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Departmental Papers (History of Art) Department of the History of Art

12-2008

Review of Fujisawa Akane, Kobayashi Tadashi, Ellis Tinios, Laura J. Mueller (Eds.), Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the

Julie Nelson Davis University of Pennsylvania, [email protected]

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Recommended Citation Davis, J. N. (2008). Review of Fujisawa Akane, Kobayashi Tadashi, Ellis Tinios, Laura J. Mueller (Eds.), Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School. Print Quarterly, 25 (4), 453-456. Retrieved from https://repository.upenn.edu/histart_papers/10

This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/histart_papers/10 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Review of Fujisawa Akane, Kobayashi Tadashi, Ellis Tinios, Laura J. Mueller (Eds.), Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School

Disciplines Arts and Humanities | Asian Art and Architecture | History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology

This review is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/histart_papers/10 The Utagawa School

JulieNelson Davis

FujisawaAkane, Kobayashi Tadashi and Ellis Tinios. edit- printsin theChazen Museum of Artat theUniversity of ed byLaura J. Mueller, Competition andCollaboration : Japanese Wisconsin. With more than 4,000 prints by about 140 artists, Printsof theUtagawa School , Madison, Wisconsin, Chazen thisis theeighth largest collection of Japanese prints in the Museumof Art and Hotei Publishing, 2007, 232 pp., 253 col. UnitedStates, and by virtue of being at a universitymuseum and10 b. & w.ills., €84, $120. is consideredone of the most importantteaching collectionsin theworld (p. 6). The collectionwas formed Thisbook is an impressive study of one of the most impor- byEdward Burr Van Vleck, Professor of Mathematicsat tantschools working inukiyo-e from the late eighteenth tothe UniversityofWisconsin-Madison (1909-26). A savvycollec- mid-nineteenthcenturies. The projectwas organizedby tor,Van Vleck acquired two collections toform the centre of LauraJ. Muelleras an exhibition(Madison, WI, Chazen his own;these included the holdings of Thomasand J. Museum,3 November 2007-6 January 2008, and New York, HarrietGoodell and, more famously, that of FrankLloyd TheBrooklyn Museum, 21 March-i5june 2008) and accom- Wright.This was acquiredafter Wright, having used the paniedby this catalogue. With essays by Mueller, Akane, printsas collateral,defaulted on a bankloan and the bank Tadashiand Tinios, and an extensive set of catalogue entries, sold the prints to recoup its investment. In the 1980s the Van CompetitionandCollaboration takes a seriousand scholarlyVleck family donated the collection to theUniversity of approachto the study of the Utagawa school of ukiyo-e artists. Wisconsin-Madison. Ukiyo-e, the 'images of floating world', were classed as com- Muellerleads offthe cataloguewith 'Establishing a mercialworks in their time, and by and large these printed Lineage:The Utagawa School and 's Print Culture', a materialsdisplay the fashions and entertainments available fineessay describing the emergence ofthe Utagawa house in inthe major cities of the early modern period, in which the thedog-eat-dog market of ukiyo-e.The school'sfounder, Utagawaschool was one of its most successful lineages. UtagawaToyoharu (1735-1814), designed a number of ukiyo-e The printsselected for the exhibition and catalogueall ('floatingpictures') that adapted one-point perspective to comefrom the Van Vleck Collection ofJapanese woodblock depictthe famous sites around (as well as fantasticalrep-

199., Interiore f theKawarazakiya Theatre , 1794, woodcut, óban triptych, 356 x 717 mm (Madison, WI, Chazen Museumof Art, Bequest of John H. VanVleck).

PRINTQUARTERLY, XXV,2008, 4

This content downloaded from 165.123.108.243 on Tue, 20 Oct 2015 20:13:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 454 CATALOGUEAND BOOK REVIEWS resentationsofdistant places, including Holland and China). publisherscalled the shots. This overturns the too frequently Toyoharuestablished his own atelier and line, training two asserted,and ultimately incorrect, model wherein the artist artistswho in turn founded the most important branches of controlsthe print production and his market. Like cinema theschool, Utagawa (1773-1828) and Utagawa today,ukiyo-e was a for-profitventure, where the publisher as Toyokuni(1769-1825). Toyohiro and Toyokunilikewise producercontrolled the process and took carefully calculated traineddescendants. Toyohiro 's most famous student was risks. UtagawaHiroshige (1797-1858), and Toyokuni'swere the Kobayashialso notes that in thefurther stages of print- exceedinglysuccessful Utagawa (1786- 1865) and making,after the design was accepted, the carver would pro- theever inventive (1798-1861). Mueller ducethe key block and pull the test proof; the artist would rightlyextends the Utagawa legacy into the period thenadd coloursto theproof. Subsequent colour blocks (1868-1912),after Japan rapidly transformed itself into a wouldbe carvedto matchthe artist's designs. The prints Westernizedpower, to includeKunisada's best student, would be returnedto thepublisher for sale, as Kobayashi ToyoharaKunichika (1835-1900), and Kuniyoshi'smost states: innovativeones, Kawanabe Kyõsai (1831-89) and Tsukioka The finishedpolychrome print would normally be sent (1839-92). to thepublisher in batchesof twohundred sheets, the Theseare only the most prominent Utagawa artists in a approximatenumber of printsthat a printercould pro- schoolthat, as Muellerwrites, was 'responsible for over half ducein a singleday. The publisherwould then put the of all extantukiyo-e prints . . . and includedan extensive printson displayin thefront of hisshop, known as an rosterof hundredsof designerswho at sometime worked ezõshiya, which was similar to today's bookshops. He also underthe Utagawa name or claimedties to itsartistic lin- mighthave authorized other ezõshiya shops to sell the prints eage'(p. 13). To besure, the Utagawa school, on the strength (p-23)- of numbersalone, became a dominantpresence in ukiyo-e. Althoughthe number of prints produced per day as well Thiscatalogue's reappraisal of theschool gives them due as otherdetails probably varied over the period, this descrip- appreciation,but this need not be doneon quantityalone. tionprovides a good benchmark for the general process. The Fortunately,many of itsmembers were also very talented factthat the publisher might authorize another shop to dis- designers,worthy competitors toacclaimed masters such as tributehis product serves as anothermarker of his ownership KitagawaUtamaro (i753?-i8o6) and KatsushikaHokusai ofthe completed image. There was no official copyright law (1760-1849),among others. inEdo Japan; instead, the owner of the woodblocks, usually KobayashiTadashi raises important issues about the pro- thepublisher, 'owned' the content. Pirating designs and sto- ductionof imagesin theessay, 'Ukiyo-e Artists and Their rieswas not unusual in the cut-throat world of Edo publish- Patrons:The Case of Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) and ing;such disputes were settled by the publishing guilds and theWealthy Merchant Mitani Chõzaburõ'. Significantly, he owningthe blocks was vital to proving rights to content. describesthe printing process, placing not the artist but the Aftersetting up thisparadigm, Kobayashi considers the publisherat the place of itsorigin; this rightly acknowledges information that survives on a selectednumber of Kunisada thatprints were a commercialenterprise, underwritten bya designs.In theserare drawings the artist has included nota- merchantand designed to sell. Although somewhat lengthy, tions directed to the patron of the prints and to the publish- Kobayashi'sdescription of theprocess of makingprints is er.This evidence demonstrates that the publisher, Ebisuya worthquoting: Shöshichi,and a well-to-domerchant, Mitani Chõzaburõ, Theproduction ofthese prints during the fol- wereco-investors in a seriesof imagesby Kunisada that lowedan involvedprocess. The printpublisher {hanmoto) were never realized as completedpolychrome prints. The planneda new polychrome woodblock print as a commer- artist'snotations on theproof sheets request the services of cialproduct. He commissionedan artist or draftsman to themost highly regarded carver, Horitake, to transferthe createa preparatory drawing for the main image, made up detailsof theimage to the woodblocks, indicating his con- largelyof linesof blackink. If thepreparatory drawing cernsthat the prints should reflect his intentions. This case metwith the publisher's approval, he then sought permis- exemplifiesanunusual collaboration between publisher and sionfrom a sanctionedgovernment official or censorto investor,and it alsoindicates how an artist- evenone as the a of most famousas Kunisada- was to forthe con- publish design,receiving ' stamp ' approval' ' required appeal commonlyinthe form of kiwame(approved), or aratamesideration of thepublisher in thefinal production of his (examined).After the appropriate approval, production of images.Again, the artist-as-creator model is provenincon- theprint would commence (p. 23). sistentwith actual practice: the publisher remains at the Here,Kobayashi clearly states a facttoo often overlooked centre of production throughout. (orwilfully ignored) in ukiyo-estudies: that for commercial In thenext essay Fujisawa Akane engages Utagawa con- printing(leaving aside examples of private commission) the nectionsbetween the School and theKabuki theatre, be-

