The Printer's Eye

By Julia Meech, David Waterhouse, Melissa M. Rinne, Laura W. Allen

Subjects: Art, Art collections, Japanese Color prints, Exhibitions, Art, exhibitions, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Ukiyoe, Art, american, Japanese Prints, Catalogs, Japanese Art, Color prints, Art, private collections, Ukiyo-e, Private collections

Description: Featuring over 100 rare Japanese woodblock prints and thoughtful commentary, The Printer's eye paints a vibrant and fascinating picture of Japan's Uikoyo-e or "floating world." Edwin Grabhorn (1889—1968), co-founder of the Grabhorn Press, Northern California's premier letterpress printer, was a pioneer American collector of Japanese prints. The Grabhorn prints in the collection of the Asian Art Museum comprise the upper echelons of the original collection. The collection includes a superb selection of early monochrome and hand-colored ukiyo-e prints by Sugimura Jihei, Torii Kiyonobu, Okumura Masanobu and others, from the seminal decades of the woodblock print production in the late 1600s and early 1700s. Japanese Prints from the Grabhorn Collection marks the first time these prints are being published in quantity for a wide audience. Leading scholars David Waterhouse and Julia Meech provide in-depth looks at the prints in their Japanese contexts and at Grabhorn's role as a print collector. Large full-color reproductions all 140 of the Grabhorn prints in the Asian Art Museum's collection are accompanied by entries by Laura Allen and Melissa Rinne. About the Author: Melissa M. Rinne is Assistant Curator of Japanese Art at the Asian Art Museum. David Waterhouse's many publications include Early Japanese Prints in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Julia Meech's many publications include Japonisme Comes to America: The Japanese Impact on the Graphic Arts 1876—1925. Laura W. Allen is Curator of Japanese Art at the Asian Art Museum.