Strong Women, Beautiful Men

This catalogue focuses on the concept of the human form in Japanese woodblock prints, concentrating on TMA's extensive collection of shin-hanga. Literally meaning “new prints,” shin-hanga was the name given to an early 20th-century Japanese artists' movement that sought to revive the traditional style of woodblock prints of the Edo period (1610-1868). Many of the works in the book deal with the genre of popular figures, such as kabuki actors in famous roles and bijin-ga, images of beautiful women. Published to accompany the exhibition of the same title, held at the Toledo Museum of Art October 14-December 31, 2005.

By Laura J. Mueller, with an introduction by Carolyn M. Putney © 2005 Toledo Museum of Art * Co-published with Hotei Publishing, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Paperback, 96 pages, 9 3/4" x 11 3/4", 53 color plates. Artist biographies, brief checklist of TMA exhibition, selected bibliography, concordance, index.

Laura J. Mueller is a doctoral candidate at the University of Wisconsin, and a Van Vleck curatorial intern at the Chazen Museum of Art. Carolyn M. Putney is curator of Asian Art at the Toledo Museum of Art.