Into the Light: Exploring the Palette in Edo to Meiji Period Ukiyo-e Print
MICHENER GALLERY OCT 26, 2005 - JAN 8, 2006
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Continuing the Academy’s on-going series of fall exhibitions devoted to the conservation and connoisseurship of the Michener Collection of Japanese Woodblock Prints, the exhibition Into the Light: Exploring the Palette in Edo to Meiji Period Ukiyo-e Prints opens on October 19. 2005.
As ukiyo-e admirers know, Japanese prints are revered for their innovative and bold use of color. Experimentation with dyes and colorants resulted in inventive palettes in the Edo period (1600-1867), transforming the pictorial abilities of these artists. However, many pigments change in reaction to light, temperature and humidity, making these prints extremely vulnerable to color shift and instability.
This exhibition will explore some aspects of the palette in ukiyo-e printmaking, the radical transformation of color usage in the Meiji period (1868-1912), and the challenges that fugitive colors present for the preservation and presentation of these delicate works of art. The prints in the exhibition were recently conserved through grants from the generous support of the Robert F. Lange Foundation.
—Susan Sayre Batton, Robert F. Lange Foundation Batton, Conservator
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See also the 9 color proof series by Tomikichiro Tokuriki which illustrates the progression of a Japanese print featured in the "Into The Light" exhibition.
