PS to below: My great and hopefully surmountable regret is that, within my current woodblock collection, other than in my very enjoyable and beautifully illustrated reference library, I have absolutely NO works from the amazing and seminal (in regard to both subject and palate) Suzuki Haranobu! Oh well! I was casting about for some additional “reasons to go on living” anyway… - XOXOXO! Glenn
Dear Helen, Lovely and concise, yet so thorough and accurate! You are a credit to the Museum! I’m truly sorry about the sparse turnout here in “comments land”… four comments in two years and they all just say “Pinkerton,” which I will assume are from your personal friends proudly (and understandably!) alluding to the fact that they know your surname, and not the result of some abiding suspicion that you are perhaps an agent of the “Pinkerton Detective Agency,” am I correct? Though you are most very certainly quite expert in your knowledge and “agency” in regard to our obviously mutually so enjoyable beloved ukiyo-e! Full disclosure: I have both versions of “Night Snow At Kambara” hanging above my bed as I write this, although I know that the one that depicts the first iteration is just a lithographic reproduction by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (I had soon discovered it to be so labeled on the back!), but the other is a very nice actual woodblock print, although I suspect, due to its pristine condition, that it is most likely a later period reproduction… I appreciate that you did indicate that it was in fact Hiroshige himself who instigated the change in the print from the thin line of “tembokashi” at the top of the print, to the very much more aesthetically pleasing, broad and effulgent, “bokashi” at the horizon, not only because it emphasizes the cold and drear of the winter night, but also because it so well highlights the beautiful snowflakes! When I am showing these two prints to friends who visit, I always say, in regard to the first version, “I’ve seen afternoons that looked like that!” Which of course is true for anyone who’s experienced winter, and was true for Hiroshige as well, and is doubtless the the reason he then instigated the change after the first run… I also have a Toyokuni that I believe to be original (c. 1795-1800), three lovely Tsuchiya Koitsu prints (that I originally had thought to be by Kawase Hasui, was my face red!), and some other niceties including a serious raft of Hiroshige’s prints, one of which might possibly be an artist’s proof of the gorgeous Nihonbashi print that leads off the Tokaido series! I’ve read Hiroshige’s diaries to the extent that they are evidenced in Edward Strange’s old but still quite authoritative “Hiroshige’s Woodblock Prints, A Guide,” but let me know if there are any other sources of his diaries! Japanese woodblock prints are so amazing and beautiful, and though Hokusai’s “Great Wave” does duty with so many as a bridge to appreciating Japanese art and culture in general, I suspect that perhaps one in every one hundred of those who are thereby influenced, have any real notion of how these wonderful and iconic prints are created, “The Great Wave” doing some of the same duty as Klimt’s “The Kiss” did in the endless dorm rooms, crash pads, and student housing of my generation! With a slightly older demographic, I have found that alluding to the, at one time, nearly universal childhood experience of “paint by numbers” to be a useful reference in regard to enabling their initial understanding of how Japanese woodblock prints are created, but, although this “hobby shop” craft endeavor still endures, it’s now almost unknown… These days, if it’s not on a screen, it’s largely unseen… and to an extent, more’s the pity! With all requisite apologies to AI and internet connectivity, there is nothing like art, or books, or music, in person! Go museums! Go libraries! Go concert halls! Go Cincinnati Art Museum! Go Helen (Pinkerton or otherwise)! Yours with clearing weather, so many views of famous places (from the 60 odd provinces!) and geese descending at sunset… - Namaste, Glenn Jones
Pinkerton
I cant believe some random japanese guy stole weezer's cover art and got away with it
pinkerton weser
PS to below:
My great and hopefully surmountable regret is that, within my current woodblock collection, other than in my very enjoyable and beautifully illustrated reference library, I have absolutely NO works from the amazing and seminal (in regard to both subject and palate) Suzuki Haranobu!
Oh well! I was casting about for some additional “reasons to go on living” anyway…
- XOXOXO!
Glenn
Dear Helen,
Lovely and concise, yet so thorough and accurate! You are a credit to the Museum!
I’m truly sorry about the sparse turnout here in “comments land”… four comments in two years and they all just say “Pinkerton,” which I will assume are from your personal friends proudly (and understandably!) alluding to the fact that they know your surname, and not the result of some abiding suspicion that you are perhaps an agent of the “Pinkerton Detective Agency,” am I correct?
Though you are most very certainly quite expert in your knowledge and “agency” in regard to our obviously mutually so enjoyable beloved ukiyo-e!
Full disclosure:
I have both versions of “Night Snow At Kambara” hanging above my bed as I write this, although I know that the one that depicts the first iteration is just a lithographic reproduction by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (I had soon discovered it to be so labeled on the back!), but the other is a very nice actual woodblock print, although I suspect, due to its pristine condition, that it is most likely a later period reproduction…
I appreciate that you did indicate that it was in fact Hiroshige himself who instigated the change in the print from the thin line of “tembokashi” at the top of the print, to the very much more aesthetically pleasing, broad and effulgent, “bokashi” at the horizon, not only because it emphasizes the cold and drear of the winter night, but also because it so well highlights the beautiful snowflakes!
When I am showing these two prints to friends who visit, I always say, in regard to the first version, “I’ve seen afternoons that looked like that!” Which of course is true for anyone who’s experienced winter, and was true for Hiroshige as well, and is doubtless the the reason he then instigated the change after the first run…
I also have a Toyokuni that I believe to be original (c. 1795-1800), three lovely Tsuchiya Koitsu prints (that I originally had thought to be by Kawase Hasui, was my face red!), and some other niceties including a serious raft of Hiroshige’s prints, one of which might possibly be an artist’s proof of the gorgeous Nihonbashi print that leads off the Tokaido series!
I’ve read Hiroshige’s diaries to the extent that they are evidenced in Edward Strange’s old but still quite authoritative “Hiroshige’s Woodblock Prints, A Guide,” but let me know if there are any other sources of his diaries!
Japanese woodblock prints are so amazing and beautiful, and though Hokusai’s “Great Wave” does duty with so many as a bridge to appreciating Japanese art and culture in general, I suspect that perhaps one in every one hundred of those who are thereby influenced, have any real notion of how these wonderful and iconic prints are created, “The Great Wave” doing some of the same duty as Klimt’s “The Kiss” did in the endless dorm rooms, crash pads, and student housing of my generation!
With a slightly older demographic, I have found that alluding to the, at one time, nearly universal childhood experience of “paint by numbers” to be a useful reference in regard to enabling their initial understanding of how Japanese woodblock prints are created, but, although this “hobby shop” craft endeavor still endures, it’s now almost unknown…
These days, if it’s not on a screen, it’s largely unseen… and to an extent, more’s the pity! With all requisite apologies to AI and internet connectivity, there is nothing like art, or books, or music, in person!
Go museums! Go libraries! Go concert halls!
Go Cincinnati Art Museum! Go Helen (Pinkerton or otherwise)!
Yours with clearing weather, so many views of famous places (from the 60 odd provinces!) and geese descending at sunset…
- Namaste,
Glenn Jones
Pinkerton
Fr
Fr. Edit:No way i found axjag on comment and also hear album music i just threw the love of my dreams
So cool
pinkerton