. + 56 An archer and two girls near a screen. Calendar for 1765. + 57 Young woman before a torii, carrying a hammer and nails with which + to perform an incantation. + 58 Two young women on their way to the public bath-house through a + storm of snow and rain. + 59 Two girls on a terrace near a torii, in the time of the + cherry-blossoming. + 60 Two girls gathering mume flowers from a tree overhanging a wall. + 61 Woman reading a letter by the light of an andon (portable lamp with + wind screen) which another woman is trimming. + 62 Geisha and a young girl standing on the bank near the rapids of the + Tamagawa. + 63 Young woman seated in a window, conversing with another young woman + seated on the floor and holding a picture-book. + 64 Young man removing snow from the geta of a young woman. + 65 Woman lying upon the floor of a room, reading a book, and another + woman standing beside her, holding a pipe. + 66 Young woman seated on a veranda after her bath, having her back + massaged by her maid. + 67 Young man talking to a girl through the bars of a window. + 68 A burlesque apparition of Fugen. Instead of the Buddhist divinity, a + young woman seated on an elephant appears on a cloud before a priest + kneeling in prayer. + 69 Lovers walking in the snow under an umbrella. One of Harunobu's most + distinguished prints. + + +LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED. + + + 70 The Sleeping Elder Sister. First state. Early impression signed by + the printer, Kyosen. + + +LENT BY HAMILTON EASTER FIELD. + + + 71 The Sleeping Elder Sister. Second state. Changes made in the blocks + and colouring. + + +LENT BY A COLLECTOR. + + + 72 The Sleeping Elder Sister. Still later impression. Colouring changed + again, and the number of blocks increased from ten to thirteen. + + +LENT BY HAMILTON EASTER FIELD. + + + 73 The Hole in the Wall. + 74 Mother holding her infant son. + 75 At the entrance gate. + 76 Mother taking her infant son from another woman and handing her a + letter. + 77 Lovers in a palace. + + +LENT BY A COLLECTOR. + + + 78 Musume walking up a flight of steps leading to a temple. + 79 Lovers playing battledore and shuttlecock; the young man climbing a + ladder to disengage the shuttlecock caught upon the branch of a mume + tree. +_ 80 Hashira-ye._ Woman in night attire standing by her bedside reading + a letter. + + + + SHIBA KOKAN + + +An artist who is best known as a clever imitator of his master, Harunobu, +whose signature he forged upon a number of prints. He also used the "goI," +or studio name, Harushige in signing prints in the Harunobu manner. In +later years he painted pictures in semi-European style, and made +copper-plate engravings which were coloured by hand. He was born in 1747 +and died in 1818. + + +LENT BY SAMUEL ISHAM. + + + 81 The courtyard of a house in the Yoshiwara. A woman reading a letter + and a girl attendant standing beside her holding a tray. Signed + Harunobu. + + + + SHOSHOKEN + + +This is the pseudonym of an artist of distinction whose identity has not +been determined. His known works are calendar prints for 1765. + + +LENT BY SAMUEL ISHAM. + + + 82 Stout lady crossing a room in a palace supported by two attendants. + The use of gold leaf is notable. + + + + KITAO SHIGEMASA + + +One of the noted artists of the school. Was famous for his skill as a +calligrapher, being reputed to have no superior in his day in either of +the "three capitals," Yedo, Kyoto, or Osaka. His prints, which are rare, +are generally of much distinction. He was born in 1740, and died in the +second month of Bunsei 3 (February or March, 1820). + + +LENT BY HOWARD MANSFIELD. + + + 83 Children's puppet show. + + +LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED. + + +_ 84 Beni-ye._ Segawa KikunojoI and Ichimura Uzaemon as Izumo no Okuni + and Nagoya Sanza, two komuso, playing upon shaku-hachi. + + +LENT BY A COLLECTOR. + + + 85 Two geishas. + + + + ISODA KORYUSAI + + +The most important pupil of Harunobu, whose style he followed closely in +his early works. Later he developed a manner of his own. As a designer of +pillar prints and of prints of birds, he was especially successful. He was +a samurai and associated with samurai of the superior class. The director +of the mint was one of