Masterful Illusions: Japanese Prints In The Anne Van Biema Collection

Washington, D.C.: The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution / University of Washington Press, 2002. Hardcover. VG/VG (light sunning to board edges. bump crease to back spine edge. dj has scuffs & edge-wear). olive cloth boards w/ gilt printing. 362 pgs w/ bw & color illustrations. illustrated & blue dustjacket w/ white printing. Remains a nice, bright copy. Issued in conjunction with a 2002-2003 exhibition "of Japanese prints from the Edu period (1615-1868). They come from a colelction of more than three hundred ukioy-e prints acquired by Anne van Biema since the 1960s, and represent her personal choices from the tens of thousands of woodblock prints published in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The prints selected for this publication and exhibition reveal how artistic imagination and superlative technical skill combined to create compelling images of the actors and courtesans of the urban demimonde, legendary heroes and villains, classical and contemporary literary themes. and the natural world." (dj) With thematic essays by Ann Yonemura, C. Andrew Gerstle, Elizabeth de Sabato Swinton, and Joshua A. Mostow. The main illustrated and annotated catalogue showcases 133 prints in full color; additional entries in the collection are included as small listings with BW illus. Includes a chronology of Japanese historical periods, a glossary of Japanese terms, a bibliography, and fine illustrations.