On The Road To Mandalay: The Burmese Etchings of E.G. MacColl

When it comes to Western artists depicting Asian subject matter in their prints, there's no doubt that scenes of Northeast Asia, followed by those of the Indian subcontinent, tend to predominate.  That's not to say that prints of Southeast Asian scenes don't exist, but they tend to illustrate a handful of places that such artists briefly passed through during their travels between India and/or Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and either China or Japan.  They are exceptions, of course.  Lucille Douglass produced a series of etchings devoted to Cambodia's Angor Wat, well as various other places in Thailand, Vietnam, and Java.  Paul Jacoulet spent considerable time in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Phillippines, which is reflected in his woodblock prints.  But other than occasionally depicting largely token views of Rangoon and Mandalay, most artists' prints tend to overlook the Burmese people and its countryside altogether.

 E.G. MacColl (c. 1914-1918)

Courtesy of Alison Denmark

There is, however, at least one artist whose entire print output appears to have been devoted exclusively to Burma (known today as Myanmar), an Anglo-Burmese artist named E.G. MacColl (1896-1973).  Information about MacColl has been exceeding hard to locate.  For the longest time, I assumed that he was a British soldier who was stationed in Burma during WWII.  Efforts to find soldiers who may have served with MacColl in Burma and who remembered him were unsuccessful.   However, I was eventually able to make contact through an on-line RAF bulletin board with MacColl's grandneice, Alison Denmark, who was coincidentally researching her own family tree.

Postcard (1915) by E.G. MacColl

Courtesy of Alistair Maconchy

I was able to learn from Alison that MacColl's full name was Eric Gordon MacColl.  He was born in Maymyo, Burma, the son of Hugh Ernest MacColl, a Judge of the High Court of Judicature at Rangoon and the Burmese Princess Ma Phyu.  His grandfather was the Scottish mathematician, logician, and novelist Hugh MacColl.  E.G. MacColl had 11 brothers and sisters, including Alexander Malcolm MacColl, a member of the Burma Imperial Police and an Assistant to the Deputy Inspector General of Railways at Rangoon. and Hugh Herbert MacColl, a district forestry officer in Burma.  During WWI, he was an acting corporal in the British Fusiliers (City of London Regiment), where he won the British War Medal and Victory Medal.

 Portraits of Karen, Shan, and Padaung by E.G. MacColl

Courtesy of Valentijn Antiek

(mixed media)

MacColl was an artist well known throughout Burma particularly for his etchings of local scenes and his portraits of men and women of the various Burmese peoples in their traditional costumes, although it is unclear if he ever had any formal art training.  His paintings in particular show an anthropological interest in the various Burmese ethnic groups,  He also decorated scarves, lamp shades, wall plaques and other bric-a-brac. 

Painted Lampshades by E.G. MacColl

Courtesy of Maggie Bruno

(mixed media)

 

Painted Scarf by E.G. MacColl

Courtesy of Frank Silverstein

It is unclear if he served in any official capacity during WWII, although he clearly had some relationship with members of Britain's Royal Air Force No. 181 Signals Wing Corps that was stationed in Burma.  It is well documented that No. 181 Signals Wing Corps was formed on June 9, 1943 and disbanded on March 10, 1946.  This unit began in Imphal, India, proceeded down through Burma to Rangoon, then on to Malaya and Singapore, and finally to Java and Sumatra.  MacColl seemed to have been able to sit out most of the war under the Japanese radar because he lived as a Burmese native and had a Burmese wife.  At some point during the war, however, MacColl was interned by the Japanese (as was his brother Alexander).  According to one report, while under arrest on suspicion of spying, MacColl kicked a Japanese officer who shot at him twice with his revolver, but fortunately the gun misfired.

 

 Portraits of Kachin, Ekaw, and Padaung by E.G. MacColl

Courtesy of Valentijn Antiek

(mixed media)

MacColl's etchings found a receptive audience with British servicemen looking for local souvenirs of their time in Burma.  One serviceman who was friends with MacColl said that he would sell his etchings for alcohol.  His figurative etchings realistically depict the Burmese people in a sympathetic manner, albeit perhaps through a colonial gaze that tends to depict them with an exaggerated sense of contentment with their lot.  His landscape etchings, on the other hand, are filled with vivid shorthand renditions of village life, temples, huts, moats, and paddy boats.

