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Opening at Watts Gallery on 19 March, Edo Pop is an exhibition of 19th-century Japanese woodblock prints from the private collection of art historian and writer, Frank Milner. Focusing on the period 1825 – 1895, this will be the first public display for a number of these works, which were hugely popular in 19th-century Japan and also in Europe, where prints were collected by artists including Rossetti, Whistler, Van Gogh and Monet.
Demonstrating the enduring influence of this historic process, the exhibition also features new work by artist Hiroko Imada, who will create a site-specific installation in the Sculpture Gallery. Born in Tokyo (modern-day Edo), Imada has exhibited internationally, including at the British Museum and Coventry Cathedral. Imada’s work commissioned for the exhibition, Sakura saku (‘Cherry blossoms are blooming’) celebrates the natural themes in the 19th-century prints.
The exhibition will inspire a season of special events and activities across Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village, including talks, workshops, performances and an exhibition of contemporary Japanese prints in Watts Contemporary Gallery.
With its origins in the 8th century when it was used to reproduce Buddhist texts in black and white, Japanese woodblock printing flourished in the 19th century by which time the prints had evolved to become colourful ukiyo-e - images of the floating world ––and they were produced and collected in their thousands.
At this time, Edo was the world’s largest city, a bustling metropolis with more than 1 million residents. The exhibition begins with images of Edo in its 19th century heyday, showing thousands of people from all walks of life enjoying festivals including summer fireworks and acrobatic feats by the rival fire brigades that kept Edo safe.
Celebrity was a key feature of this culture, and prints of star actors, sumo wrestlers, beautiful women and more were amongst the most popular. In fact, 75% of all Japanese woodblock prints from this period were of Kabuki actors, such as An Oiran, c.1830, by Kikagawa Eizan (1787 -1867) and The Eleventh Yokusana (Grand Champion) Shiranui, 1857, by Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1864).
Whilst images of geisha and oiran – the highest courtesans – are well-known, this exhibition also includes images of women in more domestic and working roles that will be less familiar, such as Abalone Divers,1886 by Toyohara Kunichika (1835-1900), The Impatient Type, Kaei Era Fireman’s Wife,1888 by Tsukiaka Yoshitoshi (1832-1892) and 3am Mother with Crying Baby, 1890, Toyohara Kunichka (1835-1900).
At the heart of Edo was the Yoshiwara, the city’s famous entertainment district. It was open to ordinary people, many of whom were not wealthy enough to enter its high-class brothels or tea houses, but who enjoyed spending time in the area to buy street food or watch entertainers. Samurai were not permitted to enter, but as Samurai rivals clash in The Yoshiwara, 1827, Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1864) shows, they often disguised themselves to meet their lovers there.
Samurai were under the authority of their feudal lords and supported the Shoguns to run their autocratic government. Identified by the two swords they had permission to wear, they were required to spend a large part of the year in Edo. Their courage in battle was greatly admired, and historical battles often featured in kabuki plays, such as Battle of Fujikawa River in 1180, c.1847 by Utagawa Yoshitora (active 1840-1880). Samurai symbolised ideal male beauty, epitomised in Kikagawa Eizan’s (1787-1867) Young Samurai with a Hawk, c.1830 which shows an elegant, youthful samurai, lithe like the bird of prey he holds.
By the 1850s, Edo and its thriving society made other nations curious and keen to establish new markets in Japan for their goods. In 1854, America forced Japan to open its ports to international trade. The ensuing political crisis was depicted by artists including Ipposai Yoshifuji (1828-1887) whose Yokohama Sumo wrestler defeats a Foreigner,1861, shows a sumo wrestler effortlessly toppling an American sailor in a show of Japanese strength. To appeal to newly admitted foreigners, a copy of the entertainment district was created in 1868 and the hustle and bustle of life in the Yoshiwara can be seen in the five panel print The New Shimabara Pleasure Quarter, Edo, 1869, Utagawa Kuniteru 11 (1830-1874).
What followed was a period of great change, eventually leading to the end of the 250-year Edo era. In 1868 and under a new government, Edo became Tokyo, and the final section of the exhibition focuses on images of the Modern City. Steam trains, photography, rickshaws (invented in 1869) start to appear in prints such as Three Otokodate and Shimbashi Railway Station, 1872, Toyohara Kunichika (1835-1900) and The Geisha Kogiku looking at photographs, 1870, Toyohara Kunichika (1835-1900). The influence of the west also reached Japanese theatre with Kabuki Adaptation of Bulwer-Lytton’s ‘Money, 1879, by Toyohara Kunichika (1835-1900) depicting a Kabuki adaptation of Edward Bulwer Lytton’s (1803-1873) comic play.
Commenting, Dr Laura MacCulloch, Head of Collections and Exhibitions at Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village, said: “We are extremely excited about this chance to show prints from Frank Milner’s collection. His collection explores the great changes going on in a metropolis on the other side of the world during G F and Mary Watts’s lifetime. We are delighted to have commissioned Hiroko Imada to respond to these prints and create new works for the exhibition, particularly as Imada, like Mary Watts studied at the Slade School of Art. This seems especially pertinent as we are celebrating Mary’s 175th birthday this year.”
