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.
drawer 01-20, Folder 1

Asada Benji 1899-1984

 

The Pagoda of Ninnaji Temple

drawer 01-20, Folder 6

Chobunsai Eishi

 

Geisha Girls

drawer 01-20, Folder 7

Kan-Un

 

Geese and Leaves

drawer 01-20, folder 8

Katsushika Hokusai

 

Landscapes

Physical Description: Envelope containing set of 5 small landscape prints. Includes conservator's note from 1982 about treatments which also references lost slides.
 

House Scene

 

Men (Diptich)

Physical Description: 2 prints mounted together on a paper frame.
 

The Great Wave

drawer 01-20, Folder 2

Kawanabe Kyosui (Gyosui) 1868-1935

 

Three Ladies Admiring the Maple Tree in the Garden 1890

drawer 01-20, folder 19

Kitagawa Utamaro -1806

 

Anxious in Love

 

Beauties Enjoying the Cool Breeze on a Bridge

drawer 01-20, folder 9

Kuniyoshi Yasuo 1893-1953

 

The Little Pond 1942

drawer 01-20, folder 10

Ogata Korin

 

Magnolia

 

Three Cranes

 

Three Turtles

drawer 01-20, Folder 3

Shunkosai Hokushu active 1809–1832

 

Seated Woman with Fan 1830

drawer 01-20, Folder 4

Tomioka Eisen 1864-1905

 

Sailboats by Sunset

drawer 01-20, Folder 20

Torii Kiyonaga 1742-1815

 

Man With a Tea Housemate

 

Nihonbashi at New Years

 

Theatrical Group

 

Women Going to the City

drawer 01-20, folder 11

Unknown Artists

 

Flower Cluster

 

Hillside Villa

 

Japanese Lady with Blossoms

 

Japanese Plants

 

Sacred Mountain and Treasure Stone Shrine Landscape

 

Leafy Plant

 

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

 

Two Japanese Men

drawer 01-20, folder 12

Urushibara Yoshijiro

 

Horse

 

Lobster and Clams

drawer 01-20, Folder 5

Utagawa (Ando) Hiroshige 1797-1858

 

Row of Trees

drawer 01-20, folder 13

Utagawa Kuniyoshi 1798-1861

 

Actor

drawer 01-20, Folder 14

Utagawa Toyokuni 1769-1825

 

Geisha Girl

 

Rich Man's Servant

drawer 01-20, Folder 15

Watanbe Shotei

 

Chrysanthemums

drawer 01-20, Folder 16

Yamakawa Shuho 1898-1944

 

Modern Matsume

drawer 01-20, Folder 17

Yoshida Hiroshi 1876-1950

 

Criptomeria Avenue

 

Evening at Hot Springs

 

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.