Portraits of Naga, Karen, and Box Chin by E.G. MacColl

Courtesy of Valentijn Antiek

(mixed media)

Portraits of Burmese, Lieu, and Kachin by E.G. MacColl

Courtesy of Valentijn Antiek

(mixed media)

MacColl's etchings are notoriously hard to find in good condition.  This is no doubt largely due to the fact that high quality paper was not available to MacColl during the war, and the extremely humid weather conditions of Burma made them particularly susceptible to foxing.  In fact, paper itself was of such short supply that it is not uncommon to find MacColl's etchings printed on the back of military maps.  They are also found frequently folded or creased, no doubt because the Corps was constantly packing up and moving from place to place and/or because they were folded when mailed home to family and loved ones.

 

Back of "A Paddy Boat" etching

Courtesy of Alison Denman

MacColl's post-WWII years are almost as mysterious as his life before the war.  His nickname was "R.C.P." (for Roman Catholic Priest) by family members, though no one knows why.  It does suggest, however, that he led a rather ascetic lifestyle and may have been religious.  Frank Silverstein, who as a child met McColl at his home in Maymyo in 1961, said his place was "huge and piled high with curios and junk and scarps of things collected over his lifetime.   It was much more like a barn than a hut!'  To Silverstein, MacColl "seemed like a hermit and a tinkerer."  He also said that MacColl's etchings were made with the use of discarded dental X-ray plates.

In 1963, MacColl provided illustrations for the Burma Baptist Chronicle, a history of the Burma Baptist Church.  Given that many of the illustrations depict events that took place before MacColl was born, they would appear to have been commissioned specifically for this publication, rather than taken from his war-time sketchbooks.  None correspond to any known MacColl etchings.  He died a decade later in poor circumstances, in a dilapidated hut in Maymyo littered with his artwork.  His friends saw to it that he was given a dignified funeral.  Today, the Denison Museum in Granville, Ohio has a sizable, though as yet uncatalogued, collection of MacColl's work.  His work can also be found at the Brighton Museum.

 

"A Burmese Family in Mandalay," illustration by E.G. MacColl for Burma

Baptist Chronicle, Book II, edited by Genevieve Sowards and Erville Sowards (1963)

Courtesy of Alison Denman

There is, as yet, no catalogue raisonné for MacColl’s prints, so the following list is undoubtedly incomplete.  If a reader is aware of a missing design, please let me know and I will add it to the list.  MacColl’s etchings are usually, though not always, titled in the plate or else titled by hand in pencil.  Where an actual title is unknown or indecipherable, the descriptive title assigned to it by a cataloger or dealer has been provided in brackets.  All of his etchings appear to be undated, but they all presumed to date to the 1940s.

"Karen Village Scene in Lower Burma," illustration by E.G. MacColl for Burma

Baptist Chronicle, Book II, edited by Genevieve Sowards and Erville Sowards (1963)
Courtesy of Alison Denman

The size of the etchings should be considered approximate only.  Where size information is available, it is often not clear if the dimensions represent the size of the frame, the size of the paper, or the plate size.  Unless otherwise indicated, I have assumed that the size represents the size of the paper.

115 R.C.C. S.E.A.C. (1945 Christmas Card)

Courtesy of Sulis Fine Art

  

181 Signals Wing at Home

 

Amherst Water Pagoda - Near Moulmein (aka Amhurst Pagoda Moulmein)

Courtesy of Ian Stewart

Bamboo Huts (aka Shan Huts)

Bamboo Huts

Courtesy of Judith Oliver

(pencil drawing)

A Bathing Group (plate: 21.8 x 28 cm)
Courtesy of a British Collector

Bazaar (aka The Market)

Courtesy of Alison Denman

 Note:  This appears to be an unsigned proof with the title seemingly in the plate or else in ink.   The following image is signed but has the title added by hand in pencil.

 

 The Bazaar (aka The Market)

Courtesy of Richard Jenner

A Boic Chin (aka A Chin Boic) (paper: 26 x 21 cm)
Courtesy of Albion Prints

The Bullock Cart (21.5 x 15.8 cm)
Courtesy of Richard Jenner

A Burman

Courtesy of Alison Denmark

A Burman

Courtesy of Judith Oliver

(pencil drawing)

A Burmese Lady (24.5 x 15.1 cm)
 Courtesy of Josef Lebovic Gallery

A Burmese Lady

Courtesy of Judith Oliver

(pencil drawing)

A Burmese Pottery

Courtesy of Maggie Bruno

 

The Camelion

Courtesy of Frank Silverstein
 

The Chatty (paper: 27 x 18 cm)
Courtesy of Albion Prints

 

 
Chinlon

Courtesy of Frank Silverstein

 

The Clown 

Courtesy of Frank Silverstein

 

A Country Boat
Courtesy of Maggie Bruno

Cross Cutting Teak (11.4 x 15.8 cm)

Courtesy of Ian Stewart

 

A Dancer

Courtesy of Frank Silverstein

Dragging Teak (11.4 x 15.8 cm)
Courtesy of Albion Prints

The Dressing Room 

Courtesy of Maggie Bruno

A Dugout

Courtesy of Catriona Hamilton

The Ekaw

Courtesy of Richard Jenner

[Etchings of Burma]

A Flooded Village - Sitang

Courtesy of Ian Stewart

Note: This is a very slightly cut-down version of A Flooded Village, Sitang River

[A Flooded Village, Sitang River] (paper: 31 x 39 cm)
Courtesy of Alison Denman

Note: This appears to be an unsigned proof state of "A Flooded Village, Sitang River."  A similar early (but signed) impression is entitled "A Village in Flood."

 

A Flooded Village, Sitang River (aka A Flooded Village)
(plate: 17 x 25.2 cm)
 

A Flooded Village

Courtesy of Judith Oliver

(pencil drawing)

The Flower Girl

Courtesy of Alison Denmark

[Fort Dufferin]

Small Moat, Fort Dufferin, Mandalay 

Courtesy of Sulis Fine Art

(original pencil drawing for the corresponding etching)

 

Fort Dufferin, Mandalay 

(aka Corner of Fort Dufferin, 

Mandalay; Corner of the Moat)
Courtesy of Ian Stewart

Fort Dufferin, Mandalay

Courtesy of Judith Oliver

(pencil drawing)

 

Harpist

Courtesy of Frank Silverstein
 

Hill Karen Woman (21.8 x 14.4 cm)

Hill Karen Women (Papuu)

Courtesy of Alison Denmark

A Jungle Burman

Courtesy of Richard Jenner

The Jungle Dancer (paper: 25 x 30 cm)

Courtesy of Alison Denman

A Jungle Village (I)
Courtesy of Alison Denmark

A Jungle Village (I)

Courtesy of Sulis Fine Art

(original pencil drawing for the corresponding etching)

 A Jungle Village (II)
Courtesy of Judith Oliver
(pencil drawing)

 

A Kachin Woman

Courtesy of Richard Jenner

Karen

Courtesy of Alison Denmark

 The Karen Frog Drum

Karen Frog Drum (paper:11-1/4 x 10 in.)

Karens Fetching Water (plate: 26 x 15.3 cm)
Courtesy of a British Collector

Kipling's Moulmein Pagoda (paper: 21 x 26 cm)

Courtesy of Alison Denmark

A Laumg

 Note: Compare this design with "A Rough Day on the Irrawaddy."

 

The Leg Rower

Courtesy of Alison Denmark

Lisu (I)

Courtesy of Alison Denmark

Lisu (II)

A Log Depot in Sittang

Courtesy of Ian Stewart

Note: This appears to be a cut-down and reworked version of Log Depot on the Sitang River.

Log Depot on the Sitang River

Courtesy of Chris P

Mandalay Hill + Moat (paper: 21 x 26 cm)
Courtesy of Catriona Hamilton

Mandalay Hill

Courtesy of Judith Oliver

(pencil drawing)

The Market

Courtesy of Bill Davison

Maymyo Market

Courtesy of Ian Stewart

 A Monastery in Sittang 

(aka A Monastery; A Monastery + Pagoda)

Courtesy of Ian Stewart

Moulmein Pagoda

Courtesy of Ian Stewart

Note: This appears to be a cut-down version of Kipling's Moulmein Pagoda.

A Naga Chief

A Naga Maiden (paper: 25 x 20 cm)
Courtesy of Richard Jenner

Pa-an on the Salween

 Poc-an [sic: Pa-an] on the Salween

Courtesy of Judith Oliver

(pencil drawing)

 Near Pakokku (aka Village Near Pakokku)
Courtesy of Alison Denmark

 A Padaung
Courtesy of Richard Janner

  A Paddy Boat (paper: 21 x 26 cm)

Courtesy of Alison Denman

Paddy Boats (paper: 21 x 25 cm)

Courtesy of Alison Denman

Paddy Fields

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A Pagoda Scene

The Palace Mandalay (paper: 25 x 30 cm)
Courtesy of Albion Prints

 
The Palace Mandalay

Courtesy of Alison Denmark

Note: This appears to be a later proof with more detail but with a narrower plate.

The Palace - Mandalay
Courtesy of Judith Oliver
(pencil drawing)

  The Palace Mandalay
Courtesy of Alison Denmark

  A Phongyi (paper: 25 x 20 cm)

Courtesy of Alison Denman

The Pwe

Courtesy of Richard Jenner

A Raft (plate: 14.4 x 24.5 cm)
Courtesy of a British Collector

Rangoon Shwedagon (paper: 21 x 26 cm)

Courtesy of Albion Prints

The Road to the Village (paper: 25 x 30 cm)

Courtesy of Alison Denman

[A Rough Day on the Irrawaddy] (paper: 32 x 39 cm)

Courtesy of Alison Denman

Note: This appears to an unsigned proof for "Rough Day on the Irrawaddy."

A Rough Day on the Irrawaddy (plate: 14.4 cm x 24.7 cm)
Courtesy of a British Collector

Note: Compare this design with "A Laing."

A Rough Day on the Irrawaddy (inscribed "A Laing")

Courtesy of Judith Oliver

(pencil drawing)

 

The Salween River (Duke of York's Nose)
aka The Duke Of York's Nose - The Salween River

Courtesy of Alison Denmark

Sagaing (paper: 32 x 40 cm)

Courtesy of Alison Denman

Sagaing Hills From Awa

Courtesy of Ian Stewart

Note:  This appears to be a cut-down and reworked version of "Sagaing."

A Scene on the Irrawaddy

Courtesy of Alison Denmark

The Sculpteur - Mandalay (paper: 11-1/4 x 10 in.)

Shan

Courtesy of Alison Denmark

A Shan Girl from Maymyo (11 x 7.1 cm)

Courtesy of Josef Lebovic Gallery

A Shan Girl (Maymyo) (paper: 25 x 20 cm)
Courtesy of Albion Prints

A Shan Hut (15.8 x 22.8 cm)
Courtesy of Catriona Hamilton

A Shan Interior
Courtesy of Ian Stewart

Shan Maymyo
Courtesy of Richard Jenner

 

  Shwegin River (paper: 25 x 30 cm)

Courtesy of Alison Denman

Shrimping
Courtesy of Ian Stewart

Shwegyin Pagoda (15.8 x 20.9 cm)

Shwegyin Pagoda

Courtesy of Judith Oliver

(pencil drawing)

  The Sittay River (paper: 25 x 30 cm)

Courtesy of Alison Denman

South Moat - Mandalay (paper: 21 x 26 cm)

The South Moat Mandalay (plate: 24.6 x 31.8 cm)
Courtesy of a British Collector

The Water Pot
Courtesy of Alison Denmark

 

 Women at a Well
Courtesy of Ian Stewart

Women Dressing (paper: 26 x 22 cm)
Courtesy of Albion Prints

Wood Gatherers

A Yawyin (Black Lisu) (17.3 x 10.7 cm)

Courtesy of Josef Lebovic Gallery

Yenangyat on the Irrawaddy

Courtesy of Alison Denmark

A Young Girl (paper: 39 x 31 cm)

Courtesy of Alison Denman

 

Zylophone

Courtesy of Frank Silverstein

Other Known Titles (possibly alternate titles for certain of the above prints):

At the River
Bamboo Water Bottles (17.7 x 13.9 cm)
Burmese Dancers
Corner of South Moat
Dancers (15.8 x 18.4 cm)
Man with a Basket (19.6 x 13.3 cm)
Native Boat (13.9 x 19.6 cm)
A Shan Woman
The White Cheroot

March 31, 2018 Addendum -- A reader wrote in to tell me about some watercolors he had inherited from his late father, who had been a British diplomat in Burma.  I recognized them as being very similar to a set of putative watercolors I had seen for sale at a on-line gallery.  I began to wonder if they might actually be hand-colored etchings rather than pure watercolors, and was able to get the owner to confirm that they had plate impressions.

Portraits of Panthay, Karen, Shan, Burman, Chin, and Naga by E.G. MacColl

Courtesy of James Booth

(hand-colored etching)

 Portraits of Palaung, Ekaw, Red Karen, Naga, Chin, and Shan Tayok by E.G. MacColl

 Courtesy of James Booth

(hand-colored etching)

 Portraits of Padaung, Kachin, Karen, Burmese, Shan, and Lisu by E.G. MacColl

Courtesy of James Booth

(hand-colored etching)

 Portraits of Talaing, Karen, Kachin, Karen, Chin, and Burman by E.G. MacColl

 Courtesy of James Booth

(hand-colored etching)

In the following case, however, the figures are slightly out of order.  I think might be the original watercolor for the etching.  I'm also beginning to wonder if the mixed media portraits at the beginning of this post might actually be hand-colored etchings as well.

 Portraits of Kachin, Karen, Talaing, Skaio Karen, Falam Chin, and Burmese
by E.G. MacColl

Courtesy of Sulis Fine Art

(watercolor)

* * *

Some of the above images are of admittedly rather poor quality.   I would very much welcome any replacement images that readers might have to share, or further information about E.G. MacColl's life and career.  My particular thanks to Alison Denmark for her assistance in writing this post and for sharing a number of images of her prints, and to Frank Silverstein for his personal recollections and sharing images of MacColl's rare etchings of children at play.

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Fritz Rumpf's Japanese Woodcuts: Holy Grail #3

I came across some of Fritz Rumpf's books on Japanese woodblock prints when I first started to collect ukiyo-e more than two decades ago.  It was only recently, however, that I learned that Rumpf had also made one, possibly more, woodblock prints of his own.

 

Fritz Rumpf (c. 1907-1914)

Born Friedrich Karl Georg Rumpf (1888-1949), Fritz Rumpf the Younger was the son of the noted painter Fritz Rumpf the Elder.  He grew up in Potsdam where, at the age of 15, he learned Japanese from a Japanese officer who was attending lectures at a local training school.  Rumpf subsequently studied at the Royal Academy of Arts in Berlin with Philipp Franck.  In 1907-1908, he did a year of military service in the German colony of Tsingtao [Qingdao], China.  After he was discharged in October 1908, Rumpf moved on to Japan, where he stayed until December 1909.

"Picture Postcard" by Fritz Rumpf
in Hosun, Vol. 3, No. 4 (May 20, 1909)

(lithograph)

While in Japan, Rumpf studied Japanese woodblock carving under Igami Bonkotsu, who had also taught Helen Hyde the year before.  Bonkotsu would later carve the blocks for Ishii Hakutei's famous "Twelve Views of Tokyo" series starting the following year and provide invaluable training to Hiratsuka Un'ichi.  Bonkotsu was also friends with the painters and writers Ishii Hakutei, Yamamoto Kanae, Morita Tsunetomo, Kurata Hakuyo, and Oda Kazuma, who jointly founded in 1907 the art magazine Hosun patterned after European magazines such as Jugend.  Rumpf would subsequently publish three lithographs in Hosun, including this self-portrait.

 

Self-Portrait of Fritz Rumpf
in Hosun, Vol. 4, No. 4 (October 1910)

(lithograph)

The Japanese writer and dermatologist Mokutaro Kinoshita (Masao Ota), who had years earlier had moved to Tokyo at age 13 to study German, met Rumpf during one of his visits to Bonkotsu's studio in 1908, and the two quickly became close friends.  In February 1908, Kinoshita took Rumpf to his first meeting of Pan no kai, a new literary circle that sought to replicate the bohemian atmosphere of Parisian cafes.  Hakutei and Kanae were also members of Pan no kai, whose numbers included Kafu Nagai, Kotaro Takamura, Jun'ichiro Tanizaki, and other notable figures in the Japanese literary and art world.  Rumpf became a welcome cosmopolitan addition to this group.

Shinbashi, from the series "Twelve Views of Tokyo" (c. 1914-1917) by Ishii Hakutei

Courtesy of Scholten Japanese Art

(woodblock print)

I have been able to find only woodblock print carved and printed by Rumpf during his apprenticeship with Bonkotsu.  It does not appear to have been commercially distributed and, in all probability, would have been printed in a typical small edition that one associates with prints made by members of the nascent creative print (sosaku hanga) movement.  Indeed, while it certainly lacks the technical finesse that Bonkotsu displayed with Hakutei's bijin, it is reminiscent of the early work of Ota Saburo and certain other sosaku hanga artists of the day.  Although the figures are frozen in a moment in time, motion is nonetheless suggested by flow of both the woman's and the man's robes, the angles of their heads, and by the departing background figure walking away from the dominant pair.

