Japanese Woodblock Prints and Brush Paintings Collection
MSS.2010.07.01
Silke Higgins
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
© 2010
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library
San José State University
One Washington Square
San José, CA 95192-0028
special.collections@sjsu.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
Title: Japanese Woodblock Prints and Brush Paintings Collection
Identifier/Call Number: MSS.2010.07.01
Physical Description:
1 flat file drawers
(20 folders)
1 flat file drawers with 20 oversized folders. 50 artworks total: 47 prints and 3 brush paintings.
Date (inclusive): 1700-1958
Abstract: This collection consists of forty-seven woodblock prints by Japanese artists from the early 1700s to the mid 1900s, and three
brush paintings by artist Shuho Kawashima in 1958.
Publication Rights
Copyright is not assigned to the San José State University Special Collections & Archives. All requests for permission to
publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Special Collections. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the Special Collections & Archives. Copyright restrictions may apply to digital reproductions of the
original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.
Preferred Citation
Japanese Woodblock Prints and Brush Paintings Collection, MSS-2010-07-01, San José State University Library Special Collections
& Archives.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Silke Higgins. Finding aid EAD encoded by Silke Higgins. Reviewed by Danelle Moon. Folders relabeled
and alphabetized in Spring 2019 by Samira Habibi. Accruals processed, finding aid revised and folders renumbered in January
2020 by Monica Keane.
Related Material
Esther Shephard Papers, MSS-2009-11-01, San José State University Special Collections & Archives.
Humanities Art Collection, MSS-2019-07-08, San José State University Special Collections & Archives.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Japanese Woodblock Prints and Brush Paintings Collection consists of forty-seven woodblock prints by Japanese artists
from the early 1700s to the mid 1900s in the ukiyo-e tradition. Prints in this collection include the works of masters of
ukiyo-e, such as Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806), Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), Toyokuni Utagawa (1769-1825), and Kuniyoshi
Utagawa (1797-1861). Subjects of these prints include beautiful women, kabuki actors, landscapes, plants and animals, and
scenes of everyday life.
Included in this collection are three brush paintings created by artist Shuho Kawashima, a student at San Jose State College
in 1958. Kawashima painted the three works while a student in Dr. Esther Shephard's Oriental Literature (English 119) class.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into two series: Series I. Woodblock Prints; and Series II. Brush Paintings.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Art, Japanese
Color prints, Japanese
Ukiyoe
San José State University. Library. Special Collections & Archives
Series I. Woodblock Prints
1700-1942
Series Scope and Content Summary
This series is comprised of forty-seven woodblock prints on silk and rice cloth. Of special interest in this series is Hiroshi
Yoshida's print
Criptomeria Avenue. Yoshida was one of the last artists to work in the traditional shop fashion. Coming from a family of printmakers he initially
began his career as a painter, studying in the Japanese city of Kyoto, as well as in Europe. Yoshida is known to have made
at least one visit to the United States where he exhibited at the 1915 World Fair in San Francisco, California. The print
in this collection is known to be one of the few copies created by Yoshida himself.
Arrangement
The prints in this series are arranged alphabetically by the family name of the artist.
The Pagoda of Ninnaji Temple
Landscapes
Physical Description: Envelope containing set of 5 small landscape prints. Includes conservator's note from 1982 about treatments which also references
lost slides.
Men (Diptich)
Physical Description: 2 prints mounted together on a paper frame.
drawer 01-20, Folder 2
Kawanabe Kyosui (Gyosui)
1868-1935
Three Ladies Admiring the Maple Tree in the Garden
1890
Beauties Enjoying the Cool Breeze on a Bridge
drawer 01-20, folder 9
Kuniyoshi Yasuo
1893-1953
drawer 01-20, Folder 3
Shunkosai Hokushu
active 1809–1832
Seated Woman with Fan
1830
Japanese Lady with Blossoms
Sacred Mountain and Treasure Stone Shrine Landscape
Mounted and Un-mounted Samurai Battling
Crossing a Bridge during a Festival in November
Rock and Flowering Branch
Mikoshi being Carried during a Festival in June
drawer 01-20, Folder 5
Utagawa (Ando) Hiroshige
1797-1858
drawer 01-20, folder 13
Utagawa Kuniyoshi
1798-1861
drawer 01-20, Folder 14
Utagawa Toyokuni
1769-1825
drawer 01-20, Folder 17
Yoshida Hiroshi
1876-1950
On the Lake (Ike-No-Hata)
Series II. Brush Paintings
1958
Series Scope and Content Summary
This series is comprised of three paintings created by artist Shuho Kawashima as a demonstration of the technique of Japanese
brush painting in Dr. Esther Shephard's SJSU class in Oriental Literature (English 119) on May 15, 1958.
The paintings are described by the artist as being depictions of "Pine, Bamboo, and Plum Blossom, the 'Three That Do Not Fear
The Winter.'" "They are especially honored by the Chinese and the Japanese, the first two because they remain green through
the season of 'Great Cold,' the last because it lives to a gnarled old age and each year puts out its blossoms very early
in the spring."
Arrangement
The paintings in this series are in one folder.
drawer 01-20, folder 18
Kawashima Shuho
May 5,1958
Physical Description: 3 brush paintings.