his most intimate friends and patrons. About 1781 +he gave up print-designing, devoted himself to painting, and was given the +honorary title of Hokyo. The dates of his birth and death are not known. + + +LENT BY SAMUEL ISHAM. + + +_ 86 Hashira-ye._ Musume leaping from the balcony of Kiyomidzu temple + with an umbrella as a parachute. + 87 Woman standing on the engawa of a house, admiring snow-laden bamboo + branches; back of her, a girl and a young boy looking through a + window. + 88 A Yoshiwara beauty arranging flowers; two girl attendants looking + on. + + +LENT BY A COLLECTOR. + + +_ 89 Hashira-ye._ Musume carrying her infant brother. +_ 90 Hashira-ye._ Young woman poling a boat in a lily-pond. + + +LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED. + + + 91 A Yoshiwara beauty on parade, attended by a girl and a boy. +_ 92 Hashira-ye._ The bijin JuroIjin. A young woman is represented in + place of the long-life being whose attributes are a crane and a + tortoise. + + + + KATSUKAWA SHUNSHO + + +A contemporary of Harunobu and one of the greatest of the Ukiyoe artists. +He was highly renowned in his day and had many pupils who became famous. +Most of his prints were portraits of actors in character. He was born in +1726 and died on January 22, 1793. + + +LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED. + + + 93 Segawa Kikunojo as a woman holding a red fan. + 94 Two actors in character. The seated figure is DanjuIroI, the leading + "star" of the Yedo stage. + + +LENT BY SAMUEL ISHAM. + + + 95 Actor in a female role. + + +LENT BY HOWARD MANSFIELD. + + + 96 Iwai HanshiroI as a woman standing and holding a fan behind her. + 97 Yamashita Kinsaku in a female role. + 98 Actor of the Ichikawa line in the role of Shibaraku at the Ichimura + theatre. + 99 OItani Hiroji as an Amazake vendor. +_ 100 Hashira-ye._ Nobleman carrying a court lady on his back. Probably a + parody upon the suicide of Ohan and Choyaemon. +_ 101 Wide hashira-ye._ The Woman in Red. + + + + IPPITSUSAI BUNCHOI + + +An artist of samurai rank who, for a few years, designed actor prints in +the manner of Shunsho, which have great distinction of style and colour. +He was celebrated also as a writer of comic odes. He died on May 18, 1796. + + +LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED. + + + [BUNCHO. Actor as Woman talking to Men.] + + BUNCHO. Actor as Woman talking to Men. + + + 102 Bando Hikosaburo as a woman of the Yoshiwara talking to a group of + men through the mise. + 103 Nakamura TomijuIroI as Josan no Miya. + + [KIYONAGA. Man and two Women approaching Temple.] + + KIYONAGA. Man and two Women approaching Temple. + + +LENT BY SAMUEL ISHAM. + + + 104 A Yoshiwara beauty accompanied by her kamuro (girl attendant) + bearing a cage of fireflies. + + +LENT BY HOWARD MANSFIELD. + + + 105 Ichikawa KorazoI as a man carrying an actor's dressing-case. + + +LENT BY HAMILTON EASTER FIELD. + + + 106 Scene from a drama. Yamashita Kinsaku as a woman holding a roll of + paper, conversing with Ichikawa KomazoI, who holds a letter in his + hand. + + + + KATSUKAWA SHUNKOI + + +Pupil of Shunsho and generally regarded as his most talented follower. His +career as a print-designer was cut short by a stroke of paralysis when he +was in his forty-fifth or forty-sixth year, but he lived for about forty +years thereafter as a recluse at Zenfukuji temple, Azabu, Yedo, where he +died in 1827. + + +LENT BY SAMUEL ISHAM. + + + 107 Iwai Hanshiro in a female role. + 108 The actor Ichikawa Monnosuke. + 109 Nakamura TomijuIroI as a tsuzumi player. + + +LENT BY HOWARD MANSFIELD. + + + 110 Arashi Tatsuzo as a woman flower-vendor. + + + + KATSUKAWA SHUNYEI + + +Pupil of ShunshoI and an artist of ability. At first, for a short time, he +called himself ShunjoI. He was born in 1767, and died on December 13, +1819. + + +LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED. + + + 111 A bijin. + + +LENT BY HOWARD MANSFIELD. + + + 112 Ichikawa Monnosuke in a female role. + + +LENT BY SAMUEL ISHAM. + + + 113 Scene from the tenth act of "Chushingura." + 114 Ichikawa KomazoI. + + + + UTAGAWA TOYOHARU + + +Pupil of Toyonobu. As a painter his reputation is justly high. He did not +design many prints. He was born in 1735 and died on March 3, 