About Carolyn Staley Fine Japanese Prints
Carolyn Staley - Fine Japanese Prints has specialized in Japanese woodblock prints since 1980. We are noted for offering rare prints of the finest quality from the late-18th to mid-20th centuries. We invite you to peruse our online collection or make an appointment to visit our Seattle gallery to become acquainted with our large and varied inventory.
Location and hours
Carolyn Staley - Fine Japanese Prints is located at the north edge of Seattle's Pike Place Market. We are between Virginia and Lenora Streets on Western Avenue. Parking is available in the garage below the building, the entrance to which is on Lenora Street. Street parking is also available in the vicinity. The area is also well-served by public transportation, which is free in the downtown core.
We are open by appointment. We are closed on most major holidays and are periodically away from the gallery exhibiting at print fairs, so do be sure to call in advance when you’re planning a visit.
We are located at:
2003 Western Ave., Suite 107 / Seattle, WA 98121
phone: 206 621 1888 / fax: 206 621 6493
info@carolynstaleyprints.com
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What you'll find in our inventory
The gallery features an inventory of fine antique, Japanese ukiyo-e prints of the Edo era (1603-1868), primarily from the 19th century. These hand-printed masterworks of famous kabuki actors, courtesans, landscapes, heroes and legends reflect the styles, history and pleasures of the Japanese middle class during the 18th and 19th centuries.
In 1868 the Meiji Restoration ushered in major changes to the social and political climates of Japan. The Meiji emperor opened Japan's once tightly controlled borders to Western travelers and opportunists. This sparked an unprecendented effort to keep pace with the Western world. Everything from fashion to transportation was influenced by the West. Prints from the Meiji era (1868-1912) convey these changes as they happened in bold new analine colors—purchased from European merchants. Carolyn Staley - Fine Japanese Prints has many Meiji prints available, including works by Yoshitoshi, Chikanobu, Kunichika, Kiyochika, Shoun, Toshikata and Kyosai (Gyosai).
In addition to single-sheet prints, diptychs and triptychs from these eras, we also carry scrolls, drawings and a selection of e-hon (picture books) from the Edo and Meiji eras as well as fine antique stencils and reference books.
Twentieth-century woodblock artists took the medium in two distinct directions, both of which are reflected by gallery inventory. The shin hanga (literally, "new prints") movement resurrected the traditions of ukiyo-e subjects -- soft landscapes, delicate portraits of women and pictures of birds and flowers -- and modernized them with Western perspective, shading and color. The artists' designs were enhanced by master carvers and printers, usually in the employ of a publisher.
The sosaku hanga ("creative prints") movement, which began in Tokyo in 1918, departed from traditional Japanese printmaking methods and styles. These artists carved their own blocks and printed their own prints, often mixing other media with traditional block printing to create prints that reflected each of their personal styles. From 1945 until 1970, its height of popularity, sosaku hanga occupied the major interest of the graphic artists in Japan. Subjects of sosaku hanga are as diverse as the artists who made them.
While Carolyn Staley - Fine Japanese Prints does not represent the work of contemporary living artists of Japanese printmaking, the gallery features the prints of the most established and respected artists of the 20th century who are no longer working, including Onchi, Hiroshi Yoshida, Hasui, Goyo, Shinsui, Saito and many others.
If you have specific interests and cannot find them represented in our online inventory, please sign our guestbook indicating your interests, as we are always acquiring new works.
