| |
 Sketch-tour books and prints of the early twentieth century [continued]
Scott Johnson
The title of the book means 'a ten-man sketch-tour'. Six of the ten artists,
Kawai, Oshita, Mitsutani, Yoshida, Nakagawa and Kosugi are featured in
Setonaikai Shasei Isshû. The other four artists are: Nakamura Fusetsu
(1866-1943), Kanokogi Takeshirô(1874-1941), Takamura Shimpu (1876-1953) and
Ishii Hakutei ( 1882- 1958).
The bulk of the book is taken up with 85 full-page illustrations. There are
four color woodcuts, two lithographs, ten zincographsand eighteen
photo-lithographs. Eight 3-color halftone illustrations are featured; more than
half the illustrations, forty-three in fact,are shashin-ban, black and
white halftones. The halftones, both 3-color and black and white, and the
photolithographs total 69 illustrations, demonstrating dramatically how the
shift away from the hand-work of the woodcut and lithographic artisans had
already made major inroads in the art book world. The fact that 3-color
halftones are prominently featured in both Setonaikai Shasei Isshû and
Jûnin Shasei Ryokô suggests that the process was not chosen to save
money. For large press runs such photographic processes are economical, but the
inclusion of handprinted woodcuts necessarily limited printing volume. Although
new presses were being imported regularly into Japan, the expense of such heavy
machinery for small, specialised printing shops was considerable. The prestige
of state-of-the-art technology is not a new idea in Japan, and the explosion of
new media in late Meiji art book publishing seems a case in point. Ironically,
choice of medium became increasingly restricted as woodblock artisans began to
diminish in number.
A possible exception to this are the zincographs in these books. Small zinc
plates are light in weight, making it possible for artiststo carry them into the
countryside, sketching on them directly. The plates can then be printed in the
studio by the same chemical means as lithographs. Japanese artists returning
from France would have brought news of this technique, and these book
illustrations may well be Japanese examples of zinc plates worked up on the
islands of the Inland Sea.
Kanao Tanejirô's second sketch-tour book under his Bun'endô imprint was the
ambitious three-volume Kinai Kembutsu (Scenes of the Inner Provinces),
published in 1911 and 1912. Born in Osaka, Kanao had moved to Tôkyô, largely to
take advantage of the blockcutters and printers sensitive to the changing
palettes and effects of the new generation of artists. Some of his late Meiji
and Taishô books bear the 'Tokyo Bun'endô' stamp, but his affection for scenes
of the Kansai area seemed to grow with his physical separation. It is not
surprising, then, that his second publication in this new genre was devoted to
scenes of Kyôto, Nara and Ôsaka.
The three volumes of Kinai Kembutsu are subtitled: Yamato
(Nara), published in 1911, Kyôto, also 1911, and Ôsaka, 1912. The
size is significantly larger than earlier sketch-tour books: 22.2 x 15.1 cm. The
three volumes contain 57 stitched-in woodcuts, as well as woodcut covers,
endpapers and slipcases. Collotypes and halftones are included in the book, but
their narrow tonal range is a disappointment: the heart of the publication is
the color woodcuts.
The Kyôto volume includes a foldout color woodcut by Asai Chû, who had moved
to Kyôto in 1902. The Kyôto and Nara volumes include halftones of oil paintings
by him, apparently planned for this publication. Asai Chû's sudden death in 1907
cut short further contributions.
© Boston Book
Co. 2001
|
|