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Japan At The Dawn Of The Modern Age: Woodblock Prints From the Meiji Era
Japan At The Dawn Of The Modern Age Woodblock Prints From the Meiji Era Author:Donald Keene, Anne Nishimura Morse, Frederic Sharf, Louise Virgin, Frederic A. Sharf Unlike traditional ukiyo-e prints, Japanese woodblock prints during the reign of Emperor Meiji--the famous ''Meiji period'' of 1867-1912--depicted current events rather than timeless scenes, and were printed in vivid colors reflecting the vibrancy of Japan's rush toward modernization at the turn of the century. Part commercial art, part ''photo-... more »op'' before the fact, and part propaganda tool, the Meiji prints chronicle Japan's fascinated and ambivalent relations with the West, its emergence as an industrial and military power, and its populist emperor. In keeping with the new spirit of the Meiji years, the woodblock prints often feature lurid colors that prefigure 20th century poster art and stylistically point the way toward contemporary Japanese manga and animation. Japan At The Dawn Of The Modern Age features over 80 Meiji-era prints in full, dynamic color, along with two previously unpublished essays by the renowned historian and biographer Donald Keene on the Emperor Meiji and his times. Additional writings by curators Anne Nishimura Morse and Louise Virgin and the collector and historian Frederic Sharf place these writings in the context of their historical period, the collection itself, and their current home at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.« less