Kokusui Ukiyo-e Kessaku Shu (Japanese, i.e. ""The Collection of Masterpieces of Ukiyo-e Printing"")

Tokyo, Nihon Bijutsu Hanga Kenkyu Kai, 1941, March 10th. Folio (355 x 260 mm). In the original silkcovered sewn boards binding with blue title-label pasted on to front board. 50 woodblock reproduction of Ukiyo-e art all with printed tissueguards describing (in both English and Japanese) the artist and artwork. A very fine copy.

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A fine work showing the rich tradition Ukiyo-e art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of such subjects as female beauties, kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers, scenes from history and folk tales, travel scenes and landscapes, flora and fauna, and erotica. The term 'ukiyo-e' translates as ""picture[s] of the floating world"". Ukiyo-e was central to forming the West's perception of Japanese art in the late 19th century, particularly the landscapes of Hokusai and Hiroshige. From the 1870s onwards, Japonisme became a prominent trend and had a strong influence on the early Impressionists such as Edgar Degas, Édouard Manet and Claude Monet, as well as having an impact on Post-Impressionists such as Vincent van Gogh, and Art Nouveau artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.