Japanese woodblock prints on show in Warsaw

The museum's director Agnieszka Morawińska said that the roughly 300 pieces in the exhibition, entitled A Journey to Edo, are “absolute treasures”, adding that they include entire series of prints, many of them first copies.

The 18^th and 19^th century prints show snowy, rainy and foggy landscapes, which European artists mastered somewhat later, Morawińska said, adding that European impressionist artists were fascinated by Japanese woodblock.

The pieces will be arranged so that viewers can “journey” between Kyoto and Edo, currently Tokyo. The exhibition is only a glimpse into the 2,000 piece collection.

Historic Japanese maps and books will also be showcased in the exhibition, which includes a section showing how woodblock prints are made.

The collection's owner, Jerzy Leskowicz, said a few artists are needed to make a single Japanese woodblock print.

“First, the painter prepares a scene and paints it; next, a negative is made in wood; finally a printer adds colour through pressing, adding pressure and mixing and distributing paints,” Leskowicz said. (vb/pk)

Source: PAP