Until recent years, ukiyo-e were regarded as somewhat declasse by Japanese art connoisseurs — and they are still sniffed at by many whose taste is informed by Zen and the tea-ceremony. But these colorful paintings and prints of what was then a truly exotic world did catch the eyes of foreigners who came to Japan after the country opened to the West in 1868. As a result, most of the best examples are now in Western museums, with the largest number of all — some 700 paintings, 50,000 prints and several thousand printed books — to be found in the collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. (MFA).
The MFA was fortunate to receive the bequests of early ukiyo-e collectors such as William Sturgis Bigelow (1850-1926), Denman Waldo Ross (1850-1935) and the Spaulding brothers, William (1865-1937) and John (1870-1948); yet it has been only during the past two or three decades that a systematic study and cataloging of this vast inventory was made.
Following a successful exhibition of ukiyo-e paintings from the MFA at three venues in Japan in 2006, three further exhibitions, titled "Printed Treasures: Highlights from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston," have been scheduled to display selections from the print collection. The present exhibition in Fukuoka that will move to Tokyo later this fall has been divided into four sections to show the historical development of ukiyo-e printmaking. Apart from the sheer pleasure of being able to look at so many superb pictures, the show provides an excellent introduction for those previously unfamiliar with the fascinating world of ukiyo-e.