1col Eastern Customs

Yoshu Chikanobu, “Eastern Customs, Enumerated Blessings: Western Clothing (Azuma fuzoku fukuzukushi: yofuku),” 1889, Aoki Endowment Collection, Scripps College.

3col  Morning Wind

Yoshu Chikanobu, “The Morning East Wind Clearing the Clouds of the Southwest (Okige no kum harau asagochi),” 1877, Aoki Endowment Collection, Scripps College.

Stray Cutlines for 689140

Fleur De Lis Antiques Show PRE March

2  cols. Pic 2

Pam Hicks, Setter Ridge Antiques, Powhatan, Va.

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Robert Blair, Robert Blair Antiques, Richmond, Va.

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Ashely Dettor, Antiques on Eleven, Fort Defiance, Va.

‘CHIKANOBU’ IN JAPANESE PRINTS AT VASSAR COLLEGE MARCH 23, 2 CUTS

AVV 2-22 #689633

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. — Yoshu Chikanobu (1838–1912) was a popular artist in the Meiji period, the era from 1868 to 1912 when Japan underwent rapid Westernization and the emperor was reinstated as ruler. The new touring exhibition, “Chikanobu: Modernity and Nostalgia in Japanese Prints,” will be presented March 23–May 13 at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College. An opening reception will be Friday, March 30, at 5 pm.

The exhibition centers upon several areas of the artist’s interest, including early works, Kabuki Theater, current events and modernization, traditional views, famous sites and festivals, virtuous conduct, famous warriors (men and women), the Sino-Japanese War and beautiful women.

Like many other print designers of these years, Chikanobu worked with subjects of traditional Japanese woodblock prints, such as actors, courtesans, famous sites and beautiful women, while initially reflecting Western conventions in art and picturing current events, such as the Saigo Rebellion and various battles of the Sino-Japanese War.

His prints are frequent illustrations in history books about the Meiji era. he later changed his approach, however, and embraced more traditional themes stemming from his recollections of life in old Edo, before the modern period ushered in by the Meiji emperor.

The exhibition comprises nearly 60 woodblock prints and one painting, including individual sheets, numerous triptychs and several series, all from the large collection of Chikanobu prints in the permanent art collection of Scripps College in Claremont, Calif.

Bruce A. Coats, professor of art history and the humanities at Scripps College, organized the exhibition in conjunction with colleagues at several liberal arts colleges in the United States. An extensive catalog accompanies the exhibition.

“Chikanobu was a student of the master Japanese woodblock print designers Kuniyoshi, Kunisada and Kunichika, and he used the flat planes and decorative patterning of the Japanese woodblock ukiyo-e tradition to striking effect,” said Patricia Phagan, the Philip and Lynn Straus Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center. “In his ‘pictures of the floating world,’ Chikanobu placed brilliant colors, especially reds, purples, greens and blues, in frequently grand, jolting combinations, and early on he often clothed his figures in Western dress. The aniline dyes imported during this period made this transition to bold colors possible.”

The center is at 124 Raymond Avenue. For information, www.fllac.vassar.edu or 845-437-5632.