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 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.”
