Art of Japan: Wood-Block Color Prints

Gr. 6^-9. This is a straightforward introduction to the art of Japanese Ukiyo-e prints, with clear illustrations in sufficient number to show what is described. Finley gives enough Japanese history to put the art in context, and then describes, using modern photographs as well as the prints themselves, how they were made. She stresses that these eighteenth-and nineteenth-century prints were made for ordinary folk, and, chapter by chapter, she treats landscape, bird and flower imagery, scenes from Kabuki theater, and portraits of women, children, and sumo wrestlers. Many of the prints are set side by side with contemporary photographs that help illuminate their meaning, and the text is nicely tied to the pictures. She briefly covers several artists' lives, when known, and discusses the use of Japanese prints by Western artists, such as Whistler and van Gogh. Handy for school reports, of course, but also a creditable job of crystallizing information for young people about an esoteric yet engaging subject. GraceAnne A. DeCandido