There were geisha in my Christmas stocking!

This woodblock print by Utamaro, a Christmas gift from my husband, is the latest addition to my collection. It is from the series of four entitled Seirô niwaka onna geisha no bu (Female Geisha from the Yoshiwara Niwaka Festival), which was published by Tsuruya Kiemon in 1793, and depicts three female geisha who are dressed for the Niwaka Festival in the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter, arranged in a pyramidal composition and set against a dark grey mica ground. The woman on the right represents a folding fan seller, the one on the left, carrying a bamboo pole over her shoulder, represents a round fan seller, and the woman in the centre, who is dressed as a farm worker and is wearing a protective cloth around her hair and carrying a large wooden pestle, is a barley pounder. Written upon the folding fan of the woman on the right is the character 'mina' which is most likely an indication of the geisha's name. In 1793 a law was passed forbidding the identification of women, other than prostitutes, by the inclusion of their names on woodblock prints, and the use of the character 'mina' on the geisha's fan may have been an attempt by Utamaro to circumvent that restriction.

This set has always been one of my favourites, as I'm fond of all of Utamaro's Niwaka prints. Throughout the various series I find the colourful and elaborate costumes and the arrangement of the figures to be very appealing indeed.

And now I'd like to take this opportunity to wish all fellow art lovers out there all things wonderful for the festive season, and good health and happiness for the coming New Year.

Utamaro: L’Almanach des Maisons Vertes

As I’m in Lille, I took the opportunity to pick up a copy of Utamaro: L’Almanach des Maisons Vertes, published this year by Éditions Philippe Picquer. Within the silk-covered slipcase with traditional Japanese fastenings, which is decorated with figures taken from the album it contains, there are two hardback concertina-bound books containing reproductions of both volumes of the famous Annals of the Green Houses (Seirô ehon nenjû gyôji), from the Jacques Doucet collection - including the text, the publisher’s advertisement, and the covers - and a paperback book which gives translations of the text and descriptions of the contents of the plates. Even if you don’t read French, it’s worth getting this boxed set just to have the two beautifully bound volumes of plates which, like the slipcase, are covered in decorated silk.

I also picked up a copy of Hokusai: Les Cent Vues du Mont Fuji (The Hundred Views of Mount Fuji), which was published by Éditions Hazan this year. Along with a paperback booklet, which describes each of the plates from this famous work, are the three volumes which make up Hokusai’s album of one hundred views, each stitch-bound in the traditional Japanese manner and contained within its own protective hardback cover. The three volumes and introductory booklet are contained within a protective black case which is secured when closed with red ribbon ties. This is another set which is worth buying for the beautifully produced volumes of illustrations regardless of whether or not you speak French.

Once upon a daydream...

While in Paris, we decided to go to the Musée d’Orsay, to pay our respects to Vincent van Gogh’s glorious paintings, as we have done many times during previous years and will undoubtedly do numerous times in the years to come; after all, who could ever tire of such wonderful art?

I’ve been reading Dear Theo, and dipped into it again whilst on the train from Lille. Van Gogh, an artist whose every work was influenced by Japanese art, wrote in a letter to his brother Theo:

‘Keep the three hundred Hokusai views of the holy mountain as well as the pictures of Japanese life; there is an attic at Bing’s house with millions of prints piled up, landscapes and figures. Let me commend to you that attic of Bing’s.’ Ah, the thought of so many Japanese woodblocks in one place, and by Hokusai no less... I drifted off into a wonderful daydream as the train approached Gare du Nord. Oh to have a time machine destined for late 19th century Paris.

Estampes Japonaises: Images d’un Monde Éphémère

Each year my husband and I spend the week before Christmas in France, in Lille. This year we took a day out and travelled by TGV to Paris, to view the exhibition Estampes Japonaises: Images d’un Monde Éphémère at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. The exhibition, which is accompanied by a beautifully produced hardback catalogue, is one not to be missed and includes rare and well-known works by Utamaro, Hokusai, Hiroshige, Harunobu and Sharaku, amongst others. The exhibition is housed within the Galerie Mazarine and the Crypte, with the latter location being home to all of the Hokusai and Hiroshige designs on display. Included amongst the works on display are Utamaro’s famous portrait of Takashima Ohisa (which is illustrated on the catalogue’s cover), The Fancy-free Type from the series Ten Physiognomic Studies of Women, and the portrait of the star-crossed lovers Koharu and Jihei, commonly referred to as La Sortie, from An Array of Passionate Lovers. Also included in the exhibition are fourteen sheets from Hokusai’s Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, including the artist’s most well-known design, Great Wave off Kanagawa.

One of my favourite designs from the exhibition is a triptych by Utagawa Toyokuni showing the interior of the famous Nakamura-za Kabuki theatre in Edo. Whilst three actors are performing on stage, with musical accompaniment being provided by five musicians seated behind them, the men and women who have come to see the show are engaged in all manner of activities around the theatre. There are people from all ranks of society, eating and drinking, smoking their pipes, engaging in lively conversation, and towards the rear of the left-hand sheet there are even men having a rough and tumble. There is so much life in the incredibly humorous design, and so much to occupy the eye, that I could have stood there all day looking at it.

The exhibition is on until February 15th, 2009.