Category Archives: Uncategorized

Tales in Japanese Woodblock Prints

Posted on February 9, 2022 by toshidama

The January 2022 exhibition at the Toshidama Gallery looks at prints that tell a story… which is of course the vast majority of the output of Japanese kabuki theatre and history prints. The absence of still-life for example, and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Edo, firemen, Floating World, Hirosada, Japanese Art, japanese woodblock prints, ukiyo-e, ukiyo-e art, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Toyokuni III (1786-1865) Actors at the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road (Tokaido gojusan tsugi no uchi) #4: Kanagawa Station, 1852.

Posted on October 19, 2021 by toshidama

Probably one of the most successful editions of woodblock prints of all time, Kunisada’s inspired and justly famous series of actors and the stations of the Tokaido Road marries two of the most popular genres of ukiyo-e into one theme. … Continue reading →

Posted in japanese woodblock prints, kabuki theatre, Kunisada, Toyokuni III, ukiyo-e, ukiyo-e art, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Telegraph Poles and Marcel Duchamp, Yoshimori and Puvis de Chavannes

Posted on October 19, 2021 by toshidama

The enigmatic picture above by the Japanese artist Yoshimori, is something of a favourite. It belongs to a long series of prints by various artists celebrating the many post stations along the long Tokaido Highway that connects the administrative capital … Continue reading →

Posted in Aesthetic Movement, Floating World, Japanese Art, Toshidama Gallery., ukiyo-e, ukiyo-e art, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Yeats, Pound, T S Eliot and Japanese Theatre

Posted on April 19, 2021 by toshidama

The first performance of At The Hawk’s Well was on 2nd April in the drawing room of Cunard’s Mayfair house. The work was performed in part by the Japanese dancer Michio Ito Continue reading →

Posted in Aesthetic Movement, Asian Art, Edo, Japanese Art, kabuki theatre, ukiyo-e, Uncategorized, Upside-down Man, Woodblock print, Wyndham Lewis, yakusha-e | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Heroes at Springseason London

Posted on April 15, 2021 by toshidama

Toshidama Gallery is contributing an important five sheet Sugoroku print by Kunichika from 1864 to a collaborative venture with contemporary London gallery, springseason, in Hackney. The exhibition, called Heroes, is a joint show of Kunichika and new work made in … Continue reading →

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Four Artists of the Floating World

Posted on January 19, 2021 by toshidama

Toshidama Japanese Prints is starting 2021 with a close look at four of the leading artists of the Japanese woodblock scene. The gallery frequently shows 4 x 4 shows – exhibitions that focus on just four prints by each artist. … Continue reading →

Posted in Edo, Ichikawa Danjuro, Japanese prints, japanese woodblock prints, kabuki theatre, Kunichika, Kunisada, musha-e, Toyokuni I, ukiyo-e, Uncategorized, utagawa, yoshitoshi | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wormholes in Japanese Prints

Posted on January 18, 2021 by toshidama

The print pictured below is a very rare warrior triptych by Kunisada; a musha-e. The worm damage is very minor but it set me thinking about the extraordinary history embodied in these three sheets of paper. Continue reading →

Posted in Asian Art, Floating World, japanese woodblock prints, Kunisada, musha-e, samurai, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Life Through a Deluxe Lens

Posted on October 30, 2020 by toshidama

By the middle of the nineteenth century in Japan, an extraordinary art form had developed which had taken the basic single-colour woodblock print, (a form of wet ink relief reproduction common for centuries in Europe and Asia) and made it … Continue reading →

Posted in Chushingura, Hirosada, Ichikawa Danjuro, Japanese prints, japanese woodblock prints, kabuki theatre, Kunichika, Kunisada, Osaka Prints, Toyokuni III, ukiyo-e, Uncategorized, Woodblock print | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Japanese Prints and the Tradition of Story Telling

Posted on September 17, 2020 by toshidama

Complex narrative lies at the heart of traditional Japanese culture. From the very beginnings, the Japanese were devoted to the structure of sophisticated narrative. The first true novel, the 11th century Genji monogatari – “The Tale of the Genji”- is … Continue reading →

Posted in 47 Ronin, Chushingura, Japanese prints, japanese woodblock prints, kabuki theatre, Kunichika, Kunisada, Kuniyoshi, ukiyo-e, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Tales Of Old Japan

Posted on June 29, 2020 by toshidama

The new selection of prints online at Toshidama Japanese Prints takes inspiration from a book published by an English aristocrat in 1871. They are a random collection of folk tales, myths and stories from before the great modernisation of Japan … Continue reading →

Posted in Japanese prints, japanese woodblock prints, Kunichika, Kunisada, Kuniyoshi, Lord Redesdale, Otokodate, ukiyo-e, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment