- 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
countriesTwentieth-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.