Untitled Street Scene by Fritz Rumpf (c. 1909)

(woodblock print)

By 1910, Rumpf had returned to Berlin, where he continued his art studies under Emil Orlik.  Rumpf longed to return to the Far East, however, and, after a brief stint of study in Paris, Rumpf traveled to China in 1913 for reserve exercises and then continued on to Nagasaki, Nara, Kyoto, and Kobe.  By April 1914 he was in Tokyo.

 

Hand-colored postcards by Fritz Rumpf (c. 1914-1919)

Courtesy of Peter Pantzer

One of Kinoshita's main topics of interest was the history of Japanese Christianity in the 16th century.  In 1909, Kinoshita published On The Front of Christian Church (Nanban ji monzen), which was reissued in 1914.   For the 1914 printing, Rumpf designed the woodblock print of the "Sanota Maria" ship used to decorate the book's cover.  Kinoshita himself designed the black and white woodblock print on the slipcase, and Hakutei also contributed a color woodblock print inside the book itself.  The credits in the book are slightly ambiguous, but it appears that Igami Bonkotsu carved (and presumably printed) Rumpf's print and certainly carved Kinoshita's print.

 Cover Design by Fritz Rumpf for On The Front of Christian Church 
(Nanban ji monzen) (1914) by Mokutaro Kinoshita

Personal Collection

(woodblock print)

In July 1914, Rumpf receives an emergency call to return to service in Tsingtao, due to the outbreak of WWI.  By August, Japan and Germany were at war, and in early November, the Tsingtao stronghold fell to the Japanese.  Rumpf is taken prisoner and ends up being housed in the Oita and later Narashino prisoner of war camps in Japan until May 1919.  To alleviate the boredom of the camp, Rumpf translates Japanese folk stories, creates illustrated postcards, and stages puppet shows and plays.  With Charles Derlien, in 1919 Rumpf publishes in Japan "Das Oita-Gelb-Buch" with rhymes and hand-colored illustrations about life in the Oita camp.

Hand-colored illustration by Fritz Rumpf from Das Oita-Gelb-Buch (1919)

Rumpf remained in Japan for an additional eight months after being released from the Narashino camp.  Back in Potsdam, he married Alice Heller, a friend from his art school days, in 1920, with whom he would have two children.  Starting in 1926, Rumpf was employed at the Berliner Japaninstitut, for which he would make several trips to Japan over the years.  In 1931, Rumpf received his Doctorate based on his dissertation on the Ise Monogatari of 1608 and its influence on 17th century Japanese book illustration.  Rumpf's other notable writings in the post-WWI years include numerous books and articles on ukiyo-e, Japanese theatre, and Japanese fairy tales, folktales, and folk songs.  In the final analysis, Rumpf was far more interested in researching and collecting Japanese prints than he was in making his own prints.  As a result, his own tentative foray into the field of woodblock printmaking is all but forgotten today, overshadowed by his own studies about Japanese art and culture.

Fritz Rumpf (c. 1935)

I would like to thank Setsuko Kuwabara and Peter Pantzer for supplying materials that helped make this post possible.

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New Journal of Japonisme

The Dutch publisher Brill recently launched a new publication called the Journal of Japonisme.  Its managing editor is Gabriel P. Weisberg, the author of a number of books on the subject, including (with Julia Meech-Pekarik) the seminal work Japonisme Comes to America: The Japanese Impact on the Graphic Arts 1876-1925 (Harry N Abrams 1990).

My copy of the first issue hasn't arrived yet, so I can't substantively comment on its contents, but I can report that it welcomes manuscripts from a wide range of disciplines of the humanities: history, visual culture including the history of art and design, the decorative arts, painting and the graphic arts, architecture, fashion, film, literature, aesthetics, art criticism, and music, provided that they show how Japanese art and culture influenced and permeated Western society and culture since the opening of Japan to the West in the 1850s.  In addition, the journal will also consider articles addressing Japanese art and artistic cross-cultural relations within the Asian region, as well as on institutional or individual collectors of Japanese art in the West.  The journal is published in English and all articles are subject to peer review before publication.

