Printed to Perfection: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection - Tapa blanda

"Displayed in a large-size, high-quality trade paper volume are over 100 prints from the collection of the noted collector Robert O. Muller (d. 2003) which have been bequeathed to the Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution. Besides the artist, name, and date for each print, there are informative annotations on the career of the artist and the subject and style of the print. Most of the prints are in the 20th-century Japanese style of "shin-hanga binga," whose artists were "struggling to acknowledge tradition and at the same time transcend it." Introductory essays cover Muller as an influential collector and place the prints in the context of Japanese artistic traditions. The varied aspects of the text, including a "Glossary," provide a historical overview of Japanese prints as well as a representative catalog of prints from the Muller collection of more than four thousand."--Midwest Book Review

Robert O. Muller can be considered the most important collector in the world of 20th century Japanese prints. He amassed over 4500 designs, tracing back the artistic developments of the past century to the Meiji period (1868-1912). His holdings, now in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., include the finest possible examples of artists specialized in the portrayal of female beauty such as Hashiguchi Goyo (1880-1921), Ito Shinsui (1898-1972) and Torii Kotondo (1900-1976), the earliest and best works of the two major landscape artists Kawase Hasui (1883-1957) and Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950) as well as numerous works by other, less famous artists providing a comprehensive and fascinating overview of the Shin hanga ('New Print') movement. Robert O. Muller's exquisite taste and critical attitude has resulted in a collection in the finest imaginable condition. The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Art staged the first major exhibition from this collection in the months of November and December of 2004. This catalogue accompanies the first exhibition from the donation to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Art of over 4000 prints by the American collector Robert O. Muller, held November 6 2004-2 January 2005.