Japanese Prints;

The Ukiyo-e print was a dominant and popular art form in Japan - from the 17th to 19th centures - showing street scenes, lovers' assignations, portraits of courtesans and actors, landscapes and travelogues. "Japanese Prints" consists of 139 reproductions by 47 grand masters of this art form. Grouped by artist, each print is accompanied by detailed commentary. Amongst the most celebrated of the artists featured here are: Utamaro, with his courtesans and geishas; Sharaku, with his portraits of actors on the Kabuki stage; and Hokusai, with his landscapes - among them "36 views of Mount Fuji". The books's essays - by Mitsunobu Sato, Curator of Riccar Art Museum, Tokyo and Thomas Zacharias, Professor at the Munich Academy of Art - aim to familiarize the reader with the history of this art form, and examine the technique, content and style of Japanese prints and their influence on European art at the turn of the century.