As a collector of mokuhanga, I am constantly exploring the
reasons behind my love of collecting mokuhanga and why I make it
and educate myself about it; it seems to be layered, even for my
modest collection. So it is always fascinating to speak to someone
who has been collecting for many years, with a deep understanding
of why they collect and how they do.
I speak with mokuhanga collector Darrel C. Karl about his
collection of prints, paintings and scrolls. It's one to admire.
Collecting for years now, Darrel was kind enough to speak to me
about his collection, how he began it, his love of preparatory
drawings, collecting ukiyo-e, shin hanga, and we discussed
in length his blogs, Eastern Impressions and Modern Japanese
Theatre Art Prints.
Please follow The Unfinished Print and my
own mokuhanga work on Instagram @andrezadoroznyprints or
email me at theunfinishedprint@gmail.com
Notes: may contain a hyperlink. Simply click on
the highlighted word or phrase.
Artists works follow
after the note. Pieces are mokuhanga unless otherwise noted.
Dimensions are given if known.
Darrel C. Karl - Eastern Impressions & Modern Japanese Theatre Art Prints.
Hashiguchi Goyō (1880-1921) - a woodblock print
designer who also worked, albeit shortly, with Watanabe Shōzaburō.
In his short life Goyō designed some of the most iconic woodblock
prints ever made. “Kamisuki”
1920, and “Woman
Applying Powder” 1918.
Woman Applying Make-up (Hand Mirror) 1970's/80's reprint
Ishikawa Toraji (1875-1964)
-trained initially as a painter,
having travelled to Europe and The States early in his professional
life. Painted primarily landscapes while exhibiting at the fine art
exhibitions in Japan Bunten and Teiten. Famous for
designing Ten
Types of Female Nudes from 1934-35. He finished his career as a painter and
educator.
Morning
from Ten Types of Female Nudes
(1934)
Charles W.
Bartlett (1860-1940) - was a British painter, watercolorist and
printmaker. Travelling the world in 1913, Bartlett ended up in
Japan two years later. Having entered Japan, Bartlett already had a
reputation as an artist. Bartlett's wife, Kate, had struck up a
friendship with printmaker and watercolorist Elizabeth Keith.
Watanabe Shōzaburō was acutely aware of foreign artists coming to
Japan, having worked with Fritz Capelari and Helen Hyde. Watanabe
published 38 designs with Charles Bartlett. Bartlett's themes were
predominantly of his travels.
Udaipur (1916) 8" x
11"
Paul
Binnie - is a Scottish painter and mokuhanga
printmaker based in San Diego, USA. Having lived and worked in
Japan in the 1990s, studying with printmaker Seki Kenji whilst
there, Paul has successfully continued to make mokuhanga and his
paintings to this day. You can find Paul's work at Scholten Gallery
in Manhattan, and Saru Gallery in The Netherlands.
Butterly Bow (2005) 15" x 11"
Yamakawa Shuhō (1898-1944) - was a
Nihon-ga painter and printmaker. His prints were published by
Watanabe Shōzaburō and he created the Blue Collar Society in 1939
with Itō Shinsui. Made famous for his bijin-ga prints.
Dusk (1928) 14.3" x 9.5"
Red Collar (1928)
Otojirō Kawakami (1864-1911) - was a Japanese
actor and comedian. His wife was geisha, and actress Sadayako (Sada
Yakko).
Impressions - is a biannual magazine
published by The Japanese
Art Society of America.
Andon - is a biannual magazine published
by The
Society of Japanese Art.
Gallaudet University - is a private
federally charted university located in Washington D.C., USA for
the deaf and hard of hearing. More info can be found here.
National Museum of
Asian Art - is a
museum within the Smithsonian group museums and was the first fine
art museum by The Smithsonian in 1923. More info can be found,
here.
Vincent
Hack (1913-2001)
- was an American printmaker and Colonel in the United States Army.
He produced mokuhanga from ca. 1950-1960. He studied in the Yoshida
atelier while living in Tokyo. More information about VIncent Hack
can be found in Eastern Impressions, here.
Chinese beauty and Dragon
(not dated)
Elizabeth Keith (1887-1956)
- was a Scottish born printmaker, watercolorist, and painter. She
travelled extensively before living in Japan from 1915-1924.
In 1917 she was introduced to print published Watanabe Shōzaburō
and by 1919 after some work with Watanabe's skilled artisans Keith
started to see some of her designs printed. Over 100 prints were
published of Keith's designs. More information can be found,
here.
