Books on Japanese woodblock print artists
All book images can be clicked (and then clicked again) to obtain a larger (and even larger) view of the book front cover:
Asano, Shūgō, and Clark, Timothy (1995). The passionate art of Kitagawa Utamaro (2 volumes in slipcase). Tokyo: Asahi Shimbun. | |
Bayou, Hélène (2014). Suzuki Harunobu. Un poète du féminin (Suzuki Harunobu. A poet of women). Paris: Musée national des arts asiatiques-Guimet. Note: With many thanks to Serge Astières for giving me this book. |
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Bayou, Hélène (2015). Japon. Images d’acteurs. Estampes du Kabuki au XVIIIe siècle (Japan. Images of actors. Kabuki prints of the 18th century). Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux. Note: With many thanks to Serge Astières for giving me this book. |
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Bicknell, Julian (1994). Hiroshige in Tokyo. The Floating World of Edo. San Francisco: Pomegranate Artbooks. | |
Boulet, Roger (1981). The tranquility and the turbulence. The life and work of Walter J. Phillips. Markham, Ontario: M.B. Loates Publishing Limited. | |
Brown, Kendall H. (2003, 2008). Kawase Hasui. The complete woodblock prints (2 volumes in slipcase). Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing. | |
Brown, Kendall H., Putney, Carolyn M., Shūko, Koyama, and Binnie, Paul (2013). Fresh Impressions: Early Modern Japanese Prints. Toledo: Toledo Museum of Art. Note: This catalogue reproduces all the Shin Hanga prints of the famous 1930 Toledo Museum of Art exhibition in full colour. |
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Bull, David (2009). David’s Choice, Volume One. An invitation to a viewing of prints from the personal collection of Tokyo woodblock printmaker David Bull. Tokyo: Mokuhankan Publishing. Note: This eBook can be obtained here. |
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Chiba City Museum of Art (2002). Suzuki Harunobu. Chiba: Chiba City Museum of Art and Hagi Uragami Museum. | |
Clark, Timothy, Nishimura Morse, Anne, and Virgin, Louise E., with Hockley, Allen (2002). The Dawn of the Floating World. Boston: Royal Academy of Arts. | |
Coats, Bruce A. (2006). Chikanobu. Modernity and nostalgia in Japanese prints. Leiden: Hotei publishing. | |
Collia-Suzuki, Gina (2009). The Complete Woodblock Prints of Kitagawa Utamaro. A Descriptive Catalogue. Weston-super-Mare, United Kingdom: Nezu Press. | |
Dalon, Laure, Nagata, Seiji, Negishi, Mika, Takemura, Makoto and Okuda, Atsuko (2014). Hokusai. Paris, Grand Palais, Galeries Nationales, 1er octobre 2014 - 18 janvier 2015. Paris: Éditions de la Réunion des musées nationaux. | |
Delay, Nelly (1993). L’Estampe Japonaise (The Japanese Print). Paris: Editions Hazan. | |
Delay, Nelly (2008). Hokusai. Les Cent Vues du Mont Fuji (One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji). Paris: Editions Hazan. Note: Contains photographic reproductions of a later 1840s edition of the One Hundred Views of Mt. Fuji prints, using newly carved grey and salmon pink coloured woodblocks. |
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Delay, Nelly (2010). Hiroshige. Sur la route du Tōkaidō (Hiroshige. On the Tōkaidō road). Paris: Editions Hazan. Note: Contains photographic reproductions of the kyōka (comic poems) edition of Hiroshige’s series The fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō road. |
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Doesburg, Jan van (2013). Ukiyo-e to Horimono. The History and Art of Japanese Prints and Tattooing. Dodewaard: Huys den Esch. | |
Etsuno, Moriyama, and Matsumura, Masako (2005). 江戸切絵図・富士見十三州輿地全図で辿る・北斎・広重の冨岳三十六景筆くらべ (which translates into something like Changing pictures of Edo. Follow views of Fuji from the thirteen provinces in all drawings. Hokusai’s and Hiroshige’s Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji compared.). Tokyo: Jinbunsha. Note: Indicates the exact location of each view in Hokusai’s and in Hiroshige’s Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series, both on an old Edo and on a modern Tokyo map. |
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Forrer, Matthi (1985). Eirakuya Tōshirō, publisher at Nagoya. Amsterdam: J.C. Gieben. Note: An indispensable guide for anyone interested in Hokusai’s illustrated books. |
