The Arts of Japan

Woodblock Kuchi-e Prints

Reflections of Meiji Culture

Merritt, Helen · Yamada, NanakoUniversity of Hawai'i Press · 2000

Details

Titel
Woodblock Kuchi-e Prints
Untertitlel
Reflections of Meiji Culture
Erscheinungsdatum
2000
Sprache
Englisch
Medium
Print
Seitenzahl
284
Einband
Hardcover
ISBN 13
978-0824820732
Autor
Merritt, Helen
Yamada, Nanako
Verleger
University of Hawai'i Press

Klappentext

Woodblock Kuchi-e Prints: Reflections of Meiji Culture is a pioneer exploration of a previously neglected genre of late-Meiji art: the type of handmade multicolor book frontispieces known as kuchi-e. Early European collectors assumed that the Japanese woodblock tradition came to an end in Western-tainted prints. Although many crudely colored prints of subjects such as steam trains and men in derby hats did flood the Japanese market, the works introduced in this amply illustrated and readable volume make clear that there was another class of popular woodblock tradition unknown to foreigners that continued into the early twentieth century. In their examination of this late flowering of the woodblock print, the authors provide not only an introduction to a popular artistic tradition but also a new lens through which to view Japanese life at the end of the nineteenth century.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

  • List of Illustrations
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes on Names and Illustrations
  • 1 Setting the Stage
    1
  • Late Blooming Meiji Prints
  • Why Explore Kuchi-e?
  • Westernization and Tradition
  • Precursors of Kuchi-e
  • Evolution of Meiji Novels
  • Bungei Kurabu
  • 2 Kuchi-e as Prints
    17
  • Lingering Twilight of the Ukiyo-e Style
  • Eclecticism
  • Inroads into Stylization
  • Planes, Space and Time
  • New Postures and Faces for Women
  • The Challenge of Meiji Men
  • Printing
  • Notations, Carvers, and Printers
  • 3 Glimpses of the Past
    33
  • Identity with Japanism
  • Early Values
  • Tokugawa and Meiji Morality
  • 4 Glimpses of the Present
    63
  • Family Structure and Individual Choice
  • Social Mobility
  • Spread of Education
  • Corrupting Power of Money
  • Effects of Higher Education for Women
  • Ideological Novels
  • Toward Domestic Tranquility
  • 5 The Self and Expression of Feelings
    101
  • "Self" As Perceived in Japan
  • Expression of Feelings
  • Gentle Pathos
  • Fantasies of Romantic Love
  • Illness and Suicide
  • 6 Bijin-ga and their Messages
    125
  • Bijin-ga Painting
  • Bijin-ga Kuchi-e
  • Changing Perceptions of Womanhood
  • Idealized Women and Nature
  • Seasons and Their Symbols
  • Celebrations and Rituals
  • Tradition, Style and Elegance
  • Women at Work
  • Echoes from the Russo-japanese War
  • Inroads into Stylization
  • 7 Kuchi-e Artists the World of Meiji Painters
    179
  • Status of Traditional Schools of Painters
  • Influence from Kikuchi Yōsai
  • Illustration as a Profession
  • Painting and Politics
  • Standing of Kuchi-e Artists in Painting Exhibitions
  • Conclusion
  • Appendix A: Biographical Sketches
    193
  • Appendix B: Facsimile Signatures and Seals
    223
  • Appendix C: Sources of the Kuchi-e
    239
  • Notes
    245
  • Glossary
    255
  • Bibliography
    261
  • Index
    271