PRINTS OF OLD JAPAN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21910, 20 September 1934, Page 15

PRINTS OF OLD JAPAN

LOAN EXHIBITION OPENING THIS AFTERNOON Old Japan passes in a rich pageant around the walls of the exhibition room of the Art Gallery, where a loan collection of Japanese prints owned by Captain G. Humphreys-Davies, of Clevedon, will be placed on view this afternoon at a brief ceremony to mark the reopening of the gallery after renovation.

Colour-prints were the popular form of pictorial art in Japan for more than 150 years, from the end of the 17th ceptury until the opening of the island empire to Western culture in 1868. In feudal days the common people were not permitted to own paintings, and for that reason wood-block prints were freely made and circulated. Later they were coloured by hand, and in the early 18th century the art of printing in colours from a series of blocks was invented by Moronobu. Its practice rapidly developed and prints were" sold in thousands at a few pence apiece to decorate the walls of humble homes. The art is said to have been revealed to the Western world in 1865, when Claude Monet, the famous French painter, found a Dutch grocer using a pile of the prints to wrap up pounds of butter. He purchased the lot and showed them to his fellow-painters, Whistler and Degas. Since then they have had an assured place in the world of art and single prints have at times Tealised huge prices.s- - Humphreys-Davies has arranged his collection in order of date, showing clearly the development of technique from the early printß in their subdued colourings, mellowed by time, through intermediate stages when the art reached its zenith to late works of kaleidoscopic brilliance. The subjects present the life of feudal Japan in every aspect. Noble ladies, samurai in armour, courtesans, actors, wrestlers, peasants and children pose for the modern onlooker. There are temples, bridges, quaint wooden houses, cherry trees in blossom, lotus flowers, peacocks and horses. Mountains and waterfalls, seascapes and views of Fujiyama provide a scenic background. Incidents from epics, flags, legends, mythology and history abound. There are stirring battle scenes by sea and land, and incidents from the true and heroic tale of the Forty-seven Ron ins, famous for avenging the murder of their feudal lord. The collection shows the marvellous range of technique achieved by the old Japanese artists, the infiltration of western influences and the influence which Japan in turn has exerted upon western art. It is sure to have many visitors. The opening ceremony will be performed by the Mayor, Mr. G. Hutchison.