Japanese prints exhibition: prints by western artists such as elizabeth keith, charles bartlett, paul binnie, clifton karhu, paul jacoulet, noel nouet, and more

WESTERN SAILS, EASTERN SKIES

Western Artists in Asia

Artistic influence rarely travels in a straight line. It crosses oceans, changes hands, and returns transformed. This exhibition explores one of the most fascinating of these cultural currents: the encounter between Western artists and the artistic traditions of Japan and Asia. Spanning more than a century, it brings together artists who came as travelers, expatriates, and long-term residents, discovering in Asia not merely compelling subjects, but visual traditions capable of transforming the way an image could be conceived and made.

The origins of this encounter reach back to the nineteenth-century Western discovery of ukiyo-e. The prints of Utamaro, Hokusai, and Hiroshige profoundly altered European and American ideas about composition, color, perspective, and the expressive possibilities of the flat picture plane. By the time Western artists began arriving in Japan in greater numbers, they were therefore encountering a culture whose art had already helped reshape their own. The winds of influence had crossed the oceans—and were now returning, transformed once again through a new generation of artists.

This circulation of ideas proved especially important during the formative years of shin hanga. Before publisher Shōzaburō Watanabe established the collaborations with Japanese designers that would come to define the movement, foreign artists helped him explore the possibilities of combining modern pictorial sensibilities with the traditional Japanese woodblock process. His early work with Fritz Capelari, followed by Charles W. Bartlett and others, contributed to an emerging visual vocabulary that Watanabe would refine into one of the defining artistic movements of modern Japan.

There is a compelling symmetry in this exchange. Western artists, already indebted to ukiyo-e, arrived in Japan carrying ideas that had themselves been shaped by Japanese prints. Working with Japanese publishers, carvers, and printers, they reinterpreted those traditions through Western eyes. The resulting synthesis—atmospheric landscapes, luminous night scenes, intimate portraits, and a heightened sensitivity to color, light, and mood—would find extraordinary refinement in the great Japanese masters of shin hanga. Influence moved in both directions, blurring any simple distinction between “Eastern” and “Western” art and revealing instead a visual language continually enriched through exchange.

Yet the artists gathered here were far more than intermediaries in the history of modern Japanese printmaking. Some embraced the collaborative woodblock tradition; others turned to etching, painting, or self-carved prints. Their subjects ranged across Japan, Korea, China, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific, and their responses were equally varied: intimate, romantic, architectural, ethnographic, or boldly modern. Later generations carried this dialogue forward, demonstrating that the encounter between Western art and Asian aesthetics belonged to no single moment. Across oceans and generations, ideas continued to travel, change direction, and return renewed—each encounter offering another way of seeing.

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WESTERN SAILS, EASTERN SKIES

Western Artists in Asia

Ginza in the SnowPeter Irwin Brown (1903-1988)

SnowDavid Hockney (b. 1937)

Children at the FairFritz Capelari (1884-1950)

Mt. Fuji from a Desolate FieldFritz Capelari (1884-1950)

White Birds on a Pomegranate Tree (Night)Fritz Capelari (1884–1950)

Returning Home in RainFritz Capelari (1884-1950)

A Mexican CoquetteHelen Hyde (1868-1919)

Akasaka MitsukeNoel Nouet (1885-1969)

AutumnPaul Binnie (b.1967)

Benkei Bori (Benkei Moat)Noel Nouet (1885-1969)

Butterfly BowPaul Binnie (b.1967)

EngawaPaul Binnie (b.1967)

Floor CushionPaul Binnie (b.1967)

FujiyamaClifton Karhu (1927-2007)

The Gate of PekingBernard Leach (1887-1979)

Gateway to Ming TombsCharles Bartlett (1869-1940)

Heian—Kinkaku SynchronyClifton Karhu (1927-2007)

Island at MatsushimaFritz Capelari (1884-1950)

Jehol in WinterPeter Irwin Brown (1903-1988)

Katsura RikyuClifton Karhu (1927-2007)

KyotoCharles Bartlett (1869-1940)

La Geisha KiyokaPaul Jacoulet (1896-1960)

LanternsBertha Lum (1869-1954)

Le Nid Coree Surimono PostcardPaul Jacoulet (1896-1960)

Les Jade MandchoukuoPaul Jacoulet (1896-1960)

Moonlight in Bamboo GroveBernard Leach (1887-1979)

Pine Trees by the MoatFritz Capelari (1884-1950)

Pines Near Yotsuya MitsukeFritz Capelari (1884-1950)

Point LobosBertha Lum (1869-1954)

Shimogawara ChoClifton Karhu (1927-2007)

Ginza in the Snow
Peter Irwin Brown (1903-1988)

Snow
David Hockney (b. 1937)

Children at the Fair
Fritz Capelari (1884-1950)

Mt. Fuji from a Desolate Field
Fritz Capelari (1884-1950)

White Birds on a Pomegranate Tree (Night)
Fritz Capelari (1884–1950)

Returning Home in Rain
Fritz Capelari (1884-1950)

A Mexican Coquette
Helen Hyde (1868-1919)

Akasaka Mitsuke
Noel Nouet (1885-1969)

Autumn
Paul Binnie (b.1967)

Benkei Bori (Benkei Moat)
Noel Nouet (1885-1969)

Butterfly Bow
Paul Binnie (b.1967)

Engawa
Paul Binnie (b.1967)

Floor Cushion
Paul Binnie (b.1967)

Fujiyama
Clifton Karhu (1927-2007)

The Gate of Peking
Bernard Leach (1887-1979)

Gateway to Ming Tombs
Charles Bartlett (1869-1940)

Heian—Kinkaku Synchrony
Clifton Karhu (1927-2007)

Island at Matsushima
Fritz Capelari (1884-1950)

Jehol in Winter
Peter Irwin Brown (1903-1988)

Katsura Rikyu
Clifton Karhu (1927-2007)

Kyoto
Charles Bartlett (1869-1940)

La Geisha Kiyoka
Paul Jacoulet (1896-1960)

Lanterns
Bertha Lum (1869-1954)

Le Nid Coree Surimono Postcard
Paul Jacoulet (1896-1960)

Les Jade Mandchoukuo
Paul Jacoulet (1896-1960)

Moonlight in Bamboo Grove
Bernard Leach (1887-1979)

Pine Trees by the Moat
Fritz Capelari (1884-1950)

Pines Near Yotsuya Mitsuke
Fritz Capelari (1884-1950)

Point Lobos
Bertha Lum (1869-1954)

Shimogawara Cho
Clifton Karhu (1927-2007)