Crossing Cultures – Der Farbholzschnitt in Europa und Japan 1900-1950
The woodcut is one of the oldest printing techniques known to mankind and simple prints were already being produced in China around the year 200. Beginning with the mass production of paper from around 1400, artistic woodcuts were produced in Europe. Due to the low production costs of prints, in contrast to paintings, it was possible for the first time for a broad section of the population to acquire pictures. Shown were initially religious motifs, prayer texts and, under the impression of the plague epidemic of the 14th century, medical advice was published in this way. In the beginning, only individual pages were printed and later so-called block books followed, printed individual sheets bound into books with up to 50 pages. In general, woodcuts were not regarded as works of art, but as a cheap form of reproducing images and writings; they were objects of daily use. Elaborate works were exceptions. During the Renaissance, Michael Wolgemut, Erhard Reuwich and Albrecht Dürer, among others, created prints that were outstanding masterpieces in terms of both craftsmanship and artistry.
With the invention of the printing press around 1450 by Johannes Gutenberg and the spread of modern letterpress printing, woodcuts were no longer needed to print texts and were relegated to the sidelines, as the new printing process using movable letters was cheaper and more efficient. Whereas the printed image had previously been of central importance, it was now the written word. Added to this was the further development of copperplate engraving, with which an unprecedented level of detail could be printed on paper. As a result, woodcut printing fell into oblivion as a form of artistic expression and was only used for very large print runs or cheap leaflets due to the durability of the woodcut plates.
In Japan, the development of the woodblock print, translated as mokuhanga, took a different course.
Japan's remote geographical location and policy of isolation until around 1860 meant that there was little foreign, or Western, influence on the country's cultural and economic development.
From the 8th century onwards, the first prints were produced in monasteries, similar to those in Europe, where Buddhist texts and images were reproduced.
The beginning of the Edo period in 1603 marked the start of a period of peace in Japan that lasted over 250 years, and the first commercial publishers of entertainment literature, which began selling woodblock prints, emerged around 1600. With the emergence of a wealthier urban population, more people were able to spend money and time on art and entertainment. The genre that emerged at this time, in which the cheaply reproducible woodblock print was the perfect means of expression to convey the urban population's attitude to life, became known as ukiyo-e. Ukiyo-e can be translated as "pictures of the flowing world" and as a collective term encompasses not only the Japanese woodblock print, but also paintings with depictions typical of the Edo period, mainly of everyday scenes, actors from the Kabuki (Japanese folk theater), beautiful women, motifs from folk tales, landscapes and even erotic scenes. While the first woodcuts were still black and white, they were later colored by hand and printed in multiple colors from the middle of the 18th century. Different printing plates had to be made for each color. The development of the woodcut made great progress during this period, with the process being masterfully perfected over many decades.
The reason for this was the high demand and popularity among the population and, as part of this, the emergence of an entire industry in which prints were created on a division of labor basis. There were a large number of publishers who commissioned prints, which in turn were designed by artists and ultimately produced by thousands of highly specialized wood carvers and printers. The printing workshops were home to artisans who took several years to develop the skills to produce outstanding prints and dedicated their entire professional lives to becoming true masters of their craft.
Japanese woodblock printing had reached its peak towards the end of the Edo period, in the middle of the 19th century, with a combination of technical perfection and artistic excellence.
The opening of Japan to Western countries in the 1850s marked the beginning of the Meiji period and the country underwent a number of upheavals and modernizations. For large sections of the population, it was now possible for the first time to engage with Western culture or to come into contact with it at all. In the course of this, Western printing techniques were also introduced to Japan and the widespread and specialized woodblock printing industry fell into a serious crisis. Traditional woodblock printing lost its importance.
At the same time, more and more Japanese prints were exported to other European countries, where they met with great interest and admiration.
The aesthetics and design elements of Japanese woodcuts were an inspiration and served as a starting point for many European artists to incorporate the foreign visual language into their works. The first Japanese woodcuts arrived in Paris around 1860 and were discovered there by Western art lovers, collectors and artists, who quickly recognized their high artistic value.
