Part 3

Thus it has come about that in spite of the enormous number printed, really choice specimens are very rare. Of many of the most important only two or three copies in good condition are known. Even at the time of their issue the number of those in what may be called the “proof” state could not have been large. The best printing, as has already been pointed out, was not only difficult and relatively expensive—perhaps prohibitively expensive in many instances except for a small number of impressions—but when the blocks had worn so that the edges of the finest lines had lost their sharpness, it was quite impossible. Collections of prints were rarely made. Literary men often saved such as were inscribed with odes of especial merit, or had recondite meanings that appealed to them, and to their care we are indebted for the preservation of the majority of those that have survived in perfect or nearly perfect condition.

For those who have learned the elements of their language the charm of the prints is very great. I should perhaps say the charm of some of the prints is very great; for, as we learn what we ought to admire, we learn to discriminate, at first between the works of the different artists, then between different works by the same artist, and finally between different copies of the same work. The truth is that the prints are only in a remote sense to be spoken of as reproductions. Each impression is more or less an individual work of art; the difference in quality between one and another is often astonishingly wide.

In conclusion it may be well to specify briefly some of the qualities in the prints that appeal to people of taste. In the first place, there is the compelling charm of colour. Equally notable are excellence of composition, grace, beauty, and sweep of line, distinctive character, daringness of conception, and perfect balance of both line and mass. Collectively the prints furnish the clearest exemplification of the basic principles of design that the world has to offer. Nowhere else can we find so much accomplished with simple means. Technically, also, they fulfil every requirement. Considered merely as wood-engravings, they are of the first order of excellence. Though the drawing is seldom scientifically accurate, it is, nevertheless, of exquisite refinement and subtlety. In short, the best prints are creative works of very high order which amply justify our admiration because of their intrinsic merit.

[KORYUSAI. Musume leaping from Temple Balcony.]

KORYUSAI. Musume leaping from Temple Balcony.

CATALOGUE OF A LOAN COLLECTION OF JAPANESE COLOUR-PRINTS

THE JAPAN SOCIETY OF NEW YORK

FIFTH AVENUE BUILDING. APRIL 19 TO MAY 19, 1911

INTRODUCTION

The leading masters of the Ukiyoé school were a group of very great artists. The names of Kiyonaga, Harunobu, Okumura Masanobu, Utamaro, Hokusai, and Hiroshige belong in the category of those whose fame is world-wide.

[SHUNSHO. Woman in Red.]

SHUNSHO. Woman in Red.

The finest of the colour-prints designed by these men and their fellow-artists are masterpieces of rare distinction. This does not mean that all of their works should be so classed. The method by which the prints were produced enabled the artists to turn them out rapidly, and many were made that were trivial in character. They served almost as many purposes in their time as engravings, etchings, lithographs, and the photographic process reproductions do with us to-day. Naturally they varied widely in merit and in quality. Many have been preserved, but the important prints by the greater artists are unfortunately very rare; few of them have survived the vicissitudes of time, and fewer still in good condition.

The inception of the Ukiyoé school dates back to the early years of the seventeenth century, when a painter named Iwasa Matahei, departing from the traditional subjects of the painters of the classic schools, made pictures of dancing-girls and scenes of every-day life. The first prints were made about 1660 by Hishikawa Moronobu and were in simple black outline. They were sometimes coloured by hand with a few touches of colour roughly laid on, probably by the publisher’s assistants.

In the early years of the seventeenth century a style of colouring known as _tan-yé_ (from the predominant use of a red-lead pigment known as tan) came into vogue. A little later prints were sold with more elaborate hand-colouring. Lacquer was mixed with the pigments to give them brilliancy, and the prints were known as _urushi-yé,_ or lacquer prints. In or about the year 1742 Okumura Masanobu began to make the first true colour-prints. For these he used only two colours, green and a soft red called _beni,_ and the prints were known as _beni-yé._ For some years difficulties connected with the printing prevented the use of more than two colour-blocks, and not until 1764 was a method discovered which made it possible to use as many blocks as might be required. Suzuki Harunobu was the first artist to take advantage of the discovery. The prints designed by him during the next six years are among the finest works of the school. Under his guidance and that of Katsukawa Shunsho, the art of colour-printing was brought to perfection. Then followed a period when many prints of precious quality were produced. The culmination was reached during the seventeen hundred and eighties, when Torii Kiyonaga turned out his marvellous single sheets, diptychs, and triptychs.

