The Collector
ART, ANTIQUITIES AND OBJECTS
About
Japanese Woodblock Prints
Japanese Shinhanga woodblock prints, the new prints, are the twentieth century version of an earlier woodblock print style of the Ukiyo-e [floating world] prints done mostly in the late eighteenth and the nineteenth century in Japan. The process for making these prints was essentially the same in both of these styles i.e. the artist rendered the scene, usually in water colors, and next a carver would interpret the image on to flat wooden blocks in relief. Then a separate specialist printer would apply colors to the surface of these blocks, placed pre-cut appropriate size paper on the blocks and then burnished the back of the paper with a special tool called a baren thereby transferring the colors to the paper making the print. Any other stamps applied to the print such as addition seals were done separately by hand. In most cases many blocks were required to print the separate colors of each print and hence many printing stages were done to complete each print. The artist whose design was being reproduced had much influence on the process during these many stages of production making sure the print was true to his original design. Some artists such as Hiroshi Yoshida and his son Toshi published their own work themselves utilizing carvers and printers within their own establishment. Most artists however used the services of publishing houses such as Watanabe Shozaburo.
The subject of these shinhanga /new prints was quite different from the previous styles. The subject of the Ukiyo-e prints were most often theater scenes, actors, popular geishas and views of the pleasure district of cities. The shin hanga prints were most often of historical places, beautiful landscapes and ordinary every day scenes often depicting people in western clothing.
One of my favorite prints illustrating this modern view is “Snow at Shiba Daimon Gate” a 1936 print by Kawase Hasui with an automobile and a person dressed in western clothing. Another Hasui print with this modern theme is a Doi print “Shinobazu Pond” with a view over a park pond at a city in full electrical illumination. There are many more subtle differences between Ukiyo-e prints and Shin Hanga prints. Colors, atmospherics, night time scenes and especially perspective make for distinctly original more modern prints which many collectors find very appealing.