In addition to three book reviews, the first issue contains the following articles:

Reflecting on Japonisme: The State of the Discipline in the Visual Arts by Gabriel P. Weisberg

The Bracquemond-Rousseau Table Service of 1866: Japoniste Ceramics and the Realignment of Medium Hierarchies in Nineteenth-Century French Art by Sonia Coman

Eastern Wind, Northern Sky: Japanese Art and Culture in A Danish Optic in the Latter Half of the 19th and the Early 20th Centuries by Malene Wagner

Japonisme and the Birth of Cinema: A Transmedial and Transnational Analysis of the Lumière Brothers' Films by Daisuke Miyao

Water Lilies Among the Wheat Fields: John Scott Bradstreet's Japanese Gardening in Minneapolis by Sarah Sik

The journal is available in both paper and electronic formats.  Those wishing to subscribe can do so here.  The second issue will feature an article about S. Bing's famed 1890 ukiyo-e exhibition, Exposition de la gravure japonaise à l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts à Paris.

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Demimonde: The Floating World and Toulouse-Lautrec

Those living in or near New York City or otherwise passing through New York City this spring may be interested in a exhibition at the Ronin Gallery called "Demimonde: The Floating World of Toulouse-Lautrec.  The exhibition displays 24 lithographs and etchings by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and pairs them with more than two dozen ukiyo-e prints and paintings by the likes of Utamaro, Harunobu, Sharaku, Hokusai, and Shunko.  Some of the connections made relate to Lautrec's appropriation of certain Japanese art conventions.  In other cases, thematic or stylistic parallels are drawn as Lautrec's denizens from fin-de-siècle Parisian nightlife are juxtaposed against figures from the Floating World.

May Belfort (1895) by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec  Courtesy of Ronin Gallery  (lithograph)

Tamaya at Kameido (c. 1826) by Utagawa Kunisada Courtesy of Ronin Gallery (woodblock print)

For example, as Ronin's catalog relates, "[i]n the tour poster for the Irish-born singer May Milton, Lautrec echoes the curving lines and integrated text of Kunisada's Tamaya at Kameido.  Each artist delineates his standing beauty through the flat color planes of her clothing, vibrant and graphic against the natural tone of the paper.  Lautrec echoes the small pink lips of Kunisada's courtesan in Belfort's rounded pout.  Belfort was well known for her signature black cat and oversized baby's bonnet, which Lautrec portrays with a geometric quality reminiscent of a courtesan's coiffure."

May Milton (1895) by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec  Courtesy of Ronin Gallery  (lithograph)

Courtesan Segawa from the House of Matsubaya (c. 1802) by Kitagawa Utamaro Courtesy of Ronin Gallery (woodblock print)

At first blush, one could say that such parallels were entirely coincidental, especially since one would expect Belfort to be depicted in her signature bonnet.  But when one examines Lautrec's companion poster for May Milton (Belfort's lover), it becomes clear that the placement of the "lt" letters of Milton's name relative to her head was anything but coincidental.  Just as Utamaro has his geisha gazing left with the layers of her kimono fanning out, so too Lautrec's dancer similarly gazes left while her voluminous skirt swirls around her.  Even Milton's foot appears slightly raised off the ground, mimicking Utamaro's attendant with her lifted geta sandal.  The overall effect is to evoke Utamaro's balance of static and action.

Boats Alongside Billingsgate, London (1859) by James Whistler  Courtesy of Ronin Gallery  (etching)

Full Moon over Takanawa (c. 1845) by Ando Hiroshige Courtesy of Ronin Gallery (woodblock print)

In addition to the pieces by Lautrec, Ronin's exhibition also features a number of additional Japonisme prints by Mary Cassat, Edgar Degas, Édouard Manet, Édouard Vuillad, Pierre Bonnard,  James Tissot, and James Whistler.  Whistler's debt to Hiroshige in his Boats Alongside Billingsgate, London etching is palpable.

While there is no substitute for viewing the prints full-size and in person, Ronin's entire exhibition is on-line and can be viewed (for the time being, at least), here.  Viewers can click on a bar under each print pairing to reveal a discussion of how each print is related to the other.  The exhibition itself continues at Ronin's gallery through April 30, 2016.

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