Many splendid prints were designed in the next decade. It was then that Eishi made his delightful triptychs, that Sharaku stirred the people of Yedo with his wonderful caricature portraits of popular actors, and that Utamaro gained wide fame by the products of his facile brush. It was, however, a period of decadence, and by the end of the century a considerable distance had been travelled upon the downward path.

The prints made in the nineteenth century were, for the most part, coarse and gaudy, the chief exceptions being those designed by Hokusai and Hiroshige. These men, though classed as of the Ukiyoé school, in reality represent what may more properly be termed another “movement” growing out of, but distinct from, the Ukiyoé art that reached its apogee under Kiyonaga.

While the present exhibition includes specimens of most of the different kinds of prints—some of them, more especially the earlier ones, of extreme rarity—historical completeness has not been attempted. The aim has been rather to show such prints of exceptional quality and beauty as are available in New York.

FREDERICK W. GOOKIN

CATALOGUE

HISHIKAWA MORONOBU

Moronobu, who was born probably in 1625 and died in 1695, was the first important Japanese artist to design prints. As a painter he is highly renowned. He illustrated many books and made a considerable number of single-sheet prints, which were all either in plain black or coloured by hand. His works are now very rare.(6)

LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED

_ 1 Large sumi-yé (ink print)._ Matsukaze-Murasame; a nobleman and two ladies at the seashore watching two women dipping salt water in buckets. _ 2 Sumi-yé._ A man and a woman seated on the floor of a room. _ 3 Sumi-yé._ Woman reading from a book to a man reclining on the floor by her side. Near them a maid-servant and utensils containing refreshments.

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_ 4 Sumi-yé._ Scene in the Yoshiwara.

TORII KIYONOBU

Founder of the Torii line and one of the leading artists of the Ukiyoé school. Inventor of the tan-yé, or prints coloured by hand with red lead (Japanese _tan)_. He was born in 1664 and died on August 22, 1729. His style of drawing was characterized by great boldness and vigour.

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_ 5 Large tan-yé._ The actor Dekijima Hanya as a woman seated upon a sakura tree in bloom. _ 6 Small tan-yé._ The actor Ikushima Daikichi as a woman holding two small dogs. _ 7 Small tan-yé._ The actor Kamimura Kichisaburo as a dancing-girl. _ 8 Large hand-coloured print._ The actor Ikushima Daikichi as an oiran on parade, followed by OÌtani Hiroji as a servant holding an umbrella over her. _ 9 Tall hand-coloured print._ The actor Bando Hikosaburo.

LENT BY SAMUEL ISHAM.

_ 10 Urushi-yé._ Ichikawa Monnosuke as a strolling player carrying a monkey on his back.

LENT BY HOWARD MANSFIELD.

_ 11 Urushi-yé._ The elopement of Yaoya Hanbei and O-Chiya.

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_ 12 Urushi-yé._ A dancing-girl.

TORII KIYOMASU

Eldest son of Kiyonobu, whom he succeeded as the head of the Torii line. His work closely resembles that of his father. He was born about 1685 and died on January 2, 1764.

LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED.

[KIYONAGA. Holiday Group at Gotenyama.]

KIYONAGA. Holiday Group at Gotenyama.

_ 13 Large sumi-yé._ An actors’ boating party on the Sumidagawa. _ 14 Large tan-yé._ The actors Yoshizawa Ayame and Kanto Koroku. _ 15 Large tan-yé._ The actors Kanto Koroku and Ikushima Daikichi. _ 16 Large beni-yé._ Ichikawa DanjuÌroÌ as an enraged warrior. _ 17 Beni-yé._ Onoe KikugoroÌ in a female rôle. _ 18 Beni-yé._ Scene from a drama. The actors Tomazawa SaijiroÌ (on horseback), OÌtani Hiroji, and Segawa KikunojoÌ. The beni has turned to a low-toned yellow. _ 19 Urushi-yé._ Scene from a drama. OÌtani Oniji (on horseback) threatening Sannogawa Ichimatsu in the rôle of a woman who has seized his bridle rein. _ 20 Beni-yé._ Scene from a drama. Sawamura SojuÌroÌ as Sasaki no SaburoÌ and Nakamura TomijuÌroÌ as Mago no Koroku.

FURUYAMA MOROMASA

Pupil, and perhaps the son, of Moronobu. He devoted himself chiefly to painting, but designed a few prints, most of which are ukiyé, or perspective pictures, in the style of Okumura Masanobu.

LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED

_ 21 Large hand-coloured ukiyé, or perspective print._ A game of ken in a room in a nobleman’s house.

