A Garden of Eden Nature Utopias from Japan

Japanese woodcuts of the 18th and 19th centuries influenced European Modernism more than any other artworks from Asia. The term “ukiyo-e” associated with them designates “images of a floating world”, which were produced skillfully and in large numbers in Japan and reached other parts of the world. From the French Impressionists to the artists of the Blue Rider group Western artists found ever new inspiration in Japanese woodcuts. To this day, these works enchant us with their tonal, formal and technical virtuosity. In 2020/21 the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München received a donation of approximately 250 prints, among them works by some of the great masters like Hokusai (1760–1849) and Hiroshige (1797–1858), which ingeniously complement our holdings in European art.

For the exhibition A Garden Eden. Nature Utopias from Japan we invited Japanese sculptor Yoshihiro Suda (*1969) to share with us his view on our collections of Japanese and European art. From this artist-curator collaboration originated a very stimulating and remarkable, a truly utopian show, which reminds us what it is to look and wonder.