The Actor's Image: The Japan-Virginia Society Collection
of Ukiyo-e Prints
through June 25, 2000

An exhibition of Japanese woodblock prints created in the 19th century to promote theatrical performances -- as well as actors, their costumes, make-up and acting styles -- is currently on view at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

The Actor's Image: The Japan-Virginia Society Collection of Ukiyo-e Prints will be on view through June 25, 2000 and selections from it will then travel to other locations in Virginia through the museum's network of statewide partners.

"This exhibition provides an insight into one of the most well-known and beloved aspects of Japanese art, one that has also been influential in the development of art and design in the West," says Richard Woodward, interim director of the museum.

"We are grateful to the Japan-Virginia Society for making the exhibition possible in Richmond and for an extended tour throughout the state."

During the Edo period (1615-1868), the phenomenal growth of urban centers with large numbers of wealthy townspeople challenged the Japanese ruling class' control over artistic production. In order to cater to urban residents' demands and values, many new art forms were created. Kabuki theater, which incorporated singing, dancing and acting, was among the more prominent of the new art forms.

Kabuki first appeared in the early 1600s. Most kabuki plays were based on well-known historical stories of tragedy, romance and exemplary behavior. Ukiyo-e prints developed hand in hand with kabuki theater.

"Kabuki actors enjoyed immense popularity. Portrait prints published to coincide with kabuki shows were sold as posters and souvenirs. They influenced contemporary Japanese fashion and lifestyle," he says.

Unlike paintings, ukiyo-e prints could be produced rapidly, inexpensively and in large numbers, making them very responsive to daily life and culture. The production of a print involved an artist, a printing shop and a publisher. After a publisher's approval was secured, an artist's drawing went to a printing shop where a copyist traced it onto transparent paper. A cutter then carved the drawing on a block of wood and a printer applied ink to the block to produce a print on paper. For a color print, the cutter made a new block, keyed to the master block, for each color. A multicolor print might require 10 or 20 blocks.

The 100 prints of the Japan-Virginia Society's C. Coleman McGehee Collection, on long-term loan to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts from the Japan-Virginia Society, represent the work of the Utagawa School, which trained many pre-eminent painters, including Hiroshige, Kunisada and Kuniyoshi. These ukiyo-e artists captured the actors' appearances and depicted the movements, poses and mannerisms that differentiated one actor from another.

"Their vigorous and compelling images, often alive with drama and intense with emotion, are invitations into the lively and fascinating world of 19th-century Japanese art and theater," Sun says.

The exhibition will travel to Norfolk, Arlington, Abingdon and McLean in 2000 and 2001 and to additional sites in 2002 and 2003. At each location, it will be linked to a comprehensive education and outreach program. In addition, the museum will offer a free in-service workshop on Japanese culture in each public school district beginning in August of this year.

The exhibition and its statewide tour are made possible, in part, by generous gifts from The Council of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Toshiba International Foundation, and the Ruth Camp Campbell Foundation. Other gifts were received from Vie de France Yamazaki, Inc.; NEC America, Inc.; Sumitomo Machinery Corporation of America; Opton, Inc.; Wako Chemicals USA, Inc.; and Dynax America Corporation.

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