1814. + + +LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED. + + + 114 Cock, hen and chickens. + + + + TORII KIYONAGA + + +Everything considered, the greatest artist of the Ukiyoe school and the +culminating figure in its forward movement. He was born in 1742 and died +in 1815. His finest prints were designed between 1780 and 1790. + + +LENT BY SAMUEL ISHAM. + + + 116 The Writing-lesson. + 117 Fair travellers resting on a bench by the roadside. + + +LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED. + + + 118 Two geishas entertaining a young man. + 119 Court ladies on the engawa of a palace. + + +LENT BY HOWARD MANSFIELD. + + + 120 Three girls going to the baths at the hot springs near Miyanoshita. + 121 Man and two women masquerading in komusoI attire. + 122 Group of three women and a boy. + 123 Two women standing beside a seated geisha who is playing on a + samisen. + 124 Yoshiwara beauty attended by two women (shinzo) and two girls + (kamuro). + 125 Two young women and a servant on the balcony of an inn. + 126 Family group on their way to a temple for the naming ceremony of the + boy who is carried on the shoulders of an attendant. + 127 An actor and two women examining utensils for the tea ceremony. + 128 Women and children promenading in summer costume. + 129 Scene from a drama. Two actors playing the game of "go" with mume + blossoms, and a third actor as a woman in the role of an umpire + standing between them. + 130 Two young women walking under an umbrella and followed by a servant. + 131 Man in a black haori approaching a temple through the snow, + accompanied by two women. +_ 132 Diptych._ Group of women under a cherry tree. +_ 133 Diptych._ Holiday group under the cherry trees at Gotenyama. One of + a series of twelve diptychs that are among Kiyonaga's finest works. + 134 Boating party under Ryogoku bridge. Two sheets of a triptych. +_ 135 Triptych._ The Peony (botan) Show. +_ 136 Triptych._ Women landing from a pleasure boat. + + +LENT BY A COLLECTOR. + + +_ 137 Hashira-ye._ Woman in winter costume. +_ 138 Triptych._ A picnic party under the cherry trees. + 139 Group of women on the bank of the Sumida river. + 140 Group of women near a temple. + 141 Three women at a public bath-house. + + + + KATSUKAWA SHUNCHO + + +Pupil of ShunshoI. Followed the style of Torii Kiyonaga. His works closely +resemble those of the Torii master, but have less force. Worked from about +1775 to about 1795. In some of his later prints he imitated Eishi's prints +in the Utamaro manner. The dates of his birth and death are not known. + + +LENT BY SAMUAL ISHAM. + + + 142 One sheet of a triptych showing a nobleman's mansion from the + garden, with the people engaged in various occupations. + + +LENT BY HOWARD MANSFIELD. + + + 143 Women watching girls bouncing balls. +_ 144 Diptych._ Group at the entrance to a temple. + 145 Three women in a temple compound. + + [SHUNCHO. Women watching Girls bouncing Balls.] + + SHUNCHO. Women watching Girls bouncing Balls. + + +LENT BY HAMILTON EASTER FIELD. + + + 146 Group of girls at a tea booth by the seashore. + + +LENT BY A COLLECTOR. + + + 147 A picnic party. Two sheets of a triptych. + 148 Women picking wild flowers under a cherry tree in bloom. + + + + HOSODA EISHI + + +One of the foremost artists of the school. He was a samurai of high rank, +and a pupil of Kano Eisen. For three years before he took to Ukiyoe he +held an official post in the household of the shogun Iyeharu. Eishi was a +master of all the resources of the art of colour-printing and his prints +are characterized by great elegance and refinement. He worked from about +1782 to 1800, when he gave up print-designing. He died in 1829. + + +LENT BY SAMUAL ISHAM. + + +_ 149 Triptych._ Eight women and a man playing the game of "Catch the + fox." + 150 Group of Yoshiwara women and attendants. + 151 Someyama and her kamuro playing with a pet dog. + 152 Yoshiwara women admiring a branch of mume tree with unopened flower + buds. +_ 153 Triptych._ Fete in a nobleman's palace. Ladies composing poems. + + [EISHI. Fete in a nobleman's palace.] + + EISHI. Fete in a nobleman's palace. + + +LENT BY MRS. WILLIAM BENJAMIN WOOD. + + + 154 Another copy of the foregoing triptych. Shows how beautifully the + purple changes by chemical