When Japanese ukiyo-e woodcut prints arrived in the European artworld of the late nineteenth century, they caused a sensation andinfluenced artists as diverse as van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, and
Rodin.Picasso first encountered their bold stylization and expressive flair asa young artist in Barcelona, but his connection with Japanese art hasbeen comparatively neglected by critical
studies until now.
Although Picasso expressed an ambivalent attitude to the Japonismemovement, it has recently been discovered that he personally ownedmore than sixty of the highly erotic prints known as shunga.
Now aselection of these rare works from his private collection has beenbrought together by the Museu Picasso in Barcelona and is shown herefor the first time along with Picasso’s own prints and
drawings. Thisjuxtaposition reveals a series of fascinating parallels and convergencesin terms of both subject matter and composition. The stylistic echoesare most visible in Picasso’s erotic
drawings of the first decade of thetwentieth century, and in a series of witty and explicit prints madetoward the end of his life, which share the frank yet playful attitude tosexual
relationships that shines through in the best Japanese works ofthis genre.Lavishly illustrated with images b
y both Japanese printmakers andthe Western artists who followed in their stead, the book featuresessays by Hayakawa Monta, Ricard Bru, Mal矇n Gual, and DianaWidmaier Picasso.