Frank Milner said: “I have been collecting these prints for nearly fifty years and have them hanging all over my house - they cheer me up. I love their modern feel, extremely bright colours, quirky perspectives, as well as their daring and hugely imaginative compositions. We forget that these are Victorian! To me it seems no wonder that Van Gogh, Manet, Degas, Lautrec and other artists were completely bowled over when they first saw prints like these in the 1860s and 70s. We sometimes think that Japanese prints are mostly about landscape but they’re actually about people and I am mostly interested in the cultural and political side of things. I am delighted to be working with Watts Gallery to share highlights from my collection.”
Hiroko Imada said: “I feel so privileged to create an installation work and a print work for the Watts Gallery. Like my Slade fellow and great female artist Mary Watts, I have a free spirit and enjoy experimenting with different media. Since I was a student, I have been interested in traditional Japanese art techniques that require many years of training. I have learnt Japanese woodblock print, papermaking, folded screen making and hanging scroll making in Japan.
Cherry blossoms have always meant something special to me. At Watts Gallery, I will present cherry blossoms from my memories and inspired by those in the 19th-century print collection.”
Edo Pop: Japanese Prints 1825 - 1895 opens at Watts Gallery on 19 March (until 6 October).
As part of this season, Watts Contemporary Gallery in partnership with Hanga Ten, the only gallery in the UK and Europe specialising exclusively in contemporary Japanese prints, presents an exhibition of work by leading artists including Nana Shiomi (b. 1956), Katsunori Hamanishi (b. 1949), Hideo Takeda (b. 1948) and Takahashi Hiromitsu (b. 1959). For further information:
www.wattsgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/hanga-ten-at-watts
For further information about the special Japan Season events programme: www.wattsgallery.org.uk/whats-on
For further information: wattsgallery.org.uk Twitter @WattsGalleryInstagram @wattsgalleryFacebook /wattsgalleryartistsvillage
For further press information:
Tamsin Williams – tamsin@wigwampr.com – 07939 651252
We are delighted to be partnering with ROSA Magazine, Little Greene, Silent Pool and The Ivy Asia, Guildford for this exhibition.
Note to Editors:
Watts Gallery Trust is an independent charity established in 1904 to enable future generations to connect with the art and ideas of George Frederic Watts, one of the leading artists of the nineteenth century, and his artist-wife, Mary Seton Watts.
G F Watts OM RA (1817-1904) was widely considered to be the greatest painter of the Victorian age. He became the first living artist to have a solo exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the artist’s ‘gift to the Nation’ made a significant contribution to the founding collections of Tate Britain and the National Portrait Gallery.
Mary Watts (1848-1939) was an artist, designer, writer, businesswoman and philanthropist. Her art supported and inspired the people around her, involving local communities in her projects. She was the creative powerhouse behind two significant enterprises: the Watts Chapel and the Compton Potters’ Arts Guild.
Today, Watts Gallery - Artist’s Village continues George and Mary Watts's legacy of Art for all by all. This vision to make art accessible to everyone is realised through a dynamic and multi-sensory programme of creativity, exhibitions, contemporary art projects and community engagement. Read more.
Born in Tokyo, Hiroko Imada studied at the Tokyo Zokei University and later at the Slade School of Fine Art. She is a printmaker, painter and installation artist. With a great respect she uses Japanese traditional techniques with a contemporary twist on her works and it is inevitable to see especially on her installation works. As a printmaker, the process of making Japanese woodblock print filmed at her studio by both the British Museum and the Royal Collection Trust to run at their exhibitions. Dr. Martens also commissioned to create a print for their promotion in 2022. As a painter, Universal Pictures commissioned her to create a painting to use in the Hollywood film ‘Fast and Furious 9’. As an installation work artist, most recently she created a giant paper installation at Coventry Cathedral in 2021. www.hirokoimada.com
Hanga Ten (in Japanese “Shop of Prints”) is a leading specialist of contemporary Japanese prints. Established twenty-seven years ago in London, Hanga Ten has been instrumental in introducing master print artists from Japan to a worldwide audience of both private collectors and institutional clients. Hanga Ten represents over twenty Japanese artists and exhibits at major art fairs in the UK up to six times a year. Frequent visits to Japan ensure strong and long-term relationships with our artists which our international clientele confidently rely upon.
www.hangaten.com
Watts Contemporary Gallery provides visitors with an opportunity to see and buy contemporary art and craft that resonate with the history and heritage of Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village. Located in the old Compton Pottery, today Watts Contemporary Gallery presents six exhibitions each year. All profits raised through Watts Contemporary exhibitions support Art for All, Watts Gallery Trust’s learning and outreach programme inspired by GF and Mary Watts, founders of Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village.
Open Monday to Sunday, including Bank Holidays, 10am - 5pm, free entry. Located above the Shop. For further information: Watts Contemporary Gallery