decomposition. + + +LENT BY HOWARD MANSFIELD. + + + 155 Oiran and attendants on parade. + + +LENT BY A COLLECTOR. + + + 156 A Yoshiwara beauty. Ink proof of the key block. + 157 Two women entering a room in the palace of Prince Genji, where a + young girl is seated playing with a kitten. + + + + YEISHOSAI CHOKI + + +An artist of ability, though not quite of the first rank. His prints are +rare. He worked at first in the style of Kiyonaga. Later he imitated +Utamaro, and changed his "goI," or studio name, to Momokawa Shiko. + + +LENT BY A COLLECTOR. + + + 158 Woman and child catching fireflies. + + + + TOSHUSAI SHARAKU + + +This artist was by profession a performer of the stately and aristocratic +No dramas in the service of Hachisuka, Daimyo of Awa. During the period +from about 1790 to 1795 he designed a small number of caricature portraits +of actors, which have great force and distinguished character. + + +LENT BY YAMANAKA & COMPANY. + + + 159 The actor(7) Tanimura TorazoI in the role of Kakogawa HonzoI. + 160 Ichikawa EbizoI in the role of Ko no Moronao. This print bears an + inscription, probably contemporary, giving the date 1794. + 161 Onoe Matsusuke as one of the Loyal Ronin. + 162 Rando HikosaburoI in the role of Yuranosuke. + 163 Iwai HanshiroI in the role of Oishi, wife of Yuranosuke. + 164 Ichikawa Monnosuke as one of the Loyal Ronin. + 165 Morita Kanya as one of the Loyal Ronin. + 166 Segawa TominojoI in the role of Kaoyo Gozen, wife of Yenya. + 167 Sawamura SojuIroI in the role of Yenya Hanguwan. + 168 Arashi TatsuzoI in the role of Yoichibei. + 169 Sakata HangoroI as Ten-ichi-boI Hotaku. + 170 Segawa TominojoI and Nakamura ManjuIroI in female roles. + 171 Nakajima Utaemon and Nakamura KonozoI. + 172 Ichikawa OmezoI in the role of Sukeroku. + 173 Matsumoto KoshiroI in the role of the otokadate Banzuin Chobei. This + print is commonly known as "The man with the pipe." + 174 Matsumoto YonesaburoI in the role of Okaru, wife of Kampei. + 175 Ichikawa YaozoI in the role of Hayano Kampei. + 176 Kosagawa TsuneyoI in the role of Tonase, wife of Kakogawa HonzoI. + 177 OItani Oniji in the role of Sadakuro. + 178 Sannogawa Ichimatsu in a female role. + 178a Nakayama TomisaburoI in the role of Komurasaki, and Ichikawa KomazoI + as her lover, Shirai Gompachi, walking with her under a huge + umbrella. + + [SHARAKU. Two Actors.] + + SHARAKU. Two Actors. + + +LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED. + + + 179 Segawa TominojoI. + + + + KITAGAWA UTAMARO + + +One of the most gifted and most widely known of the Ukiyoe masters. +Extraordinarily facile and brilliant. Born in 1753 and died in 1806. + + +LENT BY SAMUAL ISHAM. + + +_ 180 Triptych._ Imaginative view of a fete in a Chinese palace. It is a + medley of Chinese and Japanese details intended as a take-off upon + the treatment of Chinese subjects by the painters of the classic + schools. + 181 The hour of the Boar (9 to 12 P.M.). One of a set illustrating the + twelve hours into which the Japanese day is divided. +_ 182 Diptych._ Women in a nobleman's palace, painting kakemono. + 183 Yoshiwara beauties on parade. + 183a A sheet from the "Washing day" triptych. + 184 Woman helping a man attire himself in ceremonial dress. + 185 Woman bending over to see a baby which another woman is nursing + while seated before a mirror, arranging her hair. + 186 Woman talking to a fan-mount vendor. +_ 187 Triptych._ The persimmon-gatherers. +_ 188 Triptych._ Procession of a noble lady and women attendants on their + way to a temple, bearing offerings. + + +LENT BY HOWARD MANSFIELD. + + +_ 189 Triptych._ Shadows on the shoji. Illustrations of three effects of + sake (rice wine). + 190 Woman arranging flowers. + 191 The kitchen. One sheet of a diptych. + 192 A night excursion. One of Utamaro's most famous prints. + + +LENT BY HAMILTON EASTER FIELD. + + + 193 Hairdresser combing a girl's hair. + 194 Woman with a young boy on her back, watching three puppies at play. + + +LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED + + + 195 Kitao Masanobu drunk with sake at a fete in a daimyo's palace. Part + of a triptych. + + +LENT BY A COLLECTOR + + + 196 Woman wearing a black zukin, and a maid bearing a lantern. + 197 Woman standing on a pier, holding an umbrella, and