I. Citationon p. 35to Iijima Kyoshin, Ukiyoeshi Utagawa retsuden , 1993)»P-5*- editedby Tamabayashi Haruo ( 1896, 1941, reprinted

This content downloaded from 165.123.108.243 on Tue, 20 Oct 2015 20:13:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions CATALOGUEAND BOOK REVIEWS 455 ginningwith the epigraph, ' made Toyokuni, and Whilethis is not an unusualdescription ofthe period, it is Toyokunimade Kabuki'. Iijima Kyoshin (1841-1901) made increasinglydifficult tocountenance when one considers the this observationin the retsuden restrictionson status and movementactive in the telling UkiyoeshiUtagawa 1 ongoing ('Biographiesofthe Utagawa School of Ukiyo-e Masters'). period.Given that many artists, writers, actors and others To be sure,Toyokuni's career as an artistwas sustained wererepeatedly censured, edicts were regularly promulgated by designingsheet prints, books, programmes and other toenforce social distinctions, and that political and military paraphernaliafor the Kabuki market, and his teacher, peers powercontinued to be carriedout in literal, perpetual and andstudents also designed for the theatre. More compelling penal actions,it is time that this characterization is Kyoshin'sassertion that Toyokuni shaped Kabuki, and be reconsideredor at leastmore fully nuanced. Mueller's here,as Akane shows, the image popularized the actor, affect- admirable discussion of theways in which Utagawa artists edfashion, placed products and influenced staging. How and becamedefined in the field, were noted for particular skills whentheatre prints (fig. 199) were made and how individual and participated incollaborative projects, responding toand artistsin the school negotiated their relationship tothe the- shapingthe tastes of their audience, would have also benefit- atreare also discussed, ina processwhere the prints reflected ed by further reflections onthe implications brought forward and influencedtheir As Akane it was like theother authors. For andthe artists alike, mar- ' subject. writes, by publishers drawingkabuki, acting an ukiyo-e print (italics in original, p. 35). ketshare and continued sales remained motivating factors in EllisTinios, in thefourth overview essay 'Warrior Prints theproduction ofthese printed works. andthe Double-edged Sword of Loyalty', considers another Followingthese essays, the book becomes a sequenceof majorsubject engaged by the Utagawa School. Tinios pur- catalogueentries for specific sheet prints, each illustrated in suesthe possibility that warrior prints not only showed their fullcolour. These are organized by theme, with separate tides subjectsas heroes,but perhaps had a secondaryintention designating their subject: 'Establishing a Name: Utagawa andeffect of being subversive statements onwarrior culture. Toyoharu','The Studiosof Toyohiroand Toyokuni', Throughoutits rule (1615-1868) the Tokugawa shogunate 'Creative Specialization:, Kuniyoshi, and remainedever sensitive to thepower of printto inflame Kunisada','Collaborative Works', 'Utagawa Style and dissent,and it banned the representation of current events, MarketDominance' and 'Claimingthe Lineage:Later politicsand history after 1573 from commercial print produc- Artistsof the Utagawa School'. These sections highlight the tion.To dodgethese restrictions, playwrights, novelists, ukiyo- remarkable and diverse creativity ofthe many artists working edesigners and publishers, among others, often reset a known underthe Utagawa name, and in each of them specific fea- eventcenturies into the past, disguising their potential cri- turesand meaningsof imagesare clearlydetailed. The tiquein historicalobfuscation. Sometimes it worked,but extensivenumber of images by each artist allows one to gain oftenitwas done so transparendy - for example, the stage use a newappreciation for the ways in which the 'legacy' of the ofthe name 'Hisayoshi' hardly disguised its historical prece- Utagawastyle was transmitted from one generation to the dent,the sixteenth-century warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi - next.However, because so many prints share similar features, thatit servedas a pretenceof obedience,appearing to manypoints about style and content are reiterated inthis sec- respectthe restrictions while fooling few. Here, Tinios selects tion(compare, for example, the opening lines in entries 1and a numberof caseswherein the 'sword of loyalty'cut both 2).While this is often the case with catalogue entries, for this ways,taking particular note of UtagawaSchool contribu- reader it would have been more beneficial ifmany of these tionsto thewarrior print genre. Tinios handles the subject insightshad been brought into the main essays. In addition, withaplomb and clear mastery. sincethe objects included here are nearly all sheet prints - a Muellercloses out the overview essay portion of the cata- restrictionnodoubt due to the range of the collection - little logue with 'CreativeSpecialization and Collaborativeis saidabout how different media were handled by these Projects',bringing together many of the issues raised by the artists.Utagawa artists were, after all, some of the most high- previousauthors. In herdescription ofthe cultural world of lysought book illustrators (especially for popular fiction), and Edo, shereiterates the notion that urbanités increasingly some, such as Toyohiroand Hiroshige,were admired exploreda wide range of entertainments, andthat paintersin theperiod. It wouldhave been useful for these ... theterm Edokko [child of Edo] became democratized kinds of mediadistinctions and interactionsto be brought as thebarriers of status and entidement eroded to include intothe main essays. In thefinal pages, a setof biographies, . . . theestablishment of a 'commonculture.' This was a lineagediagram and glossarymake the catalogue a useful culturefor the common man - includingcraftsmen, small referencework. merchants,firemen, and often the women who had vari- Theproject as a wholewill serve to fill a gapin the way we ousfamilial or social relationships tothem - whoworked previouslyconsidered this extremely successful ukiyo-e lin- hardand prospered,enabling them to enjoythe many eage.Each of the overview essays thoughtfully considers its offeringsofthe great metropolis2 (p.46). subjectand the catalogue entries make these prints accessi-

2. Theterm 'common culture' iscited to Henry D. SmithII, 'The Revisited,edited by D. Jenkinsand L. Jacobsen-Katsumoto FloatingWorld inits Edo Locale 1750-1850', inThe Floating World (Portland,OR 1993),pp. 35-38.

This content downloaded from 165.123.108.243 on Tue, 20 Oct 2015 20:13:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 456 CATALOGUEAND BOOK REVIEWS ble.The presentationand layout of thebook are up tothe field.The volume's contributors and, most of all, its organiz- typicalhigh standards of a HoteiPublishing venture (and in erare to be congratulatedforbringing the Utagawa School thespirit of fulldisclosure, I also workedwith Hotei on togreater appreciation. anotherproject), and it is a mostwelcome addition to the

Leopoldo Méndez

Kelly Donahue-Wallace

DeborahGaplow, Leopoldo Méndez • Revolutionary Artand the dedicatedto leftist social and political causes, Méndez took MexicanPrint , Austin, University of Texas Press, 2007, 326 on fascism,capitalism, nuclear proliferation, Mexican pre- pp.,18 col. and 194 b. & w.ills., $55, £30. revolutionaryhistory and abusesof powerof all kinds.In eachimage, the common man and woman are the prota- LeopoldoMéndez (1902-69) was a leadingfigure of the gonistsfacing down threats from powerful individuals and MexicanRenaissance, the period of artisticefflorescence institutions. thatfollowed the Mexican Revolution of 1910-20.Although DeborahCaplow's book joins a handfulof otherrecent lessfamous than the 'big three' muralists - Diego Rivera, José textsin expanding the scholarship on Méndez'swork; these ClementeOrozco and DavidAlfaro Siqueiros - Méndez complementand enrich Helga Prignitz's seminal 1992 study neverthelesshelped to codify the image of post-revolutionary ofthe TGP. Caplow presents a valuable survey of Méndez's Mexicothrough his work as a foundingmember of the Taller career,with nine chapters following the artist from his for- de GráficaPopular (the Popular Graphic Workshop, TGP). mationat the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City to the Createdin 1937as a collaborativeprintmaking shop for the lastworks executed before his death in 1969. As the founder disseminationof didactic materials to benefitthe Mexican anda lifetimemember of theTGP, Méndez's biography is populace,the TGP artistsdrew inspiration from Mexican inextricablylinked to the press's history, making the book as printmakerJosé GuadalupePosada and the German muchabout the press as itis about the artist. Caplow devel- Expressionists,among others, to makeboldly graphic and opedher narrative with the assistance of PabloMéndez, didacticallypowerful works combining text and image. Leopoldo'sson, as wellas frominterviews with surviving Méndez,José Luis Arenal, Pablo O'Higgins, Raul Anguiano, TGP members,the heirs of those who are not alive and visi- AlfredoZalee and XavierGuerrero worked primarily in torsto the press. The TGP artists'personal archives provid- linocutand lithography,which they combined with typo- ed additionalmaterial. The bookconsequently offers many graphictext to decry fascism or promote union membership. hitherto unpublished insights into Méndez's career and TGP Likethe muralists, the TGP artistsdeployed in their broad- operations,in additionto drawingtogether much of the sheetsand posters a standard repertoire ofcharacters - the availableprimary and secondaryliterature. Caplow also ruralcampesino (farmer), the Indian mother, the urban prole- takesfull advantage of US andMexican collections ofTGP tariat,the greedy industrialist - topromote socialist, antifas- work, including the MetropolitanMuseum of Art,the cistand later anti-Cold War messages. The TGP continuesUniversity of California'sBancroft Library and the today,albeit with a muchcurtailed productivity. Universityof New Mexico'srecent acquisitions, and the The Academy-trainedMéndez, born into a politicallybook is ričhly illustrated. Itsjournalistic writing style, period- activefamily in the stateof Mexico,briefly explored icallypunctuated by romantic defences of the artist, iseasily Abstractionas part of the Estridentismo(Stridentist) accessible for all audiences. movementbefore embracing an accessiblefigurative style of Thesurvey of Méndez's life begins with his formation and printmaking.Robust figures defined by thick hatches and thefoundation of theMexican Renaissance; here Caplow contourlines populate Méndez's woodcut, linocut and met- establishesthe relationship between the printmaker and the alcutimages. In workslike El fiisilamiento('The Firing morefamous Rivera, Orozco and Siqueiros.The second Squad';fig. 200), he exploitsthe bold graphic potential of chapterpresents Méndez's participation in Estridentismo therelief medium, recalling the power of Käthe Kollwitz's andits celebration of avant-gardemodernity and Mexican woodcuts.His lithographs, onthe other hand, use rapid and revolutionaryprinciples. The nexttwo chapters follow the sketchymarks to evoke masses in motion or an economyof artistthrough his increasing engagement with politics and his sinuouslines to suggest likenesses, as evidenced by his sensi- membershipin the Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarias tiverendering of Mexicanhero Benito Juárez. Invariably (League of RevolutionaryWriters and Artists* LEAR). The

PRINTQUARTERLY, XXV,2008, 4

This content downloaded from 165.123.108.243 on Tue, 20 Oct 2015 20:13:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions