Taschen's coffee table book "Japanese Woodblock Prints" presents the finest designs by masters such as Hokusai, Utamaro and Hiroshige in the early 19th century and reveals 200 exceptional prints from the period 1680-1938.
Japanese woodblock prints have no Western equivalent: breathtaking landscapes coexist with blushing erotica, ghosts and demons torment the living, and sumo wrestlers and kabuki actors are rock stars. Taschen's coffee-table book "Japanese Woodblock Prints" presents the finest designs by masters such as Hokusai, Utamaro and Hiroshige in the early 19th century and reveals 200 exceptional prints from the period 1680-1938.
From Edouard Manet's portrait of the naturalist writer Émile Zola, sitting among his Japanese art finds, to Van Gogh's meticulous copies of the Hiroshige prints he devotedly collected, the 19th-century pioneers of European modernism made no secret of their love for Japanese art. With all its sensuality, freedom and effervescence, the woodcut is held solely responsible for the wave of Japonaiserie that first captivated France and later all of Europe, but is often misunderstood as an "exotic" artifact that helped inspire Western creativity.
This book sheds light on a beloved but little-understood art form by presenting the 200 most exceptional Japanese woodcuts in their historical context. Ranging from the 17th-century development of decadent ukiyo-e, or "images of the floating world," to the decline and later revival of prints in the early 20th century, the images in this volume provide an unparalleled account not only of a unique genre in art history but also of Japan's changing mores and cultural development. Beautiful fold-out pages invite us to study even the most subtle details, while comprehensive descriptions guide us through this hectic period in Japanese art history.
Specifications
Title: Japanese Woodblock Prints
Authors: Andreas Marks
Publisher: TASCHEN
Format: 250 x 340 x 60 mm
Size: 630 pages
Language: English, French, German
Material: Hardcover
ISBN: 9783754400661
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