Tag Archives: Shunga

What to Look for in a Japanese Print

Posted on May 23, 2019 by toshidama

Hiroshige Spring Rain from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tôkaidô Road, 1832 It is easy to slip into an enthusiasm, to think we know our way around a subject without standing back and taking an overview. As for early … Continue reading →

Posted in Hiroshige, Japanese prints, japanese woodblock prints, ukiyo-e, Uncategorized, Van Gogh | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Male Tragedy in Japanese Woodblock Prints

Posted on January 6, 2017 by toshidama

Well, I guess that it’s deeply unfashionable right now to talk of the male struggle, the tragedy of the male and so on – there’s a contemporary trend to upbraid men for being… ‘pale, male and stale’. The fact is … Continue reading →

Posted in Floating World, Kunisada, Kuniyoshi, Male Tragedy, Male Tragedy in Japanese Prints, Shunga, ukiyo-e, Uncategorized, Utamaro, Yoshitaki | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nishiki-e in Osaka and Edo

Posted on August 21, 2015 by toshidama

Yoshitoshi, Supernatural Beings at Shirazunoyabu in Yawata, 1881 Aha! The hated colour. A theme that we keep returning to is the ‘decadence’ of the nineteenth century Japanese woodblock print. The ‘rot’ really set in though in the eighteenth century, with … Continue reading →

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Dekiyo-e – The Horror, The Horror!

Posted on June 2, 2015 by toshidama

Alex Faulkner interviewed by Chris Bucklow. Alex Faulkner is the creative director of the Toshidama Gallery and an expert on nineteenth century Japanese prints. Alex is also a practising artist. Christopher Bucklow is an artist of international standing and an … Continue reading →

Posted in Chris Bucklow, Floating World, Impressionist Art, Japanese prints, japanese woodblock prints, kabuki theatre, Kunichika, Kunisada, Kuniyoshi, Otokodate, Paul Gauguin, Shunga, ukiyo-e, ukiyo-e art, Uncategorized, Utamaro, Van Gogh | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Francis Bacon and Japanese Prints: The Arena of the Senses

Posted on November 17, 2014 by toshidama

I have never read an art historian who has made any connection between the iconic paintings of the 20th century English artist Francis Bacon and the Japanese woodblock prints of the 19th century… which is surprising. I must suppose that … Continue reading →

Posted in Chris Bucklow, Francis Bacon, japanese woodblock prints, kabuki theatre, ukiyo-e art | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sex, tea and theatre: Haiku’s rude sister, the Senryu

Posted on October 1, 2014 by toshidama

Japanese poetry is a hard thing to write about or to explain in the west – it seems to me sometimes a travesty to do so – nevertheless the Japanese poetic imagination informs all Japanese culture and at every level, … Continue reading →

Posted in Japanese Poetry, Japanese prints, japanese woodblock prints, kabuki theatre, Kunisada, Shunga, ukiyo-e art, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Lost in The Realm of the Senses

Posted on May 13, 2014 by toshidama

“… living only for the moment, savouring the moon, the snow, the cherry blossoms, and the maple leaves, singing songs, drinking sake, and diverting oneself just in floating, unconcerned by the prospect of imminent poverty, buoyant and carefree, like a gourd … Continue reading →

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Now you see it, Now you Can’t… Shunga at the British Museum

Posted on October 23, 2013 by toshidama

I guess that my first exposure to Japanese prints would have been in the 1970’s. At that time there was little or no interest in Japanese art in England. There was however a publishing frenzy on the subject of erotica. … Continue reading →

Posted in British Museum, Hokusai, Japanese prints, japanese woodblock prints, Kenneth Clarke, Shunga, ukiyo-e art, Uncategorized, Utamaro | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Naked and the Nude

Posted on November 30, 2012 by toshidama

Sir Kenneth Clark opens his book The Nude, with the following phrase: The English language, with its elaborate generosity, distinguishes between the naked and the nude. To be naked is to be deprived of our clothes, and the word implies … Continue reading →

Posted in Japanese prints, japanese woodblock prints, Kenneth Clarke, ukiyo-e art, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Japanese Shunga Prints – Art or Pornography?

Posted on March 22, 2011 by toshidama

It is the fashion, especially among connoisseurs, to make distinctions between erotica and pornography. However, it seems to me disingenuous to describe some images as pornographic and others as erotic when the distinction is only contextual or at least subjective. … Continue reading →

Posted in Art Collector, Floating World, Japanese Art, Japanese Art Gallery, Japanese prints, japanese woodblock prints | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment