Press release
Japanese print
Images of an ephemeral world
Utagawa Toyokuni
Katsushika Hokusai
©BnF, Prints and photographs department
Torii Kiyonaga
Andô Hiroshige
Kitagawa Utamaro
From 18 November 2008 until 15 February 2009, the Bibliothèque nationale de France
presents an exceptional exhibition devoted to Ukiyo-e Japanese prints. From its origins at
the end of the 17th century until the mid-19th century, Ukiyo-e means « pictures of a
floating or ephemeral world », in contrast with the sacred and immutable world.
« The exhibition allows to discover one of the most important collections of Ukiyo-e
worldwide, kept at the Prints and Photographs Department of the library since the end of
the 19th century », declares Bruno Racine, President of the Bibliothèque nationale de
France.
Selected among a collection including more than 6,000 prints and illustrated books, 150
extremely rare or unique works will be on display at the Mazarine gallery and the Crypt of
the Richelieu site.
The art of Ukiyo-e originated in the socio-cultural upheaval when the Tokugawa dynasty seized power at the
beginning of the 17th century; the dynasty set up the capital city in Edo (Tôkyô). This was a period of calm
and prosperity until the fall of the dynasty in 1868.
At that time, wealthy townsmen were excluded from the traditional cultural pleasures exclusively reserved to
the lords. Consequently, they created their own culture and the heroes, ideals, leisure activities and shows
associated with it. The print was the privileged form of expression of this way of life, mainly connected with
the pleasures of theaters and tea houses from Yoshiwara to Edo (Tôkyô). The use of sparkling colours, of a
mica-tinted or marbled background, of embossings and of gold and silver powder, contributed to make the
print a highly refined object...
The exhibition, which is divided into thematic sections, begins in the Mazarine gallery with a didactic
presentation of the technique: Japanese woodblocks, engraved wood plates, printings are presented. The
prints on display are divided into six sections corresponding with the major traditional subjects appearing in
Ukiyo-e prints: theatre, female beauty, parody, eroticism, flora and fauna, landscape. Some illustrated books
are also presented, together with a surimono album (announcement cards) collected by a famous person
living in 18th century Japan, and considered as the real treasure of the library. At the origin of the technique,
one colour only is used; polychrome prints appear later on, when the process reaches its peak. They are even
called « brocade pictures ».
Different works are on display by such famous painters as: Moronobu, Masanobu, Bunchô, Shunshô,
Harunobu, Koryûsai, Kiyonaga, Shunchô, Utamaro, Sharaku, Eishi, Toyokuni, Shunman, Hokusai, Hiroshige…
Used as posters for the Kabuki theatre, the prints offer the audience the portraits of their favourite actors
caught in the most intense scenes of tragedies. They also show high-ranked courtesans of pleasure houses,
famous beauties, female dancers, singers and musicians, tea houses’ hostesses, sumotori. The spring images
(shunga – erotic prints) are other highly prized objects of the Ukiyo-e collection. Anonymous women portrayed
in their daily life exert the same fascination (mother and child, female activities).
A more subtle view of things is delivered by allegorical parody images (mitate) that need a look under the
surface. These allude to the classical or historical culture through the spectrum of contemporary themes.
In the 19th century, the Ukiyo-e, mainly confronted with censorship, begins to fall off; then, Hokusai (17601849) and Hiroshige (1797-1858), two extraordinary painters, give renewed life and impetus to the art
founding the landscape print as a new genre. It is an immediate success. Landscape representations which
were previously used as background sceneries are now treated for their own sake. At that time, the pastoral
feeling is quite strong among the Japanese society. Travels and pilgrimages are more and more numerous
across the archipelago; this is why the publishers order the artists some collections of prints depicting
picturesque or spectacular sites, the famous places evoked in literary works and the popular views of
Japanese cities and provinces (meishoe). Hokusai and Hiroshige both draw their inspiration from a direct
observation of nature, fauna and flora, providing snapshots of an ephemeral and fragile beauty. Then, the
poetic, mystical or melancholy sensibility of the artists contribute to render the fleeting and changing
impressions of a « floating and moving world. » Thanks to a new pigment, the Prussian blue, they use a wide
range of light shades and atmospheres to portray the mountains and the sea as the traditional pictures of the
Japanese landscape. The Crypt is entirely dedicated to the presentation of this collection.
Exposition
Japanese print
Images of an ephemeral world
18 november 2008 - 15 february 2009
BnF - Richelieu site – Mazarine gallery and Crypt
58 rue de Richelieu
Paris IIe
Tuesday - Saturday : 10 a.m - 7 p.m
Sunday : noon - 7 p.m
Closed Mondays and public holidays
Full price : 7€, reduced price : 5€
Publication
Japanese print
Images of an ephemeral world
BnF Publications
280 pages - 200 illustrations
22 x 24,5 cm
Price : 39€
Information, reservations et visites
00 33 (1) 53 79 49 49 and www.bnf.fr
Curators
Gisèle Lambert, honorary chief curator, BnF
Jocelyn Bouquillard, curator, Prints and photographs department, BnF
Press office
Claudine Hermabessière, head of the press office
Tél : 00 33 (1) 53 79 41 18 - [email protected]
Jean-Noël Orengo, press officer
Tél : 00 33 (1) 53 79 41 14 - [email protected]