 | Ranging from depictions of Geishas to those of misterious and beautiful ladies of the Japanese aristocracy, landscapes, deities and mythological scenes, the collection of Japanese woodblocks of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art is by all standards impressive, counting more than 3000 works. For the exhibition "From Geisha to Ghosts: Leading Ladies of Japanese Woodblock Prints" the curators of the museum have chosen over 40 woodblock prints, ranging from the late 18th century to the 19th, all having the same theme : the fascinating and graceful beauty of the Japanese woman.
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Produced by major artists, such as Okumura Masanobu, Isoda Koryusai, Utagawa Toyokuni or Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, it is one of the few shows that present this vast subject, very well represented in traditional Japanese art.
The image of women in the art of the Edo Period, especially in woodblock prints, could be summarized in three major elements : mistery, fashion, beauty. The works selected also present the developping taste of the new middle class of those times, when wqomen began to be idealized in art, being placed in fantasy sceneries, far from the real world, but evermore pleasing. In the 17th century, when Japanese culture marked the appearance of ukiyo-e, the main categories were the life of actors, erotic scenes and poetic depictions of beautiful women. Later, at the end of the 18th century, the most popular subject were without a doubt the geishas, part courtesans, part artists, musicians and performers.
It was only in the first decades of the 19th century that women from all of the Japanese society became subjects of art, from the aristocrats in domestic settings to artisans, laborers, middle-class beauties, entertainers and even prostitutes. Fueled by the melodramas from the kabuki theatre, several compositions depict lovers' dramas, often finished through suicides and complemented with ghosts, ready for vengeance. Yet, even this serious and heart-breaking subjects were treated with a certain humour and parody or at least clever innuendoes.
The exhibition at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art is one of the best dedicated to the art of woodblock prints, outside of Asia, and surely a good starting place for someone who wants to discover this fascinating subject.
Photo : sbma.net
2007-07-16
