Japanese Woodblock Prints

I saw the most amazing exhibit of Japanese woodblock prints at the Legion of Honor yesterday.  As a printmaker, I was amazed by the intricacy, color saturation and creativity in subject matter of these 18th and 19th century prints which greatly influenced the Impressionism movement in Europe.


One of my favorite woodblock prints was on display at the exhibit: the lacey, stylized "Great Wave off Kanagawa" from the series  "36 Views of Mt. Fuji" by Hokusai.  Until yesterday, I never noticed that there are boats being tossed around in the waves nor the presence of Mt. Fuji in the background.  I found this great diorama of the woodblock print from Upon a Fold.

Instead of buying an exhibition catalog to keep as a souvenir, I purchased "Hiroshige: One Hundred Famous Views of Edo."  

It contains beautiful reproductions of his famous woodblock prints, the majority of which were on display at the Legion. The publisher, Taschen, always does an amazing job with color reproductions.  The entire book is printed on high quality paper and bound with Japanese stab binding enclosed in a protective slipcase!  You can flip through the entire book here or purchase here at a very reasonable price.


-Lana