No. 5) by Iwami Reika 20593 67-G by Onosato Toshinobu 207
94 Towada Lake by Yuse Yoshinori 209
95 Wave 81-J by Maruyama Hiroshi 211
96 Horyuji-tō (Horyu Temple-Pagoda) by Kawada Kan 213
97 Sasae (III) (Sustain [III]) by Kawachi Seiko 215
98 be-ing by Hiratsuka Yuji 217
99 Celebration by Wako Shuji 219
Acknowledgments
Without the wonderful artists whose works and selves have enriched our lives in every possible way, we would have nothing to write about, so it seems natural to thank them first and we do so from the bottom of our hearts.
Our interest in contemporary Japanese prints was first captured by the writings of James Michener and Oliver Statler, both of whom were pioneers in introducing these wonders to the Western world. Naturally we were ecstatic when Mr. Michener kindly agreed to Write the foreword to our book. We extend profound thanks to him.
While compiling the factual information about the artists, exhibitions, and collections, we turned to several sources to whom we remain very grateful for their cooperation. For providing detailed information we are indebted first of all to the artists and their families. Also of particular help were staff members of the Yoseido, Franell, Kato, Nantenshi, Bancho, Print Art Center, and Akira Ikeda galleries in Tokyo; the Yamada Gallery in Kyoto; the M&Y Office of Masuo Ikeda and Sato Yoko in Tokyo; the Hiratsuka Museum in Suzaka City; and the Striped House Museum in Tokyo. We also wish to thank the magazines Hanga Geijutsu and 21 Seiki Hanga for special assistance in tracking down obscure information. Everyone provided cheerful and unstinting responses to our many phone calls concerning who did what when.
Very special thanks must be extended to Ushizawa Fujio of the Yoseido Gallery and Kato Tatsuo of the Kato Gallery. Both have been dear friends all along the way, first as helpful advisors when we began collecting, then as willing consultants when we started our business, and later as steadfast supporters when we became business associates and friendly competitors. Perhaps our first real feelings of success as gallerists can be traced to our first sales to Yoseido and Kato, from whom we had bought so many prints over the years. We must thank them both for serving as sounding boards as to which prints by which artists should be included in this book. We are truly sorry that we could not include every one, but the final choices were ours.
A special debt of gratitude is owed to Terajima Teruo, who is responsible for the photographs of the prints in the book and our photo on the back jacket. We have long appreciated his efficiency, speed, availability, and, of course, his talent. His many years of expertise in art photography will be obvious to everyone.
Our deepest gratitude goes to the two to whom this book is dedicated, Eiji and Taka, who have been indispensable in helping the Tolman Collection achieve the respected status it has today as a major purveyor of contemporary Japanese art throughout the world.
Nagao Eiji, our gallery manager, began on a part-time basis while he was finishing his studies at Meiji University. That was in 1980, and he has been our right-hand man ever since. The many difficulties we have faced as gallery operators have been greatly eased by Eiji, who has actually become a fixture at the Tolman Collection, Tokyo. Starting with virtually no knowledge of prints, under our tutelage Eiji has come to know more about the world of contemporary Japanese prints than anyone else his age because of the active role our gallery has played with the artists themselves.
Yamamoto Nobutaka, our gallery assistant manager, came a few years later, in 1984. Together Eiji and Taka have formed a warm working relationship that has been instrumental in the smooth operation of our gallery. They have endeared themselves to our many clients from all over the world, and when they accompany us on international trips they bring their charm with them. Everyone knows them as Eiji and Taka of the Tolman Collection.
Here we want to thank them for their many years of devotion to our aim of promoting contemporary Japanese prints and, in particular, for their extra hard work during the writing of this book. It is they we must thank for their diligent labor in compiling the biographical data on the artists, much of which was available only in Japanese. We are happy to say that we feel fortunate in having "two Japanese sons" to help our two American daughters in all our ventures.
The Charles E. Tuttle Publishing Company deserves a multitude of thanks, which we wholeheartedly give. Beginning with the books by Michener and Statler, Tuttle has consistently sought out authors who have held a special affection not only for the art but also for the artists who make prints. No words can describe our feeling when we were invited by Nicholas Ingleton, president of Tuttle, to write this book. By placing us in such company he has asserted his confidence in our ability in a most positive way, and we humbly hope that we have met his expectations. In addition, we are grateful to Nick and his staff for help in editing, designing, and laying out this book.
Foreword
by James A. Michener
One of the most rewarding adventures I've had in the world of art occurred when I was a correspondent in the Korean War. On frequent leaves for R & R, rest and recuperation, I scurried over to Japan, where I met an extraordinary young man. Oliver Statler, from a suburb of Chicago, had remained in Tokyo after World War II as a member of General Douglas MacArthur's Occupation team. With both skill and an aptitude for making friends among the Japanese, he accumulated the rich materials he would later use in writing his international bestseller Japanese Inn.
In the course of his researches, which reached back to 1945 when he landed in Japan along with MacArthur, Statler, who had wide experience in the arts, had become acquainted with a group of Japanese woodblock artists who were remaking the traditions of that ingratiating art form, the ukiyo-e print. Those prints dealt with the "floating" or underground world of geishas, samurais, and sumo wrestlers and was made famous by world-class artists like Masanobu, Harunobu, Kiyonaga, Utamaro, Sharaku, and especially Hokusai and Hiroshige. Their prints won worldwide approval, with major collections assembled in Paris, in London, and notably in Boston.
But the classic ukiyo-e print, of which I would collect some six thousand, had become typecast, offering mainly scenes of Japanese life, portraits of famous geishas, and landscapes of Mount Fuji. The younger artists of Statler's day longed to become not Japanese artists bound by the old cliches but artists in the worldwide sense, free to use any subject matter that inspired fellow artists in Paris, New York, or Vienna. They rejected the designation ukiyo-e artists, preferring the term hang a artists, and this handsome book portrays their art and the revolution they engineered.
Statler was so impressed with their work that by the time I reached him he had already assembled a huge collection of their best work, and in time he would have one of the world's best collections of the Modern Japanese print. He was so excited by his discoveries that he launched me on an exploration of the field, and this present volume reproduces work by some three dozen artists I collected at that time. Before long I became an aficionado, and even formed fast friendships with several of the artists and carvers whose work I admired.
In those exciting days, when each visit to Tokyo brought new discoveries, the field was dominated by four artists, three of whom are not represented in this publication because their work antedated the time period covered by this book. Hashiguchi Goyo had produced ravishingly beautiful portraits of women from everyday Japanese life, but he had little effect on the larger movement. Munakata Shiko composed wonderful designs in bold black and white, while Onchi Koshiro, with a European taste welded to a strong Japanese tradition, did captivating prints that could have been done
