Imre Jakabffy (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 6. (Budapest, 1979)

FERENCZY László: Japanese woodblock-print exhibition in the Museum of Applied Arts

LÁSZLÓ FERENCZY JAPANESE WOODBLOCK-PRINT EXHIBITION IN THE MUSEUM OF APPLIED ARTS In joint sponsorship with the Japan Foundation of Tokyo and the Hungarian Institute for Cultural Relations, the traveling exhibition of Japanese woodblockprints was opened on 2nd December 1976 and continued on view till 16th January 1977 in the Museum of Applied Arts. The exhibition included Ukiyo-e and modern prints as well. The material of the exhibition was selected from and lent by the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art, the Yoseido Art Gallery and four private collections in Japan. Our thanks are due to them and to the Japan Foundation for the organization of the exhibition. The twentyeight classical prints covered the whole range of Ukiyo-e masters, from Moronobu to Kunisada. Although the Hungarian public had been acquaintes with the creations of this art school through the various exhibitions of the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts, several prints — e. g. those by Moronobu, Harunobu, Eishi, Sharaku, Hokusai and Hiroshige — attracted special interest due to heir relative rarity or excellent quality. For the general public, however, the sixtyeight modern prints represented real novelty. In view of the fact that the collection of the Hopp Museum contains hardly any prints from the 20th century, this was the first-ever occasion for a comprehensive view of this new phase in the history of Japanese woodblock-printing. The material offered a rich selection of sosaku-hanga, from the first creative artists of the new era like Koshiro Onchi, Kanae Yamamoto, Shinsui Ito, Hiroshi Yoshida, through the group of artists reviving Japanese and Buddhist traditions (e. g. Un'ichi Hiratsuka, Kihei Sasajima and Shiko Munakata) to the representatives of the latest trends. This latter group included also Okiie Hashimoto, Joichi Hoshi, Reika Iwami and Rei Yuki. The exhibition was opened by dr. Pál Miklós, Director-general of the Museum of Applied Arts. Following this, Professor Isaburo Oka, Director of the Gumma Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, gave a lecture on the art and history of Japanese woodblock-printing. An illustrated catalogue, written originally by Professor Oka, was published in Hungarian. 215