Japanese Woodblock Prints

The Japanese masters of the woodblock print were enmeshed in a complex web—these skilled craftsmen worked for an active and free-floating group of publishers to create up-to-the-moment representations of popular culture such as wrestlers, actors, geishas, war scenes, and travel views. Although we may be familiar with a few of the more famous woodblock artists, their publishers' names are almost unknown to Americans. This encyclopedic survey of 50 artists and 49 publishers is intended to provide a larger historical context for the way artists and publishers interacted. Each artist or publisher is discussed in a page of text providing pertinent history, the many names artists worked under during their careers, and the seal name and location of the publisher and which artists the publisher printed. Five to ten beautifully reproduced images accompany each page of text. The images are thoughtfully chosen to present only masterworks.