OKUMURA MASANOBU

One of the most eminent of the Ukiyoé artists. His drawings were greatly admired for their rare combination of force and refinement, and he exercised wide influence over his contemporaries and successors to the end of the eighteenth century. He was the first artist to use blocks from which prints were coloured in flat tints. These were printed in the red known as beni, green, and black, and were known as beni-yé. He was also the first artist to make the tall, narrow pillar prints (ha-shira-yé), and was the inventor of the perspective prints which he called _ukiyé._ His true name was Okumura Genpachi, and he was commonly known as honya (bookseller) Genpachi, from the fact that he was the proprietor of a wholesale and retail book and print shop at the sign of the “red gourd” in Tori-shio choÌ, Yedo.

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_ 22 Large sumi-yé._ Woman seated by a writing-table, reading a book. _ 23 Urushi-yé._ Bando Hikosaburo as a warrior resisting the opening of a castle door. _ 24 Tall beni-yé._ A geisha playing upon a samisen. _ 25 Large sumi-yé._ A woman with a pet cat watching a man dip water from a chozubachi.

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_ 26 Large beni-yé._ Segawa KikunojoÌ as an oiran lighting her pipe at a hibachi in the hands of her kamuro, and Sannogawa Ichimatsu as a man holding an umbrella over her. _ 27 Undivided beni-yé triptych._ Street scene. A boy kneeling to put on a woman’s geta; a man playing upon a shakuhachi; and another man carrying an umbrella. _ 28 Undivided triptych._ Three women carrying umbrellas.

OKUMURA TOSHINOBU

Toshinobu, the son of Masanobu, was an artist of decided talent who died young. His known works, which resemble those of his father, are all urushi-yé, and were designed about 1730-1736.

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29 Ichimura Uzaemon as a dancing-girl. 30 Woman dressing. 31 Sanjo KentaroÌ in a female rôle.

TSUNEKAWA SHIGENOBU

An early Ukiyoé artist of whom little is known. His prints are extremely rare.

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_ 32 Urushi-yé._ Arashi Wakano in the rôle of Shida no KotaroÌ.

NISHIMURA SHIGENAGA

Son of Shigenobu. Born in 1697 and died in 1756. An artist of ability who exercised marked influence upon the development of the school. His prints are very uneven in quality.

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_ 33 Tall hand-coloured print._ The actor Sannogawa Ichimatsu as a woman holding a folded letter.

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_ 34 Urushi-yé._ Segawa Kikunojo as a woman holding a warrior’s helmet. _ 35 Beni-yé._ Procession of the Corean ambassadors.

ISHIKAWA TOYONOBU

One of the most important of the Ukiyoé masters. Born in 1711, died in 1785. Pupil of Shigenaga, and probably of Masanobu whose style he closely assimilated.

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_ 36 Large beni-yé._ The actors Segawa Kikunojo and Sannogawa Ichimatsu.

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_ 37 Wide print from three colour-blocks._ Women and children at the seashore.

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_ 38 Tall hand-coloured print._ Segawa KikunojoÌ as a woman reading a letter. _ 39 Two sheets from a beni-yé triptych._ Musume carrying umbrellas.

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_ 40 Beni-yé._ Mother and son. _ 41 Print from three colour-blocks._ Boys rolling a large snowball. _ 42 Print from three colour-blocks._ Man struggling with a refractory umbrella; a woman looking on.

TORII KIYOHIRO

[KIYONAGA. Picnic Party.]

KIYONAGA. Picnic Party.

Pupil of Kiyomasu. His known works are exclusively beni-yé, executed from about 1745 to about 1755.

LENT BY HAMILTON EASTER FIELD.

_ 43 Beni-yé._ Nakamura HatsugoroÌ as Sakura no Suké.

TORII SHIRO

Known as Kiyonobu the second, all of his prints being signed Torii Kiyonobu. He was the eldest son of Kiyomasu. Worked from about 1740 to about 1755, when it is probable that his death occurred. Some of the most charming of the beni-yé prints are from his hand.

LENT BY HOWARD MANSFIELD.

_ 44 Beni-yé._ Yamamoto IwanojoÌ as a woman dancing by a fox-trap in a rice field under a blossoming cherry tree.

TORII KIYOMITSU

Second son of Kiyomasu, whom he succeeded as the head of the Torii line. An artist of distinction. Was the first to add a third colour-block to the original two. He was born in 1735 and died in 1785. After 1765 he designed only a few prints, and appears to have designed none later than about 1768.

