Keeping It Simple Japanese Woodblock Prints Show Beginnings of Mass Culture by Heather Nalbone Anyone whoís visited the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery can attest to the museumís dual nature. From ancient Near Eastern ceramics to contemporary Japanese porcelain, the Smithsonianís collection of Asian art provides as much historical and cultural documentation as artistic narration. So it comes as no surprise that popular culture is at the center of one of the galleryís most recent exhibits. In ìMasterful Illusions,î an assortment of Japanese prints borrowed from the collection of Anne van Biema, the works are extraordinary in their simplicity. While bold Zodiac scenes and literary figures grace the museumís exhibition walls, more than half of the woodblock printsóthere are 138ófeature actors and scenes from kabuki theater. Biemaís collection draws from the thousands of prints produced en masse between the 1720s and the 19th century as advertisements and collectorsí items during a pre-revolutionary era in which mass culture first became prominent. The actors and their characters, from legendary warriors to doomed lovers, were once a central part of Japanese culture and followed by hordes of fans. Unlike Renaissance muralists who painted for bishops and royalty, Japanese artists of the Edo period catered largely to commoners. ìThe two major subjects of Japanese prints were Kabuki theater and women of the pleasure quarters,î said Ann Yonemura, the museumís senior associate curator of Japanese art. ìBut the prints also conveyed to a very broad audience some of the content of classical Japanese literature that in previous times, were only accessible to the upper classes of Japanese society.î Valued more for their historic worth than any intrinsic artistic value, the popularity of early woodblock prints among modern-day collectors stems in part from the impassioned stories they tell through relatively simple settings. Many of the featured artists relied on less than a handful of colors at a time, some of them even after the introduction of full-color printing in 1765. The color scheme in one of the collectionís most renowned pieces, Katsushika Hokusaiís ìIn the Totomi Mountains,î varies only in its shades of red, gray and green. In fact, each landscape in the artistís famed ì36 Views of Mount Fujiî series depends on simple hues to reveal striking detail. Other images of renowned actor Nakamura Utaemon III illustrate how kabuki theater portraits focused solely on pose, costume and a few details of stage sets. Thatís not to say the display lacks substance or distinction. Elaborate costumes were part of the pageantry depicted in theater images and make each character distinctive, even though their stoic facial features make them hard to tell apart. Although courtesans and theater scenes are the first images many visitors see, other eye-catching prints of landscapes, animals and Zodiac legends help paint a full picture of Japanese plebian life and its enthrallment with dramatic stories of good and evil. ìBats in Moonlight,î by Utagawa Hiroshige, reminded buyers of a traditional good luck symbol, while ìModels for Fashion: New Designs as Fresh Young Leavesî captured the glamour and mystique of their favorite young courtesans. ìThe artistic quality of the prints is still stunning even if you donít know what the stories are about, but having that knowledge really enriches them,î Yonemura said. It was the simplicity of the prints that has turned them into museum-worthy items. Biemaís decision to start a collection was in some ways a fluke, beginning with a couple of woodblock prints she found in her motherís home nearly 40 years ago. Their affordability was a collectorís dream. The value of well-preserved prints began to skyrocket in the late 1970s, when Japanese museums started purchasing them for their historic value, said New York-based art dealer Sebastian Izzard. The highly sought decorative images that once sold for as little as a bowl of noodles now go for anywhere from $200 to $500,000. ìMasterful Illusions: Japanese Prints From the Anne van Biema Collectionî runs through Jan. 19 at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 1050 Independence Ave., SW. For more information, please call (202) 357-2700 or visit www.asia.si.edu. Heather Nalbone is a freelance writer in Maryland.