UHLENBECK, CHRIS AND WINKEL, MARGARITA; WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY TINIOS, ELLIS; SEIGLE, CECILIA SEGAWA; SHIGERY, OIKAWA
Japanese Erotic Fantasies: Sexual Imagery of the Edo Period
Hotei Publishing, Amsterdam. 2005, 1st Edition. (ISBN: 9789074822664). Hardcover, with dust jacket. Book, English text; Hardcover (with dust jacket); 25.5 x 30 cm; 2 kg; 256 pages with colour illustrations ; Minor signs of wear on the dust jacket, which as a few tiny wear marks on the front, spine and back cover. Interior as new; Catalogue from the exhibition "Desire of Spring. Erotic Fantasies in Edo Japan" held from from 22 January to 17 April 2005 at the Kunsthal Rotterdam.; Much has been written on Japanese woodblock prints, book illustrations and paintings of the Edo period known as Ukiyo-e, but often neglected in any discussion of this rich artistic tradition is the genre of erotic imagery. Many celebrated Ukiyo-e artists such as Suzuki Harunobu (17257-70), Isoda Koryusai (1735-90), Torii Kiyonaga (1752-1815), Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806), Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), Keisai Eisen (1790-1848) and Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865) created significant numbers of sexually explicit compositions that are today collectively referred to as shunga, or 'spring pictures'. As objects deemed injurious to public morals, shunga were banned by the Tokugawa government. Faced with the challenges of working in an illegal genre and the demand for shunga by a voracious public, shunga artists exhibited an innovativeness and creativity in their work that would be remarkable in any age. A product of the hedonistic environment of metropolitan centres like Edo (Tokyo), shunga were imbued with layers of meaning and there has been much discourse on their function and their place within Edo-period culture and publishing. Were they used to stimulate sexual fantasy or as sources of laughter for the cognoscenti? How did the nature of shunga develop over time and how did commercial considerations influence content? These are some of the issues addressed in this publication. Japanese Erotic Fantasies: Sexual Imagery of the Edo Period. Japanese Erotic Fantasies presents over 200 images, principally from the Edo period but also from the following Meiji era. Many of these works - drawn from international private and museum collections are reproduced here for the first time. The catalogue is introduced by an essay from Chris Uhlenbeck which examines the history, meaning, function and market concerns of shunga. Ellis Tinios examines the facets of male- male sex in shunga imagery and the morphology of erotic books. Cecilia Segawa Seigle uses poetic and literary traditions to elaborate upon the relationship between shunga and women of the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter, and in a second shorter essay Seigle describes what a visit to the quarter would entail. Margarita Winkel considers the similarities and differences between sexually explicit illustrated books and gesaku literature. This is followed by a fully illustrated catalogue divided into six sections, each of which are prefaced by a brief introduction. Two short pieces on the sex shop Yotsumeya by Margarita Winkel and the genius of the Meiji artist Kawanabe Kyösai by Oikawa Shigeru also compose this catalogue section. The additional inclusion of a guide to book and print formats, glossary, exhaustive bibliography and Japanese character artist/title index make Japanese Erotic Fantasies the most in-depth study to date in English on the subject of Ukiyo-e erotica. Very Good/Dust Jacket Included.
Boeknummer: 1079B
€ 150.00
Trefwoorden: 9789074822664 japan,ukiyo-e,erotica,japanese art,shunga,the floating world,woodblock prints Japanese Art Collections and exhibitions