woodblock prints

[Bungo]

gang,

 

http://www.esnips.com/web/ukiyo-e

 

just started to fill my ukiyo-e folder.

Take a look see if so inclined.

I started with Kuniyoshi's Taiheiki series.

Most likely will continue with Yoshitoshi's later......then may be Kuniyoshi's 47 ronins series.

 

My collection comprises mainly musha-ga, very few scenery stuffs .

 

For Ironchef................ be sure to check out my " zuikan " folder, some good mouth-watering stuff.

 

milt THE ronin

[Sergio Bastos]

hello Bungo,

your prints are great!

do you know internet sites that sell good quality hoodblock prints?

 

thanks

Sergio

[Bungo]

hello Bungo,

your prints are great!

do you know internet sites that sell good quality hoodblock prints?

 

thanks

Sergio

 

too many fakes and copies now on the internet , especially one cannot handle and examine the paper and it is extremely " dnagerous " to buy online.

I bought most of them from collectors and a gallery in Canada years ago.

 

milt THE ronin

[John A Stuart]

Hi Milt, Prints are unusual art things and bring a lot of questions. By this I mean, the blocks themselves are the original artform and the prints are copies by definition. Most prints had multiple runs with the first run being the most coveted and the lower the number the better. Woodblocks absorb the inks and over time the quality declines as inks bleed from one block to the other. What I wonder, if prints were made with the original blocks, say today, are they fakes, legitimate copies or prints? By fakes I think you mean photo-lithographs of old prints and modern made copies. Is fake a proper usage though, as the art is faithfully reproduced. Those lithos and giclees of contemporary oil paintings and such sold at galleries use the same process. This is the part where prints confuse me. Here is an example. I have two prints of Kunisada's Kagaribi from Tales of Genji both printed by Tsutu-ya Kichizo dated by Kiwame to 1853-4 that show an early run to a later one. The lighter shades could not be maintained as the blocks were used. Is the earlier one the original showing colours as artist wished and the second darker by necessity a copy? Made within a year of each other. Very confusing to me. John

PS They are through glass, I didn't want to remove them.

[Bungo]

indeed they are confusing........... big name print artists were " faked " when they were till alive ( Utamaro, Sharaku come to mind ).

When I started collecting prints over 20 years ago with " minor " artists like Kuniyoshi , Yoshitoshi , there's no fakes ( that I came across ), only late print runs. Not anymore !! Now they are using laser tech. to duplicate the woodblocks on all artists !

 

In my opinion, if the prints are from the original blocks and printed around the time when the artists were still alive then they are genuine.

Late editions when the artists were in Heaven ( to me ) are considered copies ( not desirable ), recut blocks to simulate the original prints are " fakes ".

 

Modern print artists ( the early 20th cent. ) are especially tough, not only are the prices out of this world but there are so many various editions that it's just not possible for a casual collector to navigate what's what.

 

Actually paintings is a " better deal ", at least they are one of a kind, but they do " copy " from masters though............ check out my hawk painting folder, you'll see the later ones do resemble the early Soga school paintings in certain ways .

 

 

milt THE ronin

[Bungo]

" Prints are unusual art things and bring a lot of questions. By this I mean, the blocks themselves are the original artform and the prints are copies by definition "

 

actually it's a collaboration among the print designer ( THE artist ), the block cutter and the printer. The artist takes all the credit ( with exception of Yoshitoshi, sometimes the woodblock cutter's name is credited )

 

 

milt THE ronin

[John A Stuart]

Great collection. I particularly like the Chushingara series, although that bias may be because whether the story has been romanticised or not, I admire it. John

[kusunokimasahige]

Hey Milt!! impressive collection!! i have a few of them (replicas, posterised)

 

I love the chushingura series!

 

the only print i have which is original, is a print of yoritomo no minamoto getting ambushed in a wintery landscape.........

 

ill post a pic someday......

 

KM

[kusunokimasahige]

here is the image... sorry for the fact its not sharp...

it is a print from the 1800's, made from the original block...

 

KM

 

[Guest Simon Rowson]

Like the many other aspects of Japanese art which I love, I based my limited knowledge of the prices and acceptable condition of ukiyo-e prints on various dealers and shops based in London (where I worked for over 11 years).

It's only now that I live in Japan and regularly visit the various antique and flea markets that I realise the inflated prices and poor condition which we tolerate and actually regard as normal in the West.

Recently, at one market in a shrine, I saw a wonderful triptych by Kuniyoshi III in superb condition and was more than happy to pay what I thought was the equivalent of £70 per picture before I realised that this was the price for ALL THREE! In London, I'd paid roughly the same for one worm-eaten, badly repaired print by the same artist.........needless to say, I'm very happy in my new country!

 

Seasons's Greetings,

Simon Rowson