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_ 45 Wide print from three colour-blocks._ The NoÌ performance of “Musume DoÌjoÌji.” _ 46 Wide print from three colour-blocks._ Daimyo procession game by women and children. _ 47 Print from three colour-blocks._ Iwai HanshiroÌ as a woman reading a letter while seated upon a carabao. _ 48 Beni-yé._ Scene from a drama. Ichimura KamezoÌ (standing) as Wakemi GoroÌ and Nakamura TomijuÌroÌ as Akoya.

SUZUKI HARUNOBU

The central figure in Ukiyoé and the eminent master under whose hand the art of colour-printing was brought to perfection in the sixties of the eighteenth century. He was a draughtsman of extreme elegance and power, and his works have a charm that is peculiarly their own. He died on July 7, 1770, when, says Shiba Kokan in his book “Kokan Kokai-ki,” he “had hardly passed his fortieth year.”

LENT BY SAMUAL ISHAM.

49 Girl attendant in an archery gallery gathering up arrows. One sheet of a diptych. 50 A young woman showing a caged bird to a young man seated before her, and surreptitiously taking a love letter from him. 51 A vendor of fan mounts stopping to talk to a young woman standing in front of a shop. _ 52 Hashira-yé._ Woman writing a love letter. _ 53 Hashira-yé._ Woman holding a pet dog. 54 Burlesque scene. Girls carrying Daikoku (the genius of wealth—one of the “Seven Fortune-beings”).

LENT BY HOWARD MANSFIELD.

55 Girls carrying Daikoku. A later impression with different colouring. 56 An archer and two girls near a screen. Calendar for 1765. 57 Young woman before a torii, carrying a hammer and nails with which to perform an incantation. 58 Two young women on their way to the public bath-house through a storm of snow and rain. 59 Two girls on a terrace near a torii, in the time of the cherry-blossoming. 60 Two girls gathering mume flowers from a tree overhanging a wall. 61 Woman reading a letter by the light of an andon (portable lamp with wind screen) which another woman is trimming. 62 Geisha and a young girl standing on the bank near the rapids of the Tamagawa. 63 Young woman seated in a window, conversing with another young woman seated on the floor and holding a picture-book. 64 Young man removing snow from the geta of a young woman. 65 Woman lying upon the floor of a room, reading a book, and another woman standing beside her, holding a pipe. 66 Young woman seated on a veranda after her bath, having her back massaged by her maid. 67 Young man talking to a girl through the bars of a window. 68 A burlesque apparition of Fugen. Instead of the Buddhist divinity, a young woman seated on an elephant appears on a cloud before a priest kneeling in prayer. 69 Lovers walking in the snow under an umbrella. One of Harunobu’s most distinguished prints.

LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED.

70 The Sleeping Elder Sister. First state. Early impression signed by the printer, Kyosen.

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71 The Sleeping Elder Sister. Second state. Changes made in the blocks and colouring.

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72 The Sleeping Elder Sister. Still later impression. Colouring changed again, and the number of blocks increased from ten to thirteen.

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73 The Hole in the Wall. 74 Mother holding her infant son. 75 At the entrance gate. 76 Mother taking her infant son from another woman and handing her a letter. 77 Lovers in a palace.

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78 Musume walking up a flight of steps leading to a temple. 79 Lovers playing battledore and shuttlecock; the young man climbing a ladder to disengage the shuttlecock caught upon the branch of a mume tree. _ 80 Hashira-yé._ Woman in night attire standing by her bedside reading a letter.

SHIBA KOKAN

An artist who is best known as a clever imitator of his master, Harunobu, whose signature he forged upon a number of prints. He also used the “goÌ,” or studio name, Harushige in signing prints in the Harunobu manner. In later years he painted pictures in semi-European style, and made copper-plate engravings which were coloured by hand. He was born in 1747 and died in 1818.

LENT BY SAMUEL ISHAM.

81 The courtyard of a house in the Yoshiwara. A woman reading a letter and a girl attendant standing beside her holding a tray. Signed Harunobu.

SHOSHOKEN

This is the pseudonym of an artist of distinction whose identity has not been determined. His known works are calendar prints for 1765.

LENT BY SAMUEL ISHAM.

82 Stout lady crossing a room in a palace supported by two attendants. The use of gold leaf is notable.

KITAO SHIGEMASA

One of the noted artists of the school. Was famous for his skill as a calligrapher, being reputed to have no superior in his day in either of the “three capitals,” Yedo, Kyoto, or Osaka. His prints, which are rare, are generally of much distinction. He was born in 1740, and died in the second month of Bunsei 3 (February or March, 1820).

