Art I'm Looking At: Japanese Prints in Transition, at the Legion of Honor

I recently visited The Legion of Honor in San Francisco and saw a couple of worthwhile shows – "Japanese Prints in Transition: From the Floating World to the Modern World" (through August 18) and "Woodcut: Primary Printmaking" (through October 20) I'll write more about the latter in a separate post. 

The first of these two shows, As its title suggests, is a survey of Ukiyoe with an emphasis on how the medium responded to the very rapid changes that occurred in Japan with the opening of the country after about 250 years of self-imposed isolation and the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Visually, the most obvious change is from the use of natural pigments to the harsh reds, greens, and purples that suddenly appear with the introduction of synthetic aniline dyes. These garish colors became available with the opening of the country in the early 1860s and had become widely used within a decade or two. They were popular because they were inexpensive and vibrant, but I find it hard to avoid feeling that prints using these dyes are mostly inferior to the subtler work of earlier periods, although they are of historical interest. That said, the show has many examples of prints of this period depicting "modern" subjects, which to a large extent meant foreigners and the foreign artifacts and inventions that began to stream into the country along with the aniline dyes. In a complete reversal, the newest prints in the show, by Masami Teraoka (made starting in the 1970s) revert to the more subtle palate typical of the Edo Period, which is being parodied in his work. 

The aniline dyes were at least color-fast. An interesting earlier print shows a scene with an odd olive-yellow sky. The accompanying label notes that the sky would originally have been blue, but, printed with a fugitive, naturally-derived pigment made from Asiatic Dayflower (露草 Commelina communisa), the blue has completely faded away. 

There are some nice early prints, including two by Sharaku, whose work is scarce, although one of the two is not in very good condition. The best examples of his work I have seen have been in shows in Japan – although not necessarily from Japanese collections. The best-preserved examples of Ukiyo-e of any kind I've seen in Japan have been on loan from the collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. 

The Legion of Honor Show includes examples of some of the most recognized Ukiyo-e images – notably The Great Wave, by Hokusai, which has been called the second-most famous work of art in the world after the Mona Lisa. The show also includes two prints that appear in paintings made by Vincent Van Gogh. Also of interest are  prints depicting places and events far from Japan that the wall labels point out were known to the print designers only from newspaper reproductions that were coming into the country. Exposure to foreign images is also evident in the way that Western perspective creeps into some of the later prints. 

At the end, I was a bit surprised to see that shunga (erotic prints) had been completely neglected until I exited through the inevitable gift shop to see that there was an entire, separate room devoted to these, including top-notch examples by Utamaro and Hokusai.  

As noted above, the show continues until this Sunday, August 18. The Legion of Honor is at 100 34th Avenue (at Clement St.), San Francisco, CA 94121, generally open from 9:30 to 5:15, closed on Mondays.

Miscellaneous: Goodbye to Eric the cat

Over this past weekend (August 12), we said goodbye to our cat Eric (also known as Gon), who expired  after an illness. We still don't know what happened, but he wasted away over the course of about eight weeks until he was so weak he could no longer walk. He was only eight years old. It's a mystery.  

We gave him a grand send-off, buried in the garden, his lifeless body set in the ground on a bed of flowers. We'll miss him. Here are some photos of him in happier days. (Yes, he was born with no tail).

Places I'm visiting: Mendocino (July 2024)

A couple weeks ago, we made a short trip up the coast to always-photogenic Mendocino for an overnight stay at the Agate Cove Inn. It was my first visit to the town since well before the pandemic. After checking in at Agate Cove Inn, had an excellent evening meal at Italian restaurant Luna (grilled prawns and smoked salmon penne were the highlights along with live music in the gardens). 

The following day had an equally good lunch at Trillium Café (on Kasten St., at what used to be The Mousse Café) where the pumpkin seed pesto and vegetable gnocchi were outstanding, as were the crab cakes (washed down with a local  Gewürztraminer). 

We spent the morning kayaking on the ocean, which afforded good close-up views of oystercatchers and loons. I'm always surprised by how alive the plants look in Mendocino. The coastal weather is so much milder than the weather in Santa Rosa, about two hours to the south and considerably further inland. Plants that struggle in Santa Rosa (either because of frost in the winter or the dry heat during our summers) grow luxuriantly in Mendocino. The whole place looks alive. 

Before heading home, we made a stop at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens (much more extensive than I remembered) just north of the town where the heaths and heathers in bloom were particularly beautiful.