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Color
Woodcut International
Japan, Britain, and America
in the Early Twentieth Century
Chazen Museum of Art
Curated by Andrew Stevens
"One of the must-see shows of the
year, the very large and very beautiful Color Woodcut International."
–Jacob Stockinger, Wisconsin
State Journal, Feb. 15, 2007
Color woodcut printmaking was not new to
Britain, America, or Japan in the late eighteenth century. Yet
after Japan was opened to the West in 1854 and deeper cultural
exchange began, Japanese prints captured the European and American
imagination. The fresh colors, simplicity of materials, and departure
from traditional compositions entranced western artists and the
public alike. Likewise, Japanese audiences and artists were intrigued
by the styles and techniques of western art, which was broadly
available in Japan by the end of the nineteenth century. Artists
there created images of the strange foreigners and imagined what
American cities looked like.
By the beginning of the twentieth century, artists were not content
to merely imagine what the other side of the world looked like.
As prints traveled around the globe for study so did artists,
and with them spread the tricks and techniques of color woodblock
printmaking as well as appreciation for the prints. Woodblock
printmakers in the West started to investigate Japanese processes,
and Japanese publishers began to seriously seek out the print
market outside of Japan. Important themes began to emerge; scenes
of nature and old-fashioned architecture outnumbered modern city
views, and images of animals were nearly as popular as those
of human figures. Imagery was often idyllic and beautiful, attractive
to an international audience.
Twentieth-century art, however, moves at a furious pace, and
the ferment of the international woodcut style quickly ran its
course. Artists appropriated what they needed from the color
woodcut, then developed techniques, subjects, and styles in their
own ways. An ever-expanding range of prints became indebted to
the artists of the previous generation who had reinvigorated
woodblock printmaking styles and practices around the world.
This full-color catalog includes
many prints from this colorful exhibition and shows how the progression
of styles became more similar as international artists learned
from and competed with each other, then stylistically diverged
as artists of each country took what they learned in new directions.
The three essays each focus on the influences and contributions
made to the international style by three countries: Japan, Britain,
and America.
Andrew Stevens
is curator of prints, drawings, and photographs at
the Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Essays by:
Kendall H. Brown, associate professor of art history, California
State University at Long Beach; Nancy E. Green, senior curator
of prints, drawings, and photographs, Herbert F. Johnson Museum
of Art, Cornell University; Andrew Stevens, curator of works
on paper,
Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Distributed for the Chazen Museum of
Art, University of Wisconsin–Madison
For more information contact our publicity
manager, phone: (608) 263-0734, email: publicity@uwpress.wisc.edu
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January 2008
144 pp. 8 x 11
72 color photos, 11 b/w illus.
ISBN-13: 978-0-932900-64-7 Paper $34.95 t
(ISBN-10: 0-932900-64-X)
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