During the closing decades of the nine-teenth century, Japan's leaders strove to establish their country as an important member of the global community through an ambitious modernization program. A national postal system was introduced in the 1870s and by the first few years of the 1900s the postcard had became a highly popular graphic medium. Its novelty, intimacy and immediacy inspired many well-known Japanese artists to create innovative com-positions that often synthesized new West-ern and traditional Japanese sensibilities.
Essays by Kendall H. Brown, Leonard A. Lauder, Anne Nishimura Morse,and J.Thomas Rimer, with a note on printing techniques by Joan Wright.From the late 19th to the early 20th century, Japan was a vital world center for postcard art. More than just casual mail pieces, these post-cards were often designed by promi-nent artists and had a visual impactthat belied their modest format.Remarkably beautiful examples of graphic design in their own right,they also recorded the shifting definitions of'East' and 'West' at a time when such European currents as Art Nouveau began to show up in Japanese visual productions.Art of the Japanese Postcard presents 300 full-color examples of these cards, culled from the vast Leonard A. Lauder Collection.They are astonishing not only for their beauty and the quality of their printing, but also for the insight they provide into contemporary Japanese artistic practices - insights not relayed in standard histories that focus on painting and sculpture - as well as for the fluid interplay of European and Japanese modes. Authoritative essays by leading scholars of Japanese art and culture, plus a statement by the collector himself,highlight the design, development,and cultural function of these rarely studied, but highly influential and visually exciting, expressions of graphic genius.
DIRECTOR'S FOREWORD MALCOLM ROGERS
COLLECTOR'S PREFACE LEONARD A. LAUDER
NOTE TO THE READER
ART OFTHE JAPANESE POSTCARD ANNE NISHIMURA MORSE
AN OPENING INTO A WIDER WORLD J.THOMAS RIMER
POSTCARDS, COMMERCE, AND CREATIVITY IN JAPAN, 1904-1940
KENDALL H. BROWN
CATALOGUE POSTCARD HISTORY
THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR
ARTIST CARDS
ART NOUVEAU
ART DECO
THE WORLD OF HUMOR
ADVERTISING
NEW YEAR'S GREETINGS
POSTCARDS OBSERVED: NOTES ON PRINTING TECHNIQUES
JOAN WRIGHT
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
ANNE NISHIMURA MORSE AND TOMOKO OKAMURA
ARTISTS' BIOGRAPHIES TOMOKO OKAMURA
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS