Genji’s
World in Japanese Woodblock Prints
September
20, 2014 – January 11, 2015
Free Fall
Exhibition Celebration on Friday, October 3, 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Riverside CA – The Riverside Art Museum (RAM) proudly presents Genji’s
World in Japanese Woodblock Prints, running from September 20, 2014 –
January 11, 2015, with a free, open-to-the-public Fall Exhibition Celebration
on Friday, October 3, from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Featured in this exhibition is
a rich array of woodblock prints by many of Japan’s leading print artists,
including work referencing the original Genji story (on loan from the
Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery at Scripps College) and works predominantly
drawn from the foremost collection of prints of A Rustic Genji, the
extensive holdings of Paulette and Jack Lantz.
The Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari),
written over 1,000 years ago by the court lady Murasaki Shikibu
(c.973–1014/25), has greatly influenced Japanese culture, as seen in paintings,
short stories, novels, noh plays, operas, movies, manga, and anime. Genji
is today celebrated both in Japan and abroad, but in the 19th century it
emerged only sporadically as a motif in popular woodblock prints and it was
another, Genji-related, story that was a resounding success.
In the late 1820s, when the writer Ry?tei Tanehiko (1783–1842),
the print designer and book illustrator Utagawa Kunisada I (1786–1865), and the
publisher Tsuruya Kiemon sat down together in Edo to plot the inaugural chapter
of the serial novel, A Rustic Genji by a Fraudulent Murasaki (Nise
Murasaki inaka Genji), it is doubtful that any one of them envisioned
that their actions would generate a new genre, Genji pictures (Genji-e),
in Japanese woodblock prints that would flourish until the turn of the century.
During these sixty years, almost 1,300 original designs were created, of which
many were very popular at their time of release.
Dr. Bruce A. Coats, Professor of Art History and Humanities,
Scripps College, Claremont, California, where Genji’s World in Japanese
Woodblock Prints was on view in winter 2012, organized the exhibition.
“This exhibition includes more than 50 prints that were issued in the 19th
century but are in mint condition, with intense colors, intricate details and
dramatic compositions - displaying some of Japan's best woodblock printing
techniques,” says Dr. Coats. “The artists Kunisada I and his followers were
able to visually capture the excitement and emotions of the narratives and
depicted A Rustic Genji in appropriate and beautiful landscape
settings.”
The story of A Rustic Genji, set in fifteenth-century
Japan, is in many respects drawn from the classic novel. It retells the amorous
adventures of Mitsuuji—the counterpart to Genji's Prince Genji—and is
delivered in contemporary dialogue combined with kabuki theatrics. By 1838, and
concurrent with the release of new Rustic Genji chapters,
woodblock-print publishers and artists set out to exploit its success through
the creation of individual-sheet prints that depicted the principal characters
and the most exciting scenes. Under Kunisada’s lead, the theme enjoyed enormous
popularity and the craze that gave birth to these publications peaked in the
1850s and continued into the 1860s. Over eighty publishers had Rustic Genji
designs on offer, and they engaged an increasing number of artists.
An elaborately illustrated book, written and edited by Dr. Andreas
Marks, with contributions by Dr. Bruce A. Coats, Dr. Michael Emmerich, Dr.
Susanne Formanek, Dr. Sepp Linhart, and Rhiannon Paget, accompanies the
exhibition.
A private dinner reception for Paulette and Jack Lantz, Dr. Bruce
Coats, exhibition donors, as well as prominent members from Scripps, RAM, and
the Riverside art and international relations community, will be held on
Wednesday, September 24, 2014.
“We are so pleased to work with our Trustee Rose Mayes to bring
exhibitions and programming to RAM that resonates with our diverse community,”
says RAM Executive Director Drew Oberjuerge. “We are also grateful to Scripps
Professors Mary MacNaughton and Bruce Coats for loaning us this well-received
exhibition.”
The art museum will also be holding a special Saturday afternoon
art class for youth on November 15 centered on Japanese-style woodblock prints
and symbolism. The students will also get a tour of this exhibit as part of the
class. For more information on signing up for the class, please visit the
museum’s website.
RAM relies on the generosity of members and donors to support its
exhibitions, education programs, and special events. A 60-plus-year-old,
private, non-profit cultural arts institution housed in a National Historic
1929 building designed by Hearst Castle and AIA Gold Medal-winning architect
Julia Morgan, the museum welcomes over 50,000 visitors a year. The museum is
open Tuesday – Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. and Sunday, 12:00 noon – 4:00
p.m. For information on exhibits, events, classes, memberships, or sponsorship
opportunities, visit www.RiversideArtMuseum.org.
Find us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/riversideartmuseum),
Twitter (RAMRiverside),
Instagram (@riversideartmuseum), and Pinterest (www.pinterest.com/ramarts).
Sponsored by: Robert Harris & Susan M. Rothermund | Walter and
Betty Parks | Deborah Kotaka & Jim Ferrari | Japanese American
Citizens League – Riverside Chapter
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Caption
info:
2012.8.4.jpg
Utagawa
KUNISADA (1786-1865)
Published by Izumiya Ichibei
No. 4 (Yon ), from the series His Figure: Related Copies of
Other Pictures ,
or Magic Lantern Slides of That Romantic Purple Figure ( Sono sugata
yukari no utsushi-e ), 1850
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Oban
Scripps College Collections
Gift of Mrs. Frederick S. Bailey, 2012.8.4
46.1.76.jpg
Attributed
to Okumura MASANOBU (1686-1764)
Published by Yorozuya Seibei and Yorozuya Hikotaro
Murasaki Shikibu , from the book Mirror of Beauties, 1709
Hand-colored woodblock print; ink and color on paper
11
7/8 x 7 13/16
Scripps College Collections
Gift of Mrs. James W. Johnson, 46.1.76
Ai Kelley
Riverside Art Museum Communications