conversing with a + man seated under the canopy of a boat. + 198 Woman bearing a teacup on a lacquer stand. + 199 Woman raising the mosquito netting over her bed to read a letter by + the light of an andon. + 200 Three performers in a niwaka, or burlesque theatrical procession, in + the streets of the Yoshiwara. + 201 Woman holding in her mouth a "pokan-pokan"--a musical toy of thin + glass which makes a peculiar sound when air is blown through it. +_ 202 Triptych._ Boating party. +_ 203 Triptych._ The awabe divers of Ise. +_ 204 Triptych._ Women and children on a bridge. + + [UTAMARO. Woman with a Musical Toy.] + + UTAMARO. Woman with a Musical Toy. + + + + UTAGAWA TOYOKUNI + + +A brilliant artist of high repute in his day. Some of his prints, +especially the earlier ones, are of distinguished quality. He was born in +1769 and died on February 24, 1825. + + +LENT BY A HAMILTON EASTER FIELD. + + +_ 205 Triptych._ Street scene in the Yoshiwara. + 206 Large head of an actor. + + +LENT BY HAMILTON EASTER FIELD. + + + 207 The actor Koraiya. + + +LENT BY HOWARD MANSFIELD. + + + 208 Musume raising a large umbrella. +_ 209 Triptych._ Women in a public bath-house. + + +LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED + + +_ 210 Triptych._ The Six Tamagawa, represented by six women washing + strips of cloth in a rapid-flowing stream. + + +LENT BY A COLLECTOR + + + 211 Woman accompanied by a maid carrying a lantern. +_ 212 Triptych._ Lady emerging from a kago; her attendants grouped about + her. + + [TOYOKUNI. Women in Bath House.] + + TOYOKUNI. Women in Bath House. + + + + KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI + + +A master of extraordinary versatility and power. Perhaps the most widely +known of all the Japanese artists. He was born in 1760 and died in the +spring of 1849. + + 213 Winter landscape. + 214 Cranes on a snow-laden pine tree. + 215 Iris. + 216 Turtles swimming. + + + +LENT BY HAMILTON EASTER FIELD. + + + 217 Fuji san seen beneath a wave of the sea at Kanazawa. Hokusai's + famous "wave." + + + +LENT BY HOWARD MANSFIELD. + + + 218 View of Fuji from Ushibori; a large boat moored in the foreground. + + [HOKUSAI. Fuji from Ushibori.] + + HOKUSAI. Fuji from Ushibori. + + + +LENT BY A COLLECTOR + + + 219 Winter landscape. + + + + + ANDO HIROSHIGE + + +The last great artist of the Ukiyoe school, and a consummate master of +landscape art. Born in 1797 and died on October 12, 1858. + + + +LENT BY HAMILTON EASTER FIELD. + + + 220 A cold morning at Shono, on the ToIkaidoI. + 221 View of Fuji san from Goyo. + 222 Pine trees on the shore at Hamamatsu. + 223 Flying kites at Fukuroi. + 224 The "fox fires" at OIji. + 225 Kinryusan, Asakusa, in snow. + 226 The fields back of Asakusa seen from a window through which a white + cat is looking out. + 227 Travellers in snow at Ishiyakushi. + + [HIROSHIGE. Pines at Hammamatsu.] + + HIROSHIGE. Pines at Hammamatsu. + + + + LENT BY ALBERT GALLATIN. + + + 228 Evening rain at Azumasha. + + + +LENT BY A COLLECTOR + + + 229 Autumn moon over the river Tama. + 230 The evening glow at Setta. + 231 The crowd in Ni ChoI (Second Street) at night. At the right is the + Ichimura theatre, upon which and upon the tea-house across the way + are tall signs advertising plays and actors. + 232 Aowi and bird. + 233 Pheasant and young pine trees upon a steep hillside. + 234 Raftsman on the Sumida river in a snow storm. + + + +LENT BY HOWARD MANSFIELD. + + + 235 Shower at ShoIno. + 236 GyoItoku; boats returning. + + + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JAPANESE COLOUR-PRINTS AND THEIR DESIGNERS*** + + + +CREDITS + + +May 25, 2013 + + Project Gutenberg edition 10 + Martin Schub + + + +A WORD FROM PROJECT GUTENBERG + + +This file should be named 42811.txt or 42811.zip. + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + + + http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/2/8/1/42811/ + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one -- the old editions will be +renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one +owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and +you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission +and without paying copyright royalties. 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