SPEAKS ON DEVELOPMENT OF JAPANESE PRINTS

Mr. A. D. Ficke '04, Curator of Japanese Prints at the Fogg Art Museum, lectured on "Japanese Prints" at 4.30 yesterday afternoon before an audience that crowded the lecture hall of the Museum.

Mr. Ficke prefaced his remarks by stating that there was a general expectation of aesthetic revelation in approaching his art; nevertheless, when these prints were being produced, they were preeminently products of a vulgar, a popular art.

The two divisions of the greatest period are: first, the temple art, for the decoration of sanctuaries, and second, landscape painting. From this popularization of art came the demand that resulted in the print. At first only the block outline was printed and the color was put in by hand.

Explains Technique of Early Work

Mr. Ficke then explained the technique in the creation of the prints which date from 1680 to 1780 and illustrate the first and second periods of the art--from the black and white prints colored by hand through the use of two three color blocks. These include the work of Harunoba, who was the first to realize the possibilities of full color printing.

Mr. Ficke exhibited prints made by Moronobu, the first and greatest master in the history of Japanese Prints, by Kijonobu, Masanobu, the greatest of his time, by Kijomitsu and Toyonobu, the most brilliant of the designers of the later part of the Primitive Period.