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| Surimono print |
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| Surimono print |
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| Surimono print |
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| Surimono print |
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| Surimono print |
An outstanding catalogue of a significant collection ignored by earlier "specialists" who catalogued the Frank Lloyd Wright collection (and labeled the box of surimono simply as "small woodblock prints").
Ms. Mirviss applies her considerable knowledge of Japanese art and her expertise in the peculiarities of the (nearly illegible) script used for the poetry to bring this collection to life. Her unfailing artistic eye makes to this potentially confusing print genre accessible to the Western audience -- and even modern Japanese.
Stunning illustrations of previously unpublished or rarely seen works enhance the richness and pleasure of this catalogue and complement the descriptive text and translations.
Surimono were Japanese woodblock prints privately commissioned for special occasions, an important event, or for circulation among a small group of people. Several features that set surimono apart from commercially produced woodblock prints are their smaller size, complex compositions, the expensive pigments used in their printing (including hand-rubbed metallic or mother-of-pearl pigments), the use of luxurious paper, and the use of poetic inscriptions on almost all prints.
Like commercial woodblock prints of the Edo period many surimono were designed by ukiyo-e artists such as Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849).
The surimono published for the first time in this important catalog lay hidden in the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives at Taliesin West, Scottsdale, Arizona until their rediscovery in the mid-1980s.
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