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Tuesday, 19 December 2006
Japanese woodblock prints
 Just a shot in the dark, but I've been collecting Japanese woodblock prints lately. Does anyone else have a preference for them, particularly Hiroshige, the Leonardo of 19th century woodblocks?
I have remnants of my grandfather's oriental collection of art and have had to decorate a room with empty walls and thus have been at eBay making additions with prints and a few kimonos to fill up empty space. I am very impressed with the deals you can find for prints that are extraordinary and exceptionaly beautiful of Japanese art. In some cases it's like being able to go down to the store and get fresh prints of Wiliam Blake for a pittance. I could go on and on about oriental art. Are there any afficionadoes around? Posted on 12/19/2006 3:44 AM by Mark Butterworth
Comments
12 Jan 2007
Jean-Marie Haessle Hello, I am an artist (painter) and some years ago start anew my interest in Ukiyo-e prints. I had been collecting some in the past, but had sold them a long time ago. This time around, little by little I started to collect again and very soon it was almost becoming an obsession. I was spending more time trying to find prints then doing my work. As you say, there are still beautiful prints to be had at a modest price, but I was begining to spend more then I could afford. So, eventually, I open a site so I could resale prints to be able to buy other ones. The site is: edoprints.com. I am still astonished every once and a while about the extreme modernity of these works. As an artist, there is still incredible relevance in this art even today. I also realised that not only Van Gogh, Monet, Degas and all, took so much there, but also, unexpetedly on can feel already precusion off abstract art, minimal art, surealisme (Yoshitochi, before Dali was even borne!) collaborative art (Hiroshige and Kunisada did beautiful collaborative series a 100years before Basquiat and Warhol worked together) and I could go on... By the way, there is the "Japanese art Society of America" (formely the "Ukiyo-e Society of America) which has all kind of events, lectures ect... Regards, JM |