Little Pavillion, Coal Oil,
Peking (1935)
Lillian May Miller (1895-1943) - was a
Japan born American printmaker. Studying under painter Kanō
Tomonobu (1853-1912). Miller began carving and printing her own
prints by 1925 having studied under Nishimura Kumakichi.
Rain Blossoms (1928) 10" x 15"
Nöel Nouët (1885-1969) - was a French
painter, illustrator and designer who designed prints for Doi
Hangaten between 1935 and 1938 when Nouët was teaching in Shizuoka
City, Shizuoka, Japan.
Haruna Lake (1938)
Helen Hyde (1868-1919) - was an American
etcher, and printmaker who studied in Japan with artists such as
Emil Orlik (1870-1932). Hyde was influenced by French Japonisme and
lived in Japan from 1903-1913.
A Japanese Madonna (1900) 14.5" x 3"
Kataoka Gadō V (1910-1993) - was a Kabuki
actor who specialized in female roles
or onnagata in Japanese. He became Kitaoka
Nizaemon XIV posthumously.
Natori Shunsen (1886-1960) - was a Nihon-ga
painter and woodblock print designer who worked with Watanabe
Shōzaburō. Shunsen's prints focused on kabuki actors, mainly
ōkubi-e , large head prints.
Ichikawa Ennosuke as Kakudayu (1928) 15" x 10"
Kabuki-za - is the main theatre in Tōkyō which
shows kabuki performances. It was opened in 1889 and has
been rebuilt several times in its history.
Kabuki Costume - is a book written by Ruth
M. Shaver with illustrations by Sōma Akira and Ōta Gakkō
(1892-1975). It is an in-depth book about the costuming in kabuki
theatre. It was published by Charles E. Tuttle in 1966.
Ōta Gakkō - was an artist and designer who
also designed woodblock prints in the 1950's.
Ichikawa Jukai III (1886-1971) as Shirai Gonpachi from
Figures of the Modern Stage: no. 3 (1954)
Tsuruya Kōkei - is a mokuhanga artist who
lives and works in Tokyo, Japan. His prints have focused on kabuki
actors; in the 1980s, he was commissioned to produce kabuki
portraits by the Kabuki-za theatre in Tokyo. Recently, he has
focused on cats and the masters of mokuhanga such as Hokusai
(1760-1849). He printed on very thin gampi paper.
Five Styles of Banzai-Ukiyoe / Katsushika Hokusai
(2017)
Yamamura Toyonari (1885-1942) - also known
as Kōka, is a painter, and print designer known for his theatrical
prints, actor prints, landscapes and beautiful women. He studied
under printmaker Ogata Gekkō (1859-1920). Toyonari worked with
carvers and printers to create his prints such as those at
Watanabe's studio and also printed and carved his own
prints.
February/Winter Sky (1924) 16.35" x 10.5"
Sekino Jun'ichirō (1914-1988) - was a mokuhanga
printmaker who helped establish the sōsaku hanga, creative print
movement in Japan. His themes were of landscapes, animals and the
abstract. Sekino exhibited and became a member with Nihon Hanga
Kyōkai and studied with Ōnchi Kōshirō (1891-1955) and Maekawa
Senpan (1888-1960).
Woman In A Snowy Village (1946) 13" x 10"
Bertha Lum
(1869-1954) -
was born in Iowa. Having begun travelling to Japan in 1903, Bertha
Lum noticed the decline of the Japanese woodblock print in Japan in
the early 20th Century, deciding to take up the medium. Lum began
making woodblock prints after learning in Japan from an unknown
teacher during her first trip to Japan.
Japan, Lafcadio Hearn
(1850-1904), and China influenced Bertha Lum's prints. Lum's work
focused on these themes through an American lens.
Winter (1909) 8" x
14"
Waseda
University - is a private research university
located in Tōkyō, Japan. It was established in 1882. Waseda has one
of the largest woodblock print databases in the world, and are free
to use. More information can be found,
here.
Scholten Japanese
Art - is a mokuhanga-focused art gallery in midtown
Manhattan. René Scholten, an avid collector of the Japanese print,
founded it. You can find more info here. Katherine Martin is the
managing director of Scholten Japanese Art. Katherine has written
extensively for the gallery and conducted lectures about Japanese
prints. Her interview with The Unfinished Print can be
found, here.
Utagawa Kunisada
III (1848–1920)
- was a ukiyo-e print designer from the Utagawa
school of mokuhanga. Kunisada III's print designs were designed
during the transformation of the Edo Period (1603-1868) into the
Meiji Period (1868-1912) of Japanese history, where his prints
showed the technological, architectural and historical changes in
Japan's history.