The artists included Edgar Degas, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Camille Pissarro and Vincent van Gogh, who painted Japanese prints in oil, thereby transferring the printing technique to paintings. Claude Monet, fascinated by Japanese art, was not only a collector of ukiyo-e prints, he even had a Japanese-style bridge built across his pond in his garden. The new formal and pictorial language was given the name Japonism by the art critic Philippe Burty.
Despite the intensive study of Japanese woodblock prints by French artists, no one was directly involved with the technique of woodblock printing in the early days of Japonism. Although the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century are considered the golden age of printmaking in France, this only applies to lithography and etching.
The first artist to work intensively with the Japanese woodblock print in Europe was the Frenchman Henri Rivière. Due to a lack of knowledge and the absence of qualified information, he could only experiment to acquire the necessary skills. He made his own tools, mixed paints, cut wooden panels and bought Japanese paper. In the years from 1888 to 1902, he produced a series of woodcuts, including a series of 36 views - of the Eiffel Tower - based on one of the most famous works of Japanese printmaking, the "36 Views of Mount Fuji" by Katsushika Hokusai.
The first German artist to create a color woodcut in the style of the Japanese tradition was Otto Eckmann. Alongside Peter Behrens, Emil Orlik was also a pioneer of the color woodcut. The latter was able to familiarize himself with the technique of woodcutting on site, particularly during his trip to Japan between 1900 and 1901. In the years around 1907/08, Carl Thiemann, Walther Klemm and Norbertine von Bresslern-Roth came together at the Dachau artists' colony and worked on woodcuts. The artists of the Blauer Reiter, Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc and Heinrich Campendonk also used the woodcut as a form of expression and created a series of expressionist works.
As Europeans discovered Japanese woodblock prints, Japanese artists showed great interest in the different expressive styles of Western artists and traveled to Europe in large numbers. With the new influences, Japanese woodblock printing developed further and formed a new art movement at the beginning of the 20th century, called Sōsaku-hanga. Which literally means "creative print". In contrast to the traditional prints of ukiyo-e, which were created through a division of labor, an important feature of sōsaku-hanga was the independent production of the print, with complete control of all work steps by the artist himself. Starting with the drawing, through the woodcut to the actual printing. The woodcut was no longer merely a means of reproducing a print, but served the artist as a way of expressing himself and his own personality. The prints are often very abstract and expressionistic, break strongly with the conventions of classical ukiyo-e depictions, are clearly influenced by Western culture and show a very wide range of creative power of the respective artists.
A further development, or rather art movement in woodblock printing that emerged at the same time was the "new print", shin-hanga. The tried and tested division of labor between artist, woodcutter, printer and publisher was retained, but the design of the motifs was inspired by Western painting and elements such as three-dimensional perspectives, shading and lighting effects were adopted. More modern, contemporary woodblock prints were created, which moderately developed the classic woodblock print in the style of ukiyo-e. Shin-hanga prints were not very successful in Japan, however, but all the more so in Western countries, especially the USA. Due to the demand from overseas, publishers catered to the tastes of interested parties, which is reflected in the motifs on display. The focus was on popular themes, and landscapes, depictions of animals, traditional Japanese architecture and beautiful women were shown. The artistic orientation of the prints and illustrations show a nostalgic and romanticized image of Japan. The scenes often radiate a sense of calm and dreaminess and reveal an atmospheric longing for the past. For the signs of the times, in the years around 1900 up to the beginning of the Second World War, clearly heralded major social changes.
A comparison of the development of Japanese and European woodcuts in the period from 1900 to 1950 reveals a lively exchange of different formal languages, an expansion of expression through the integration of a new style into one's own work and the mutual interaction between European and Japanese artists. The combination of two different cultures and social developments gave rise to a new, common visual language.
A big compliment and special thanks to the Kunsthaus Kaufbeuren for the realization of this outstanding exhibition.