Japanese Prints 1-The age of Harumobu

Japanese Prints 1-The age of Harumobu
Early Japanese prints c. 1700-1780
Japanese prints 1-The age of Harumobu is een uitgave van het Rijksprentenkabinet / Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
103 pagina’s
Jaar: 1977
Taal: Engels
ISBN: niet van toepassing

Conditie: het boek “Japanese prints 1-The age of Harumobu” verkeert in nette staat

Foreword Japanese Prints 1-The age of Harumobu

The art of the Far East is not the first thing that people associate with the Rijksmuseum.
Of the 1,5 million or so visitors that enter the building each year the vast majority
concentrate on the Dutch masters.

Relatively few of them know the rooms with Japanese, Chinese, Indian and other exotic art, which, lying outside the great stream of spectators, offer the quictness which is always and for this art perhaps even more than normal, a prerequisite for genuine contact and penetration
The political and cultural links between the Netherlands and the Far East, including Japan in particular, are already oflong standing.

Was it not the Dutch who, even after the 17th century, were the only European nationals who
were allowed a permanent foothold in the Japanese Empire? The visitor to the Rijksmuseum is reminded of those first contacts with Japanese civilization, which was already highly developed by that time, by a series of important objects in the rooms of the Dutch History Department.

But there are other sections of the museum. too, that reflect the relationships between the two
cultures, especially, aside from a few paintings, in the field of the applied arts with furniture, porcelain and lacquer.

The Rijksmuseum kept pace with the growing awareness of the significance the confrontation with the Oriental world had for the Dutch by opening its door in 1952 to the Museum of Asiatic Art.
In 1965 this was transformed into a separate Department of A siatic Art, the staff of the
museum having already in 1954 played a large part in the exhibition Oosterse schatten – 4000 jaar Aziatische kunst.

In this context the Rijksprentenkabinet occupies a highly exceptional place with its choice collection of Japanese colour woodcuts.
It is my hope that the cataloguing and publishing of these prints will be both a contribution to
specialist knowledge of this fascinating area of Oriental art and an introduction to the riches of the collection for a wide art-loving public.
The publication of this catalogue, however carefully it may have been prepared, would have been impossible without the strong support of the Japanese themselves

After preparatory discussions with Mr. K. Kaneko, Charge d’ Affaires a.i. at the Embassy of Japan, I was privileged in July 1977 to receive from the hands of His Excellency Ambassador Mr. M. Takashima a generous contribution towards the publication of The Age of Harnobu, while the Japanese business community in the Netherlands has through Mr.S. Yoshimura, President
the Japanese Chamber JO Commerce in the Netherlands, guaranteed an important part of the edition.

For this aid in the publication of the catalogue of the most important Dutch collection of Japanese prints the Rijksmuseum exceptionally grateful.
It hopes that along with the catalogue itself the exhibition will assist the strong growth of interest in this expression will assıst the Japanese culture to deepen and spread still further.

Finally, a special word of thanks must be recorded here to Mr.J.J.N. Rost Onnes, Honorary Consul-General of Japan in Amsterdam, whose great interest and endeavours have made it possible to achieve a goal that at first seemed unattainable.
S.H.LEVIE
Director-General, Rijksmuseum
@ Japanese Prints 1-The age of Harumobu