Kataoka Jūzō I as Hanako from
the play Yakko Dōjōji at the Kabuki-za (1906).
chūban -
10.4” x 7.5”
senjafuda
- are the votive slips Claire brings up in her interview. These
were hand printed slips pasted by the worshipper onto the Buddhist
temple of their choosing. These slips had many different subjects
such as ghosts, Buddhist deities, and written characters. Japan
Experience has bit of history of senjafuda,
here.
Shintomi-za -built in 1660 and also
known as the Morita-za was a kabuki theatre located in the
Kobiki-chō area of Tokyo, today the Ginza District. It was famous
for taking risks with its productions.
Meiji-za - was a kabuki-specific theatre
built in 1873 and underwent several name changes until finally
being named the Meiji-za in 1893. The theatre continues to this
day.
Imperial Theatre - is the first Western
theatre to be built in Japan in 1911 and is located in Marunouchi,
Chiyoda, Tokyo. It continues to show Western operas and
plays.
The John F. Kennedy Center For The Performing
Arts - was built in 1971, and named after the 35th
President of the United States, John F. Kennedy. The theatre is
located in Washington D.C. and hosts many different types of
theatre, dance, orchestras and music. More information can be
found,
here.
The Subscription List - also known as
Kanjichō in Japanese, is a kabuki play derived from
the noh play Ataka. The modern version of this play
was first staged in 1840. It is performed as the 18 Famous
Plays as performed by the Danjurō family of actors.
The Subscription List designed by Toyohara Kunichika
(1835-1900)
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861) - is considered
one of the last “masters” of the ukiyo-e genre of Japanese
woodblock printmaking. His designs range from landscapes, samurai
and Chinese military heroes, as well as using various formats for
his designs such as diptychs and triptychs.
Waseda University - is a private
research university located in Tōkyō, Japan. It was established in
1882. Waseda has one of the largest woodblock print databases in
the world, and are free to use. More information can be found,
here.
Yoshida Hiroshi (1876-1950) - a
watercolorist, oil painter, and woodblock printmaker. Is associated
with the resurgence of the woodblock print in Japan, and in the
West. It was his early relationship with Watanabe Shōzaburō, having
his first seven prints printed by the Shōzaburō atelier.
This experience made Hiroshi believe that he could hire his
own carvers and printers and produce woodblock prints, which he did
in 1925.
Kiso River (1927)
Toyohara Chikanobu (1838-1912) - was a
painter and designer of mokuhanga. He was a samurai during the
final years of the Tokugawa shogunate rule in Japan. As Chikanobu
began to look more to art as a living, he studied under Utagawa
Kuniyoshi where he learned Western painting and drawing techniques.
He also studied under Utagawa Kunisada and Toyohara Kunichika. His
print designs were of many different types of themes but Chikanobu
is well known for his war prints (sensō-e), kabuki
theatre prints, current events and beautiful women.
Enpo- Jidai Kagami (1897)
32 Aspects of Women - is a series of
prints designed by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892). It was his
first series of bijin-ga designs.
shin hanga - is a style of Japanese
woodblock printmaking which began during the end of the ukiyo-e
period of Japanese printmaking, in the early 20th Century. Focusing
on the foreign demand for “traditional” Japanese imagery and motifs
such as castles, bridges, famous landscapes, bamboo forests, to
name just a few. Shin hanga was born in 1915 by Watanabe
Shōzaburō (1885-1962) when he found Austrian artist Frtiz
Capelari (1884-1950) and commissioned Capelari to design some
prints for Watanabe's feldgling printing house . From there
shin-hanga evolved into its own distinct “new” style of Japanese
woodblock printing. It lasted as this distinct style until its
innevitable decline after the Second World War (1939-1945).
Onchi Kōshirō (1891-1955) - originally
designing poetry and books Onchi became on of the most I important
sōsaku hanga artists and promotor of the medium. His works are
saught after today. More info,
here.
Composition in Red and Brown (1950) 19" x 15"
Saru Gallery - is a mokuhanga gallery, from
ukiyo-e to modern prints, and is located in Uden, The Netherlands.
Their website can be found,
here.
ukiyo-e - is a multi colour woodblock print
generally associated with the Edo Period (1603-1867) of Japan. What
began in the 17th Century as prints of only a few colours, evolved
into an elaborate system of production and technique into the Meiji
Period (1868-1912). With the advent of photography and other forms
of printmaking, ukiyo-e as we know it today, ceased production by
the late 19th Century.
surimono (摺物)- are privately
commissioned woodblock prints, usually containing specialty
techniques such as mica, and blind embossing. Below
is
Heron and Iris, (ca. 1770's) by Andō
Hiroshige (1797-1858). This print is from David Bull's reproduction
of that work. You can find more info about that
project,
here.
Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) - is one of
the most famous Japanese artists to have ever lived. Hokusai was an
illustrator, painter and woodblock print designer. His work can be
found on paper, wood, silk, and screen. His woodblock print design
for Under The Wave off Kanagawa (ca. 1830-32) is
beyond famous. His work, his manga, his woodblocks, his paintings,
influence artists from all over the world.
Poem by Sōsei Hōshi, from the series One Hundred Poems
Explained by the Nurse. Taishō period (1912–26)s
reproduction.
Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806) - was a
painter and ukiyo-e designer during the Edo Period of Japan. His
portraits of women are his most famous designs. After getting into
trouble with the shogunate during the early 19th Century with some
offensive images of deceased shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi
(1536/37-1598), Utamaro was jailed and passed away shortly after
that.
The Courtesan Umegawa and Chubei of the Courier Firm
Tokyo University of the Arts (Geidai) -
founded during the merger of the Tokyo Fine Arts School and the
Tokyo Music School in 1949, TUA offers Masters's and Doctorate
degrees in various subjects such as sculpture, craft and design as
well as music and film. It has multiple campuses throughout the
Kantō region of Japan. More information regarding the school and
its programs can be found
here.
Honolulu Museum of Art - dedicated to art and
education focusing on arts from around the world and Hawaiian
culture itself. More info,
here.
Taishō
Period (1912-1926) -
a short lived period of Japanese modern history but an important
one in world history. This is where the militarism of fascist Japan
began to take seed, leading to The Pacific War (1931-1945). More
info can be found,
here.
Enami Shirō (1901-2000) - was a
printmaker who is associated with ephemeral prints such as greeting
cards. Also created his own larger format prints during the
burgeoning sōsaku hanga movement of the early to mid
Twentieth Century.
The Benkei Moat (1931) 12.5" x 9"
Kitano Tsunetomi (1880-1947) - was an
illustrator, Nihon-ga painter, carver and print designer. Lived and
worked in Osaka where he apprenticed carving with Nishida Suketaro.
Founded the Taishō Art Society and the Osaka Art Society. Painted
and created prints of beautiful women as well as mokuhanga for
magazines such as Dai Osaka. The most famous of his prints and
paintings is Sagimusume, The Heron Maiden.
Umekawa - Complete Works of Chikamatsu (1923)
Hamada Josen (1875 - ?) - was a painter
and mokuhanga designer and studied with Tomioka Eisen (1864-1905).
Designed bijin, shunga, and landscapes after the Great Kantō
Earthquake of 1923. Designed prints for Collection of New
Ukiyo-e Style Beauties (1924).
December - Clear Weather After Snow from the series New
Ukiyo-e Beauties (1924) 17.50" x 11.12"
Ikeda
Shoen (1886-1917) - was a
Nihon-ga painter who's paintings also became mokuhanga prints. Her
paintings are quite rare because of her early death.
School Girls Going Home (1900) 13" x 9"
Igawa Sengai (1876-1961) - was a painter,
illustrator and print designer. After serving in the Russo-Japanese
war (1904-1905), he joined the Miyako Shinbun in Nagoya City.
Designing prints in the 1926 he designed prints for Collected
Prints of the Taishō Earthquake and in the
1930's he designed propaganda prints for the Japanese war effort.
His contribution to the 1924 Collection of New Ukiyo-e Style
Beauties (1924).
April - Rain of Blossoms (1924) from New Ukiyo-e
Beauties.
Asian Art Museum San Fransisco - with
over 18,000 pieces of art the Asian Art Museum of San Fransisco has
one of the largest collections of Asian art in the United States.
More information can be found,
here.
Freer Gallery of Art - is a museum
within the Smithsonian group of museums in Washington D.C, with a
collection of Chinese paintings, Indian sculpture; Islamic painting
and metalware; Japanese lacquer; Korean ceramics.
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery - is a museum
within the Smithsonian group of museums in Washington D.C. It's
collection contains some important Chinese jades and
bronzes.
Yoshida Hiroshi: The Outskirts of Agra Number 3 from the
series India and Southeast Asia (1932)
Yoshida Hiroshi: Cave of Komagatake from the series Southern
Japan Alps (1928)
© Popular Wheat Productions
opening and closing musical credit - The Crystal
Ship by The Doors from their self-titled
album The Doors (1967). Release by Elektra
Records.
logo designed and produced by Douglas Batchelor and André
Zadorozny
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***The opinions expressed by guests in The Unfinished Print
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