Woodblock Kuchi-e Prints : : Reflections of Meiji Culture / / Helen Merritt, Nanako Yamada.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Hawaii Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2015
• VerfasserIn: Merritt, Helen,; Yamada, Nanako,
• Place / Publishing House: Honolulu : : University of Hawaii Press, , [2023]; ©2000
• Year of Publication: 2023
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (296 p.)

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.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Notes on Names and Illustrations -- 1 Setting the Stage -- 2 Kuchi-e as Prints -- 3 Glimpses of the Past -- 4 Glimpses of the Present -- 5 The Self and Expression of Feelings -- 6 Bijin-ga and Their Messages -- 7 Kuchi-e Artists the World of Meiji Painters -- Appendix A: BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES -- Appendix B: FACSIMILE SIGNATURES AND SEALS -- Appendix C: SOURCES OF THE KUCHI-E -- Notes -- Glossary -- Bibliography -- Index