V&A Japanese Wood Blocks (ukiyo-e): 100 Postcards

"Japanese Wood Blocks: 100 Postcards" combines several notable strengths, These are the breadth of the Victoria and Albert Museum's collection of Japanese woodblock prints, curatorial decisions regarding which prints would constitute the group of 100, the exceptional quality of their reproduction on matte paper, and the packaging of the cards in a display-worthy box. Fans of the Japanese woodblock genre will find familiar friends here in some iconic images of Hokusai and Hiroshige in particular and rejoice in being offered other artists as well. Most selections are very colorful, which means that the pallid female beauties of such early artists as Utamaro are few in number and the emphasis is on the aniline dye-prints of the later woodblock era. Key themes are landscapes, city scenes, historical events triptychs, the kabuki theater, and beautifully dressed and coifed women of the floating world. Not included are the "shunga" themes that depict sexual activity in an explicit manner.

Dringende Empfehlung: Wer sich für die japanische Kultur interessiert und evtl. auch schon einmal in Japan war, wird sich an die fantastischen Motive japanischer Künstler we Hiroshige etc. erinnern. "40 Ansichten des Berges Fuji," sind Kunstwerke aus einer Zeit vor ganz vielen Jahren. Porträts von Samurais und Geishas (diese waren keineswegs Prostituierte wie manche denken, sondern hochintelligente Damen zur Unterhaltung) auf 100 Postkarten, die sich auch gut für Grüße an besondere Menschen eignen.

A great variety of prints are represented here, ranging from portraits to legendary creatures to landscapes to social scenes to battlefield, with prints from scrolls, screens, fans and books all included. A very nice collection indeed. It comes in a durable and pleasing-on-the-shelf presentation box. The print quality is adequate - some of the finer details are lost in the halftone process, but as these have been reproduced at postcard size from larger originals this is forgivable. All the cards have a matt finish which gives them a much more "woodcut" feel than the gloss finish used on most postcard would. In short, very worth buying whether for yourself, for posting individually or as a gift.

Me encanta el arte japonés, vi esta colección de postales y por el precio que tiene no dude en comprarlo. Postales de buena calidad tanto en material como en impresión. Se ven genial. Hay tantas que me fue complicado realizar una selección de favoritas, finalmente puse unas cuantas en un marco de esos multi-foto y me ha gustado mucho el resultado

These postcards are gorgeous and the box they come in is a keepsake. They're a great size, good quality prints, and use a reasonably weighted cardstock. There are a wide variety of prints, each one is different. I'll definitely buy these again.