Share
PrintDate Submitted: November 30, 2009
Article Type: Discourse
I have loved books since the age of 11. Firstly as a means of learning and then later as an art form. My first contact with books arose from the necessity of learning English as a second language and then much later, as a teacher, books in turn became an essential part of my job. As an adult, my passion for Asian arts made me purchase a variety of beautifully illustrated books to further my knowledge about artworks that particularly interested me. However, it was the world of Japanese kites that led me directly to the Japanese picture book.
After my initial contact with the Japanese world of kites, I became interested in collecting Japanese prints with kites. From there, it was a natural development to also start collecting Japanese woodblock printed books with kites – that is, Japanese picture books. At the very outset it became apparent that Japanese picture books are far rarer than Japanese prints, and consequently much more difficult to acquire, both in terms of the quantity available and the price sought by dealers for these books. A particular problem for me was and is that I am only interested in a book that has a kite image in it. Very often, only a few pages with images are displayed by a seller in their catalogue or on their website, and these page may not contain a kite, but there may be other pages of the book that do, of which I am not aware. In addition, books by well-known artists such as Hokusai and Hiroshige often command prices that are exorbitant and beyond my reach. A book with a single image of a kite may be readily available but is sold as a complete set of three books.
Despite these difficulties, I have persisted, and my perseverance has been rewarded by a collection, which – perhaps not as comprehensive as some other collections – is nevertheless varied and representative of the world of the Japanese picture book, and somewhat unique in that it focuses on books with kite images. It includes books from the 1700s up to the 1950s, including most of the major artists of early genre such Utamaro, Hokusai, and Hiroshige. Above all, it is a collection that gives me great personal joy and satisfaction.
Page Number: 50
PDF Link: Discourse Issue