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Forrer, Matthi (1991). Hokusai, Prints and Drawings. Munich: Prestel Verlag and Royal Academy of Arts, London. | |
Forrer, Matthi (1994). Japanese Prints (2 volumes in slipcase). Vol. 10-11, Genève: Collections Baur. | |
Forrer, Matthi (1997). Hiroshige, Prints and Drawings. London: Royal Academy of Arts and Prestel Verlag. | |
Forrer, Matthi (2010). Hokusai. Munich: Prestel Verlag. Note: The best general overview of Hokusai’s work that I have seen so far. An oversized book beautifully layed-out in Japanese style and containing background information and wonderful reproductions of his prints and paintings. |
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Forrer, Matthi (2012). Hokusai. Coup d’oeil sur les deux rives du fleuve Sumida, suivi de: Le fleuve Yodo (Simultaneous views of the two banks of the Sumida river, followed by: The Yodo river). Paris: Editions Hazan. Note: Includes translations in French of all Japanese titles and kyōka (i.e., comic poems) on each print, as well as explanations of the corresponding views. |
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Forrer, Matthi (2014). Hokusai. La Manga. L’Édition Complète Commentée (Hokusai manga. The complete commented edition). (2 volumes in slipcase). Paris: Editions Hazan. Note: Contains facsimile reproductions of all images in all fifteen volumes of the Hokusai manga, including explanations of each image. To my knowledge this has never done before and is therefore a unique and wonderful publication. |
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Forrer, Matthi (2017). Hiroshige. Munich: Prestel Verlag. | |
Forrer, Matthi, Gulik, Willem R. van, and Kaempfer, Heinz M. (1982). Hokusai and his school: paintings, drawings and illustrated books. Leiden: Society for Japanese Arts and Crafts. | |
Galeries nationales du Grand Palais (2004). Images du Monde flottant. Peintures et estampes japonaises XVIIe-XVIIIe siècles (Images of the floating world. Japanese paintings and pictures of the XVIIth-XVIIIth centuries). Paris: Galeries nationales du Grand Palais. Note: With many thanks to Serge Astières for giving me this book. |
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Hillier, Jack (1980). The art of Hokusai in book illustration. London: Sotheby Parke Bernet Publications; Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. | |
Hokkaidō Obihiro Museum Of Art (1998). 明治の浮世絵版画 (which is pronounced as Meiji no ukiyo-e hanga and translates into Ukiyo-e woodblock prints of the Meiji period. Hokkaidō: Hokkaidō Obihiro Museum Of Art and Hokkaidō Shinbun Press. | |
Hōchū, Nakamura (2010). L’Album de Kōrin (Kōrin’s album). Arles: Editions Philippe Picquier. Note: With many thanks to Serge Astières for giving me this book. |
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Izzard, Sebastian (2008). Hiroshige and Eisen. The Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaido. New York: George Braziller Publisher. | |
Jansen, Marije (2004). Hiroshige’s journey in the 60-odd provinces. Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing. | |
Jansen, Marije (2016). Japan modern. Japanse prenten uit de collectie Elise Wessels. (Modern Japan. Japanese prints from the collection of Elise Wessels.) Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum. | |
Jun, Suzuki, and Tinios, Ellis (2013). Understanding Japanese woodblock-printed illlustrated books. A short introduction to their history, bibliography and format. Leiden: Brill. | |
Keyes, Roger S. (2006). Ehon. The artist and the book in Japan. New York: The New York Public Library. | |
Kita, Sandy, Marceau, Lawrence E., Blood, Katherine L., and Farquhar, James Douglas (2001). The floating world of Ukiyo-e: shadows, dreams, and substance. New York: Harry N. Abrams, in association with the Library of Congress. | |
Kobayashi, Tadashi (1993). Utamaro. Portraits from the Floating World. Tokyo: Kodansha International. | |
Kobayashi, Tadashi (1997). Ukiyo-e. An introduction to Japanese woodblock prints. Tokyo: Kodansha International. Note: A classic, as far as I am concerned. The very first book that I bought (at Narita airport) and read about Japanese woodblock prints. |
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Kōmei, Hori (1996). 江戸切絵図で歩く・広重の大江戸名所百景散歩 (which translates into something like Walking through changing pictures of Edo. A walk along Hiroshige’s One hundred famous views of Edo). Tokyo: Jinbunsha. Note: Shows the exact location of each view in the One hundred famous views of Edo series by Hiroshige, both on an old Edo and on a modern Tokyo map. |
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Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts et al, eds. (1996). Ito Shinsui. All the woodblock prints. Japan: S. Watanabe Color Print Company. | |
Marks, Andreas (2010). Japanese Woodblock Prints. Artists, Publishers and Masterworks 1680 - 1900. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing. | |
Marks, Andreas (2011). Publishers of Japanese Woodblock Prints: A Compendium. Leiden: Hotei Publishing. | |
Marks, Andreas (2015). Seven Masters. 20th-century Japanese woodblock prints from the Wells collection. Minneapolis: Minneapolis Institute of Arts. | |
Martin, Katherine (2006). Highlights of Japanese printmaking. Part 2: Shin Hanga. New York: Scholten Japanese Art. | |
Meech-Pekarik, Julia (1986). The world of the Meiji print. Impressions of a new civilization. New York and Tokyo: John Weatherhill, Inc. | |
Merritt, Helen, and Yamada, Nanako (1992). Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1900 - 1975. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press. | |
Merritt, Helen, and Yamada, Nanako (2000). Woodblock Kuchi-e Prints. Reflections of Meiji culture. University of Hawai’i Press. | |
Michener, James A. (1958). The Hokusai Sketchbooks. Selections from the Manga. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing. Note: Contains three actual woodblock prints of the Manga from newly cut woodblocks reproduced under the supervision of Tōshi Yoshida. |
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Michener, James A. (1983). The Floating World. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. | |
Miles, Richard (1982). The prints of Paul Jacoulet. Pasadena: Pacific Asia Museum. | |
MOA Museum of Art (1983). 近代日本の木版画 (Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints). Atami: MOA Museum of Art. | |
Morse, Peter (1989). Hokusai: One Hundred Poets. New York: George Braziller. | |
Nagata, Seiji (1999). Hokusai. Genius of the Japanese Ukiyo-e. Tokyo: Kodansha International. | |
Narazaki, Muneshige, ed. (1988). Ukiyo-e Masterpieces in European Collections, Volume 12. The Berlin Oriental Art Museum. Tokyo: Kodansha International. | |
Narazaki, Muneshige, ed. (1989). Ukiyo-e Masterpieces in European Collections, Volume 6. The Guimet Museum in Paris. Tokyo: Kodansha International. | |
Narazaki, Muneshige, ed. (1990). Ukiyo-e Masterpieces in Western collections. The Robert O. Muller Collection. Tokyo: Kodansha International. | |
Narazaki, Muneshige (1994). Sharaku. The Enigmatic Ukiyo-e Master. Tokyo: Kodansha International. | |
Translation in Dutch of: Neuer, Roni, Libertson, Herbert, and Yoshida, Susugu, (1978). Ukiyo-e. 250 years of Japanese art. Alphen aan den Rijn: Atrium. Note: With many thanks to Wim Knollenburg and Else den Dool for giving me this book. |
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Newland, Amy, and Uhlenbeck, Chris, eds. (1990). Ukiyo-e to Shin Hanga. The Art of Japanese Woodblock Prints. New York: Mallard Press. Note: A wonderful and lavishly illustrated overview of the complete history of Japanese woodblock prints. |
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Newland, Amy Reigle, and Shinji, Hamanaka (2000). The female image. 20th century prints of Japanese beauties. Leiden: Hotei Publishing. | |
Newland, Amy Reigle, ed. (2004). Printed to Perfection. Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection. Leiden: Hotei Publishing, in association with Sackler Gallery/Smithsonian Institution. | |
Newland, Amy Reigle, ed. (2004). A courtesan’s day: hour by hour. Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing. | |
Newland, Amy Reigle, ed. (2005). The Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints (2 volumes). Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing. | |
Newland, Amy Reigle, ed. (2015). Takehisa Yumeji. Leiden: Hotei Publishing. | |
Newland, Amy Reigle (2021). Printed and painted. The Meiji art of Ogata Gekkō (1859-1920). Leiden: Hotei Publishing. | |
Nihon no hanga (2012a). Nostalgia and Modernity. The styles of Komura Settai and Kawanishi Hide. Amsterdam: Nihon no hanga. Note: The website of Nihon no hanga is here. |
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Nihon no hanga (2012b). The Pupils of Kaburaki Kiyokata. New Ukiyo-e from the Greater Taishō Period. Amsterdam: Nihon no hanga. Note: The website of Nihon no hanga is here. |
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Nihon no hanga (2017). Adventurous Artists. Depicting Japan and the World. Amsterdam: Nihon no hanga. Note: The website of Nihon no hanga is here. |
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Nihon no hanga (2022). Elegance & Excellence. Amsterdam: Nihon no hanga. Note: The website of Nihon no hanga is here. |
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Okada Yoshio (1974). 岡田嘉夫おんな絵草紙 (which is pronounced as Okada Yoshio Onna no Ezōshi and translates into Okada Yoshio Pictures of women.) Tokyo: Kōdansha. Note: With many thanks to David Bull for sending me this book as a gift. |
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Ōta Memorial Museum of Art (1993). 明治大正美人版画展 (Pronounced as: Meiji Taishō bijin hangaten. Translating into: A woodblock print exhibition of Meiji-Taishō beauties.) Tokyo: Ōta Memorial Museum of Art. | |
Ōta Memorial Museum of Art (2006). Yamamoto Shoun. Special Exhibition Collection of the Museum of Art, Kochi. Tokyo: Ōta Memorial Museum of Art. | |
Ouspenski, Mikhaïl (1997). Hiroshige. Cent Vues d’Edo (Hiroshige. One hundred views of Edo). Sint Petersburg: Aurora Editions. | |
Pinckard, William, and Akiko, Kitagawa (2010). Japanese Prints and the World of Go. Chigasaki: Kiseido Publishing Company. | |
Polak, Christian, et Sawatari, Kiyoko (2013). Un artiste voyageur en Micronésie. L’univers flottant de Paul Jacoulet. (A travelling artist in Micronesia. The floating world of Paul Jacoulet.) Musée du quai Branly, Paris: Somogy éditions d’art. | |
Rappard-Boon, Charlotte van, Gulik, Willem van, and Bremen, Keiko van (2006). Japanese prints. Catalogue of the Van Gogh museum’s collection. Revised edition. Amsterdam: Van Gogh Museum. Zwolle: Waanders Publishers. Note: With many thanks to Catrien Bijleveld for giving me this book. |
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Riccar Art Museum (1982). 近代日本美人画展 (pronounced as Kindai Nihon Bijinga Ten and translating into Exhibition of modern Japanese beauties). Tokyo: Riccar Art Museum. | |
Shiraishi, Tsutomu (1988). 広重 東海道 五十三次 慶應義塾 高橋誠一郎浮世絵コレクション (pronounced as Hiroshige Tōkaidō gojūsantsugi. Keio gijuku Takahashi Seiichirō ukiyo-e korekushon and translating into
Hiroshige’s 53 views of the Tokaido. The ukiyo-e collection of Takahashi Seiichiro). Tokyo: Shogakukan. Note: This book displays seven of Hiroshige’s 53 views of the Tōkaidō series side by side, station by station: the Hōeidō series, the Jimbutsu series, the Tate-e (i.e., vertical print) series, the Gyōsho series, the Reisho series, the Kyōka series, and the Tōkaidō Fukei Zuye ehon series. |
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Smith, H.D., and Poster, A. (1986). Hiroshige. One Hundred Famous Views of Edo. New York: George Braziller. | |
Smith, Henry D. (1988). Kiyochika. Artist of Meiji Japan. Santa Barbara: Santa Barbara Museum of Art. | |
Smith, Henry D. (1988). Hokusai. One Hundred Views of Mt. Fuji. New York: George Braziller, Inc. Note: Contains photographic reproductions of the One Hundred Views of Mt. Fuji prints obtained from the black key- and grey colourblocks as originally designed by Hokusai. |
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Smith, Lawrence (1994). Modern Japanese Prints 1912 - 1989. London: British Museum Press. | |
Statler, Oliver (1956). Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn. Rutland, Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company. | |
Stephens, Amy Reigle (1993). The New Wave. Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection. London: Bamboo Publishing & Leiden: Hotei Japanese prints. Note: An absolutely gorgeous and indispensable book for anyone interested in Shin Hanga. Unfortunately rare. |
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Strange, Edward F. (1904). Japanese Illustration. A history of wood cuts and colour printing in Japan. London: George Bell and Sons. | |
Takashima, Masao (1995). Torii Kotondo. Wood Block Prints. Tokyo: Gallery Beniya. | |
