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- Acknowledgments
Shin Hanga prints have often been referred to as the autumn of ukiyo-e, neo- ukiyo-e or ukiyo-e in a new form fused with contemporary styles of art and fashion. Perhaps the best term would be the renaissance of ukiyo-e. While shin hanga does have superficial similarities to ukiyo-e, it has a very distinct nature. Having organized a number of ukiyo-e and shin hanga exhibitions, I can easily say that the Western public seems to appreciate and understand shin hanga much more readily than traditional ukiyo-e. Indeed, shin hanga is now being collected as never before and many prints have now reached and surpassed their ukiyo-e counterparts.
Prior to the 1990s, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria had only a small number of shin hanga prints, mainly by Yoshida Hiroshi and Shinsui Ito, which had been donated by Isabel Pollard in the 1970s. In the 1990s, the Gallery was the fortunate recipient of major shin hanga prints from five important collectors: The Senora Ryan Estate, Mr. and Mrs. William Hepler, Elizabeth Marsters, George and Lola Kidd and Peter Gellatly. The Gallery now has a sizable collection of shin hanga prints and is well represented in the four main subject fields of landscapes, beauties, actors and birds-and- flowers. The collection includes most of the major shin hanga artists and is lacking only a few important printmakers like Kotondo Torii, Kiyoshi Kobayakawa, Shuho Yamakawa, Kanpo Yoshikawa, Koka Yamamura, and Ota Masamitsu. Hopefully in time this deficiency will be rectified.
We are greatly indebted to the donors of these fine prints and to George and Lola Kidd for funding this publication.
We would like to thank Brian and Mary Patten, Chris Russell and Ann Tighe for their assistance, and Jamie Drouin for the photography. Thanks must also go Paula Swart, Curator of Asian Studies at the Vancouver Museum for proofreading the text.
BARRY TILL, October, 1996
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