Posted by Michael Johnon on September 23, 1998 at 17:24:53:
In Reply to: Re: Kunisada and MTV posted by Theo de Kreijger on September 23, 1998 at 16:47:39:
: If a former japanese collector of Sharaku prints would have walked by a printshop during the first half of the 19th century. He would have certainly shook his head and perhaps have the same thoughts about what became of Ukiyo-e: "because the form has moved so far from its beginnings that I no longer find it interesting!" He might have been looking at some Kunisada prints.
: It's like thinking about 'The Beatles' and looking at 'Girls Against Boys'.
: Theo
Theo,
I've probably already gone past that step. I don't even know who
'Girls against Boys' are. It is interesting to think about how what you see
first effects what one thinks of as "good". Since my introduction to Ukiyo-e
was Kunisada and Kuniyoshi, I find things from Utamaro to Kunisada/Kuniyoshi
most attractive. I don't enjoy the "real" perspective of later prints
and find many earlier prints so far from reality that they
leave me cold. I realize that many people find the earlier prints to be
more vital and of greater artistic merit, but in one way I am glad that
I am not among them. The prints that I love are within my reach, while
the earlier prints are not available and not affordable.
Michael