Tanabe, Seiko (1979). 絵草紙 源氏物語 田辺聖子 岡田嘉天絵 角川書店 (which translates into Illustrations of the Genji monogatari. (Written by) Seiko Tanabe. Illustrated by Okada Yoshio. (Published by) Kadokawa Shoten. Tokyo: Kadokawa Shoten. Note: This book contains the 89 water colour paintings of Okada Yoshio that were the basis for the more refined illustrations issued in the serialized version of the Genji Monogatari (called the Shin Genji Monogatari) published in the Asahi Shūkan (Asahi Weekly) magazine, and then inspired Yūyūdō publisher Shinichi Saeki to turn four of these into the following wonderful woodblock prints: Hotaru, Akashi, Wakana, and Matsukaze. |
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The Complete Woodblock Prints of Yoshida Hiroshi (1987). Tokyo: ABE Corporation. | |
The rainbow artist Paul Jacoulet (2003). Yokohama: The Yokohama Museum of Art. | |
Thompson, Sarah E. (2015). Hokusai. Boston: MFA Publications, Museum of Fine Arts. | |
Thompson, Sarah E. (2016). Hokusai’s Lost Manga. Boston: MFA Publications, Museum of Fine Arts. | |
Tinios, Ellis (2010). Japanese Prints. London: The British Museum Press. Note: With many thanks to Serge Astières for giving me this book. |
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Tokyo Station Gallery (2003). Retrospective: Kitano Tsunetomi. Kitano Tsunetomi ten. | |
Trede, Melanie, and Bichler, Lorenz (2010). Hiroshige. Meisho Edo hyakkei. Honderd beroemde aanzichten van Edo (Hiroshige. One hundred famous views of Edo). Köln: Taschen. | |
Uhlenbeck, Chris, et Daulte, François (1994). La nouvelle vague. Estampes Japonaises de 1868 à 1939 dans la collection Robert O. Muller (The new wave. Japanese prints of 1868-1939 in the collection of Robert O. Muller). Lausanne-Paris: Bibliothèques des Arts. Note: This is the French abridged version of the famous 1993 New Wave book of Amy Reigle Stephens (see above). |
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Uhlenbeck, Chris, and Molenaar, Merel (2000). Mount Fuji. Sacred mountain of Japan. Leiden: Hotei Publishing. | |
Uhlenbeck, Chris, and Jansen, Marije (2008). Hiroshige. Shaping the Image of Japan. Leiden: Koninklijke Brill NV. | |
Uhlenbeck, Chris (2015). Fuji. Iconische berg in beeld. (Fuji. Images of an iconic mountain.) Leiden: Japanmuseum SieboldHuis. | |
Uhlenbeck, Chris, Newland, Amy Reigle, and de Vries, Maureen (2016). Waves of Renewal. Modern Japanese Prints 1900-1960. Leiden: Hotei Publishing. | |
Uhlenbeck, Chris, Dwinger, Jim, and Ouweleen, Philo (2022). Shin Hanga. De nieuwe prenten van Japan 1900-1960. Brussel: Ludion. | |
Utamaro, Kitagawa, Morelon, Dominique, Lemirre, Elizabeth, et Marquet, Christophe (2012). Insectes choisis. Myriades d’oiseaux. (Insects chosen. Myriads of birds.) Arles: Editions Philippe Picquier. Note: Contains photographic reproductions of the ehon mushi erami (illustrated book of crawling creatures, published in 1788) and the ehon momochidori (illustrated book of myriad birds, published in 1790), including Japanese titles and kyōka (i.e., comic poems) on each print in rōmaji as well as their translations in French. |
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Visions of Japan. Kawase Hasui’s Masterpieces (2004). Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing. | |
Vries, Maureen de (2020). Neko. De kat in de Japanse kunst. (Neko. The cat in Japanse art.) Leiden: Japanmuseum Sieboldhuis. | |
Walker, Ross, and Doi, Toshikazu (2008). The Catalogue Raisonné of Tsuchiya Koitsu. Meiji to Shin-Hanga, Watercolours to Woodblocks. Otsu City, Shiga, Japan: Ohmi Gallery Publishing. | |
Waterhouse, David (2013). The Harunobu Decade. A Catalogue of Woodcuts by Suzuki Harunobu and his followers in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2 volumes in slipcase). Leiden: Koninklijke Brill NV. | |
Wells, Florence G. (1957). Paul Jacoulet, Wood-Block Artist. Tokyo: Foreign Affairs Association of Japan. Note 1: Contains a tipped in small scale (surimono) version (14.5 x 9.7 cm) of Paul Jacoulet’s print Les Jades: Mandchoukuo which can be seen here. Note 2: This copy was autographed by Jacoulet in 1957. |
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Yamada, Nanako (2005). Survey of Woodblock Kuchi-e Prints. Tokyo: Bunsei Shoin Booksellers Co., Ltd. | |
Yokohama Museum of Art (1996). アジアへの眼 外国人の浮世絵師たち/Eyes toward Asia: Ukiyoe artists from abroad. Yokohama: Yokohama Museum of Art. | |
Yuriko, Iwakari with Amy Reigle Newland (2013). Kuniyoshi. Japanese master of imagined worlds. Leiden & Boston: Hotei Publishing. |