Shin hanga was in part a reaction against modernization, a manifestation of nostalgia for the Japan of the past amid the growing smokestacks, telephone wires and Western architecture in Tokyo. It sought to demonstrate the endurance of traditional Japanese art as the country experienced an influx of Western art and culture, and artists were consciously attempting to revitalize a traditional technique for a modern audience instead of adopting newer methods like photography.
"Shin hanga artists were responsible for revitalizing an older tradition of printmaking for contemporary artists," said Allen Hockley, who curated the exhibit. "They chose subjects they knew would resonate images of women who were also a huge part of traditional prints but worked with models of women in the 20th century."
In Ishii Hakutei's "12 Views of Tokyo," the artist demonstrates this conflict of past and present using the ukiyo-e tradition of depicting women in the capital city. In each print, dating from 1910 to 1917, Hakutei depicts a woman in a private chamber looking out at Tokyo.
The pairing suggests that despite rapid changes to the city, the women are timeless and at ease, pinning up their hair or strumming a string instrument. The geishas represent traditional Japanese culture and are outfitted modestly in pale, printed kimonos with sashes that wrap around their waists.
"The views of Tokyo paired with depictions of women are an old idea, and the geishas in those prints are icons of the ideal Japanese female form of the past," Hockley, an Asian and Middle Eastern studies and art history professor, said. "As Tokyo modernized in its landscape, the women stood for tradition, especially as conceptualized by male viewers."
Other prints in the show depict what Hockley described as the "new woman phenomenon," the flapper-esque figure that circulated around the globe in through American media. Shin hanga artists did not gravitate toward this subject as much geishas did, despite the demand for such depictions.
Kobayakawa Kiyoshi's 1930 woodblock print "Modern Fashions, No. 1 Tipsy" clearly uses with the shock value of the modern woman. The subject is defined by her short-cropped hair, darkly outlined eyes and red lipstick, a lit cigarette between her hands. She stares directly at the viewer, a departure from the demure, downcast eyes of geisha women in other prints. The red background of the print stands in bold contrast to the subject's fair skin and black hair, and a cocktail drink sits before her on the table.
"Most Japanese women at the time were still dressing in traditional kimonos and pinning their long hair up in simple styles," Hockley said. "But these new women were visually spectacular, wearing lipstick for the first time, polishing their nails, wearing close-cut hair and holding clutch purses. You could see why some artists would want to depict them as well."
The printmakers featured in the exhibit demonstrate a range of training, with backgrounds in traditional Japanese techniques as well as Western drawing and painting. A few prints integrate the Western nude, while others show artists working with live models, a standard practice taught at Western art schools.
The older prints in the show, published between 1767 and 1897, are displayed in their own gallery and illustrate the tradition of printmaking from which shin hanga evolved.
Unlike personal gallery showings or museum exhibits in the United States, shin hanga prints circulated in Japan through private orders. The prints were not expensive and cost around three to four dollars each, though the craftsmanship and quality was "outstanding," Hockley said.
Each print requires three or four artists and craftsmen to produce. The artist first draws a sketch, and a woodcutter cuts the basic image in a wood block. The difficulty comes from assembling separate blocks for each color that is added and carefully carving the finer details of hair and clothing.
Once assembled, the same woodblocks could be used for up to 300 prints for more ornate designs, or 20,000 for simple designs. Shin hanga prints were typically sold in monthly subscription orders, with cherry blossoms depicted in the spring or falling leaves in the fall, Hockley said.
"The artists were careful to date all the prints and include an edition number on the back so the buyer would know how many reproductions there were," Hockley said. "If there were 200 editions, after those 200 prints, the publisher wasn't going to print any more."
Shin hanga prints came to the U.S. in the 1920s and were immensely popular. As women were challenging traditional conceptions of their public roles and arguing for the right to vote, the prints may have been popular for their manifestation of "misplaced nostalgia," Hockey said.
"With Japanese modernization, a lot of Japanese were longing for the days gone by, one manifestation of which was the demure, submissive women, particularly with conservative, male viewers," Hockley said. "I think there was a similar feeling with some American viewers as well."
Many museums included order forms in their galleries so that viewers could request copies to display in their homes.
Shin hanga declined after World War II as nostalgia for Japan of the past wore out and printmakers saw a drop in orders from American customers after the Japan occupation.
The Hood's show includes eight post-war prints from artists who tried to bring in an avant-garde aesthetic to their work using geometric shapes and flat forms. Shin hanga disappeared by the 1960s, as printmakers were replaced by artists interested in working in more popular mediums.
In the 250 years of Japanese woodblock printmaking, artists made 300 million prints, and experts believe five million still survive. Hockley said the number bodes well for collectors, many of whom contributed to the Hood's exhibit. The 90 works come from the ongoing collection of Judith and Joseph Barker '66, and which they have promised to the College. They recently visited Hockley's Japanese prints class to speak with students about which prints they would like to see at the museum.
The exhibit, the first at Dartmouth to prominently feature modern Japanese prints, will be on display through July 28.
