The Riddles of Ukiyo-e by Chris Uhlenbeck
Women and men - strong, proud, tragic or beautiful - from the heyday (1765-1865) of Japanese printmaking are this book's subject. It seeks to dig below the surface of the prints to describe the often subtle iconography employed in these masterful creations by the most famous artists of their time.It begins with Suzuki Harunobu's subdued and introverted scenes of women seated on verandas. The book then moves on to the spectacular 'big face' (okubi-e) portraits of prostitutes and Kabuki actors by artists like Kitagawa Utamaro, Toshusai Sharaku and Utagawa Kunimasa.
Frail 'streetwalkers', forced by circumstance into the lowest ranks of prostitution, are transformed into elegant beauties, obscuring their tragic existence. The spectacle of heroes from Japan's rich mythological and pseudo-historical past crowd the printed sheet. Stern-faced actors drawn by the confident hands of Utagawa Toyokuni and his pupil Kunisada demonstrate the economy of line and powerful expression of the woodblock medium.
Each print is explored in the finest detail in order to explain the riddles of Ukiyo-e: the intriguing and captivating mode of visual expression that would have such a profound influence on Western art.
Christiaan Uhlenbeck has been a Japanese print dealer since 1982. In the early 1990s he became active in the organization of exhibitions for museums on Ukiyo-e, Shin-hanga and Japanese photography. The organization of the travelling exhibition of Shin-hanga prints from the collection of Robert O. Muller and the co-production of the accompanying catalogue, The New Wave: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection (1993) was the springboard for the formation of Hotei Publishing for which he currently acts as a consultant. His most recent projects include the curatorship of the large exhibition and co-authorship on shunga (Japanese Erotic Fantasies: Sexual Imagery of the Edo Period, 2005). His main interest is the commercial environment of Japanese printmaking, about which he initiated a conference on this subject in 2001. He has recently turned to the investigation of the methodology in the study of Japanese prints.
Merel Molenaar is a M.A. graduate of Japanese Studies from Leiden University. She currently works for the Japanese Embassy in the Netherlands.
Merel Molenaar is a M.A. graduate of Japanese Studies from Leiden University. She currently works for the Japanese Embassy in the Netherlands.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9789493039902 |
| ISBN 10 | 9493039900 |
| Title | The Riddles of Ukiyo-e |
| Author | Chris Uhlenbeck |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Ludion |
| Year published | 2023-02-23 |
| Number of pages | 256 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |