learning to print

tadamasa hayashi came to paris to assist and translate in the setting up of the paris universal exhibition of 1878.




at the time that he came, wood- block prints were quite devalued in japan, so he quickly realized that he could fill his cases with them, and sell them as art,
at art prices, in france.

thus were many people in paris introduced to japanese prints, and began collecting them.




one of these was henri riviere.







he not only bought from hayashi, but they became close friends, and hayashi became a patron for riviere.





the friendship included instruction of a sort as to printmaking methods, but it also included the recognition that riviere had,

without knowing it, revived ancient japanese printmaking methods for his own work.







when, after a close friendship of fifteen years, hayashi returned to japan, and died soon thereafter, riviere gave up printmaking.





yes, many others, as we've discussed, embraced what japan had to teach.












but to my eyes, henri riviere was japonisme's mikado.





(don't miss the wonderful photogravure site; the hiroshige site that has a permanant place in the sidebar; and the comprehensive henri riviere site.)

japonisme: books part I

i was thrilled to find an online bookseller with an entire section devoted to japonisme! handsome books, and the descriptions of the books, the authors, the designers and illustrators, and of japonisme itself, are priceless.

here is an illustration by sanchi ogawa for a book called japanese fairy tales, by teresa pierce williston. this brings me to a question to which i don't yet know the answer: why were children's books, around the world, so quick to embrace japonisme? maybe i'll learn that while i do this blog.

this beautiful cover is from c. yarnall abbott. while the previous example was a purely japanese scene done in a somewhat western manner, this image is clearly directly inspired by the japanese print: both subject and style.









this as well is another stunning example of the western hand borrowing from the east. even the lettering is designed not so much to imitate japanese calligraphy as to imitate japanese architecture!

the book, from 1902, is designed by sarah wyman whitman.

these and many more can be seen at the bookstore website, at the bookstore itself, and, along with many other booksellers, on ebay (user name: handbooks). i've discovered that ebay is a wonderful way to see old illustrated books; many sellers even display the entire book's illustrations: what a joy!