One Hundred Aspects of the Moon FROM THE PUBLISHER
Japanese Ukiyo-e master Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892) is considered by many to be Japan's last great woodblock artist, and his final work, the series One Hundred Aspects of the Moon, is regarded as his greatest achievement. Yoshitoshi's artistic career traces a period of social and political change in Japan, which opened its doors to trade with the West in 1853, the year that he published his first woodblock print. As tumult shook the foundations of old Japan, Yoshitoshi cleaved to tradition in his choice of subject matter, drawing upon literature, history, and mythology, the warrior class, and the Buddhist notion of "the floating world" to preserve and celebrate Japanese culture before modernism. In one hundred views and commentaries, the artist used the popular woodblock print form to depict everyday Japanese concerns and the collective apprehension about a future not yet clarified.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
There's something for everyone in the latest two books on ukiyo-e, or "pictures of the floating world," a style of Japanese woodblock prints and painting popular in the Edo period (1615-1867). Hockley (art history, Dartmouth) gives us a thorough scholarly analysis of the genre, using artist Isoda Koryu- sai as a fulcrum. He illustrates the inherent problems with the discipline of ukiyo-e study: difficulties in creating a single narrative for a voluminous body of art produced by hundreds of artists over hundreds of years, the inability of collectors/connoisseurs to be objective, and the lack of knowledge in dealing with primary documents by the budding field of art historians. Hockley creates a paradigm shift when he discusses the true relationship between Koryu-sai and the more highly regarded Suzuki Harunobu; they were not student and teacher at all but rather cohorts in supplying a demand created by consumers of 18th-century Japan. He states that Koryu-sai combined predictable and innovative elements in a way that was a harbinger of pop culture as we know it. Hockley brings us research of quality, and his well-documented book is recommended for academic libraries. A labor of love and a passion for collecting sometimes result in gems, such as this 26-year effort by collectors to assemble the 100 images that make up One Hundred Aspects of the Moon, the woodblock series by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-92). One of the last great masters of the ukiyo-e tradition, Yoshitoshi cleaved to the history, mythology, and culture of his country at a time of sociopolitical uncertainty, when Japan was poised on the precipice of contact with the West. And yet, instead of turning into nostalgia, this popular culture phenomenon continues in present-day Japan in many forms, including manga and anime. As in all great ukiyo-e and all great pop culture, Yoshitoshi struck a balance between the predictable and the innovative. Each page of the book shows one print and a small descriptive paragraph. The series is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, NM. Recommended for all libraries.-Nadine Dalton Speidel, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., Parma, OH Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Home
