Floating Along in the World of Japanese Prints

Christie’s Asian Art Week

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) 'Cooling off on a summer evening'

Christie's Japanese And Korean Art Sale will take place on March 17th, in New York, and will be comprised of one hundred and seventy-four lots, forty-three of which will be Japanese paintings.

The highlight of this selection of works is Katsushika Hokusai's 'Cooling off on a summer evening', a large painting (ink, colour and gold on silk) - measuring 20 13/16 x 45 3/16in (52.9 x 114.7cm) - most likely carried out as a special commission for one of the artist's most wealthy clients. Painted around 1810, when Hokusai was at the height of his powers, it depicts two young women enjoying a summer evening, seated on a bench outside a teahouse, taking the air and observing a young serving girl who is busy trying to catch fish with a bamboo basket in the nearby Sumida River. This delightful painting is expected to fetch in the region of $800,000 - $1,000,000.

A hanging scroll (ink on paper, shown above right) by Kitagawa Utamaro, depicting a young woman, seen from the rear, standing beside a small boy and looking down at him as he sits at her feet, holding a rattle above his head, is expected to fetch in the region of $30,000 - $40,000. The young woman's hair, sweeping up from her neck and piled high upon her head, reminds me of a favourite Utamaro print of mine (and a very well-known and popular design) of a young woman, shown from the rear, applying white powder to her neck while she observes her reflection in a hand mirror (shown left).

Detail of 'Beauty and Child' by Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806)

Also on sale are a set of nine erotic paintings by Katsukawa Shunshō, along with a preface by the haikai poet Baba Zongi (1703-1782), written in 1780, from a sequence of twelve paintings (ink, color, silver and gold on silk, originally mounted together in a large-format handscroll). The first four paintings, which are not explicitly erotic in nature (see image below), were completed prior to the preface being written, with the remaining eight of the original series, which are explicitly erotic, being added around five or six years later, during the early 1780s. Shunshō's paintings rank amongst the most significant of all paintings produced in Japan, regardless of school or period, and this set have an estimated value of $500,000 - $700,000.

Katsukawa Shunshō (d. 1792) One of nine erotic scenes from 'Secret Games in the Spring Palace'

(All images courtesy of Christie's, except the woodblock print of the woman powdering her neck)

The Old Man Mad About Drawing

I've just finished reading 'The Old Man Mad About Drawing: A Tale of Hokusai' by Francois Place, and I have to say that it is one of the most charming books I've read in a long while. It is a book for young readers, but it is such a lovely volume that I think adults will also find it enchanting... I certainly did. It tells the story of Tojiro, a nine year old orphan who sells rice cakes in nineteenth century Edo, and his relationship with one of his customers, a grumpy old artist... Hokusai. Hokusai takes a shine to the boy, who he affectionately refers to as 'Sparrow,' and soon takes him on as his assistant. The artist teaches him to read, introduces him to the process of woodblock printing, and little Sparrow learns all about Hokusai's earlier works. The relationship between artist and pupil is most endearing and there is a great deal of humour and warmth in the text. On each and every page there is an illustration... either a reproduction of one of Hokusai's designs (when it is relevant to the text), or one of Place's fantastic sketches of Hokusai and his little apprentice or of nineteenth century Edo and its colourful inhabitants. If you want to introduce a young reader, or an adult beginner for that matter, to Japanese prints then this is the book to do it with. I have no little star icons lined up in a row of five here, but if I did all five would be glowing gold.

Utamaro: L’Almanach des Maisons Vertes

As I’m in Lille, I took the opportunity to pick up a copy of Utamaro: L’Almanach des Maisons Vertes, published this year by Éditions Philippe Picquer. Within the silk-covered slipcase with traditional Japanese fastenings, which is decorated with figures taken from the album it contains, there are two hardback concertina-bound books containing reproductions of both volumes of the famous Annals of the Green Houses (Seirō ehon nenjū gyōji), from the Jacques Doucet collection - including the text, the publisher’s advertisement, and the covers - and a paperback book which gives translations of the text and descriptions of the contents of the plates. Even if you don’t read French, it’s worth getting this boxed set just to have the two beautifully bound volumes of plates which, like the slipcase, are covered in decorated silk.

I also picked up a copy of Hokusai: Les Cent Vues du Mont Fuji (The Hundred Views of Mount Fuji), which was published by Éditions Hazan this year. Along with a paperback booklet, which describes each of the plates from this famous work, are the three volumes which make up Hokusai’s album of one hundred views, each stitch-bound in the traditional Japanese manner and contained within its own protective hardback cover. The three volumes and introductory booklet are contained within a protective black case which is secured when closed with red ribbon ties. This is another set which is worth buying for the beautifully produced volumes of illustrations regardless of whether or not you speak French.