The Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaido

Average Customer Rating: List Price: $80.00 Asia Trips Trips Price: $50.40 Your Savings: $ 29.60 ( 37% ) Subject To Change Without Notice Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Manufacturer: George Braziller
Binding: Hardcover Dewey Decimal Number: 709 EAN: 9780807615935 ISBN: 0807615935 Label: George Braziller Manufacturer: George Braziller Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 160 Publication Date: 2008-09-08 Publisher: George Braziller Studio: George Braziller
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Editorial Reviews: Reproduced from the finest surviving edition of the original manuscript, this book offers an unforgettable portrait of daily life in 19th century Japan. Each plate teems with unique characters, from beggars and brawling men to boaters and finely clothed women; and the artists' gentle humor imbues them all with remarkable, human vitality. Behind the travelers loom castles, cities, powerful waterfalls and other sites familiar to lovers of Japanese history. Readers will travel from station to station through changing seasons, rural roads and city streets, on a journey that explores every stratum of a diverse society. Commentary by art scholar and curator Sebastian Izzard, Ph.D. accompanies each image, offering new insights into the artists' processes, and into the survival of their work. Many of the wood blocks used in printing the original Sixty Nine Stations changed radically after the early editions, and Izzard addresses the protean nature of each image. His commentary details the manuscript's survival during the dramatic social shifts and economic hardship of Hiroshige and Eisen's time, urging an appreciation for its evolution over the years. The Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaido tells the story of a landmark, immortal artists, and an enduring masterpiece. 71 color images.
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Tour de force Comment: Informative, authoritative with excellent reproductions of prints. For any fan of Japanese prints this large format book is essential. Customer Rating: Summary: A wondrous showcase of traditional Japanese art Comment: The Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaido reproduces artworks from the best-condition surviving editions of a rare manuscript, giving Western audiences the first ever glimpse of these fascinating historical portraits of daily life in nineteenth century Japan. Art of beggars, brawling men, boaters, women in fine garments, castles, sprawling cities, green-sloped hills and much more grace the pages, enhanced by thoughtful analysis and commentary of each. A wondrous showcase of traditional Japanese art, highly recommended especially for collectors. Customer Rating: Summary: Another beautiful book from George Braziller Comment: This oversize book features 70 uncropped, color reproductions of early prints from this collection originally published in the first half of the 19th century. Eisen started the drawings of each station along the the road through central Japan but he left the project after making 24 prints and Hiroshige replaced him. The prints are all horizontal so the book is bound on the short side to maximize the size of the prints. They are printed on a cream colored matte paper so the pages closely match the original prints. Each print is reproduced full page with text on the facing page. This book resembles the earlier George Braziller publication Hiroshige: One Hundred Famous Views of Edo. The introductory text includes a map showing the location of each station and brief background information on each artist and the original publication. The book is nicely bound and includes a heavy plastic slip cover. I cannot find anything to dislike about this book except a small typo on page 12. I highly recommend this book to anyone who appreciates Japanese woodblock prints. More Reviews