LENT BY HOWARD MANSFIELD.

83 Children’s puppet show.

LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED.

_ 84 Beni-yé._ Segawa KikunojoÌ and Ichimura Uzaemon as Izumo no Okuni and Nagoya Sanza, two komuso, playing upon shaku-hachi.

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85 Two geishas.

ISODA KORYUSAI

The most important pupil of Harunobu, whose style he followed closely in his early works. Later he developed a manner of his own. As a designer of pillar prints and of prints of birds, he was especially successful. He was a samurai and associated with samurai of the superior class. The director of the mint was one of his most intimate friends and patrons. About 1781 he gave up print-designing, devoted himself to painting, and was given the honorary title of Hokyo. The dates of his birth and death are not known.

LENT BY SAMUEL ISHAM.

_ 86 Hashira-yé._ Musume leaping from the balcony of Kiyomidzu temple with an umbrella as a parachute. 87 Woman standing on the engawa of a house, admiring snow-laden bamboo branches; back of her, a girl and a young boy looking through a window. 88 A Yoshiwara beauty arranging flowers; two girl attendants looking on.

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_ 89 Hashira-yé._ Musume carrying her infant brother. _ 90 Hashira-yé._ Young woman poling a boat in a lily-pond.

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91 A Yoshiwara beauty on parade, attended by a girl and a boy. _ 92 Hashira-yé._ The bijin JuroÌjin. A young woman is represented in place of the long-life being whose attributes are a crane and a tortoise.

KATSUKAWA SHUNSHO

A contemporary of Harunobu and one of the greatest of the Ukiyoé artists. He was highly renowned in his day and had many pupils who became famous. Most of his prints were portraits of actors in character. He was born in 1726 and died on January 22, 1793.

LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED.

93 Segawa Kikunojo as a woman holding a red fan. 94 Two actors in character. The seated figure is DanjuÌroÌ, the leading “star” of the Yedo stage.

LENT BY SAMUEL ISHAM.

95 Actor in a female rôle.

LENT BY HOWARD MANSFIELD.

96 Iwai HanshiroÌ as a woman standing and holding a fan behind her. 97 Yamashita Kinsaku in a female rôle. 98 Actor of the Ichikawa line in the rôle of Shibaraku at the Ichimura theatre. 99 OÌtani Hiroji as an Amazake vendor. _ 100 Hashira-yé._ Nobleman carrying a court lady on his back. Probably a parody upon the suicide of Ohan and Choyaemon. _ 101 Wide hashira-yé._ The Woman in Red.

IPPITSUSAI BUNCHOÌ

An artist of samurai rank who, for a few years, designed actor prints in the manner of Shunsho, which have great distinction of style and colour. He was celebrated also as a writer of comic odes. He died on May 18, 1796.

LENT BY THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS LATHROP, DECEASED.

[BUNCHO. Actor as Woman talking to Men.]

BUNCHO. Actor as Woman talking to Men.

102 Bando Hikosaburo as a woman of the Yoshiwara talking to a group of men through the misé. 103 Nakamura TomijuÌroÌ as Josan no Miya.

[KIYONAGA. Man and two Women approaching Temple.]

KIYONAGA. Man and two Women approaching Temple.

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104 A Yoshiwara beauty accompanied by her kamuro (girl attendant) bearing a cage of fireflies.

LENT BY HOWARD MANSFIELD.

105 Ichikawa KorazoÌ as a man carrying an actor’s dressing-case.

LENT BY HAMILTON EASTER FIELD.

106 Scene from a drama. Yamashita Kinsaku as a woman holding a roll of paper, conversing with Ichikawa KomazoÌ, who holds a letter in his hand.

KATSUKAWA SHUNKOÌ

Pupil of Shunsho and generally regarded as his most talented follower. His career as a print-designer was cut short by a stroke of paralysis when he was in his forty-fifth or forty-sixth year, but he lived for about forty years thereafter as a recluse at Zenfukuji temple, Azabu, Yedo, where he died in 1827.

LENT BY SAMUEL ISHAM.

107 Iwai Hanshiro in a female rôle. 108 The actor Ichikawa Monnosuke. 109 Nakamura TomijuÌroÌ as a tsuzumi player.

LENT BY HOWARD MANSFIELD.

110 Arashi Tatsuzo as a woman flower-vendor.

KATSUKAWA SHUNYEI

Pupil of ShunshoÌ and an artist of ability. At first, for a short time, he called himself ShunjoÌ. He was born in 1767, and died on December 13, 1819.