Museum Visit

Museum Visit Report

Lisa M. Dalton

Art110

November 15, 2014

Professor Graves

Japanese writer Ryutei Tanehiko, Utagawa Kunisada print designer and book illustrator and publisher Tsuruya Kiemon came together in the late 1820’s and designed a book called “A Rustic Genji by a Fradulent Murasaki” (Nise Murasaki inaka Genji). The actions of these three artist began a new type of artwork that would continue until the turn of the century. These designs proved to be very popular and about 1,300 original designs were made. Japanese wood blocks were very popular during their release.

The wood block paintings are taken from the classic novel “A Rustic Genji” set in fifteenth century Japan. “The Tale of Genji” was written over 1,000 years ago by the court lady Murasaki Shikibu. The story tells of the amorous adventures of Mitsuuji that was shown with kabuki theatrics. “By 1838, and concurrent with the release of new Rustic Genji chapter, wood block print publishers and artist set out the exploits it success through the creation of individual sheet prints that depicted the principal characters and the most exciting scenes”. (ccjac.org)

According to Julia Bruckner, museum educator at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Japanese wood block print are from the Edo Period. “The Edo Period was characterized by a repressive government run by shoguns and Japan’s isolation from the rest of the world.” states Bruckner. “Because the wood block prints were an art form available to the lower classes, cheaper than scrolls or paintings and they were not recognized as fine art in Japan until about 50 years ago.” (soyouwanna.com)

The Japanese wood block print technique is a joint process using four different people. There is the artist, the carver, the printer and the publisher. However, for “A Rustic Genji”, there were only three people in the project. The wood used for the wood blocks was sakura (cherry wood). It is fine textured wood with a straight grain. The wood is...