Public Spectacles, Personal Pleasures
Four Centuries of Japanese Prints from a Cincinnati Collection
September 2 to December 17, 2006

The Public Spectacles, Personal Pleasures Exhibit features eighty-two Japanese woodblock prints from the Joel and Bernice Weisman Collection. The Art Museum hopes visitors will understand some of the favored subjects and stories used in Japanese prints, what they mean, how they relate to Japanese history and why they were used for imagery.

This free exhibit is in the Schiff Gallery (G234). There are seven sections in the exhibit that follow the main themes of the ukiyo prints created from the Edo Period (1615-1868) through the modern era in Japan. Those sections are: Bijinga (Beautiful Women), Yakusha-e (Kabuki Actors), Literature and Legend, Fukei-ga (Landscape), Kacho-e (Bird and Flower), Surimono (Luxury Editions), and Shin Hanga (Creative New Prints).

Click here for the PDF version of the 20 page Docent Training Packet on the exhibit. It includes a brief history of Japan, an explanation of the Japanese woodblock printing process, an introduction to each type of ukiyo-e (see above) and discussion of selected prints.

To view and print the essay, you'll need to install Adobe Acrobat Reader (free) if you don't already have it.