Modernity in Traditional Japanese Woodblocks

Please note this is an Archived Exhibition page from May 5–28, 2011.
Please contact the gallery (206-624-6700) for availability.

This exhibition will highlight the growing Japanese assimilation of Occidental culture in the first half of the twentieth century. With trade, the country began to embrace western modes of communication, transportation, dress and diversions. In addition to the images of shrines, geisha and warriors, the traditional woodblock print was used to represent views of industrial waterfronts, streets busy with automobiles, women in modern hairstyles and men in business suits and hats. During the periods following the First and Second World Wars, the woodblocks present interesting and poignant juxtapositions where the traditional and modern, the eastern and the western, appear together, sometimes even in the same person.

This exhibition is a joint venture with The Art of Japan.

RELATED JAPANESE LINKS:
Yozo Hamaguchi, Mizuno Hidekata, Kaoru Kawano, Imao Keinen, Tsuchiya Kogyo, Sadao Watanabe, Edo Period (1603-1867), Meiji Period (1868-1912), Shunga (1780-1900), Shin Hanga, Dai Chikamatsu Hanga Zenshu, Sosaku Hanga, Japanese Abstract/Modern