SOTHEBY S PARIS TO SELL THE HUGUETTE BERÈS COLLECTION

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SOTHEBY S PARIS TO SELL THE HUGUETTE BERÈS COLLECTION JAPANESE PRINTS, DRAWINGS AND ILLUSTRATED BOOKS WEDNESDAY, 27 NOVEMBER 2002 For over fifty years, Huguette Berès was one of the leading lights on

1 SOTHEBY S PARIS TO SELL THE HUGUETTE BERÈS COLLECTION JAPANESE PRINTS, DRAWINGS AND ILLUSTRATED BOOKS WEDNESDAY, 27 NOVEMBER 2002 For over fifty years, Huguette Berès was one of the leading lights on the international art market. At a very early stage in her career, she developed an interest in Japanese graphic arts, which was to become a passion throughout her life. In 1952, she opened an art gallery at Quai Voltaire in Paris and specialised in this field. Stimulated by the influence of Japanese art on European painters, she developed a taste for paintings of the second half of the 19th century, in particularly the Nabis. The reputation of the gallery was due not only to the talent and personality of Huguette Berès but also because it was the venue for the remarkable exhibitions she organised which attracted several generations of enthusiastic collectors. Her first exhibition, Portraits of Actors in 1953 opened the path to success. This was followed by Hiroshige in 1955, Hokusai in 1958, Utamaro in 1956 and 1976, and Sharaku, Portraits of Actors in The catalogues published for these exhibitions have become reference books on the subjects. Over the years Huguette Berès, in her private capacity, built an outstanding collection of Japanese prints, drawings and illustrated books form perhaps the most important private collection of its type in Europe. This collection is famous in Japan, and an entire volume in the Hizo Ukiyo-e Taikan series, published in Japan, on major European museums and private collections, was devoted exclusively to it. The sale of the Huguette Berès Collection, entrusted to Sotheby s by her heirs, is the most important one of Japanese Agrément N du 25 octobre 2001 Vente dirigée par Alain Renner prints organised since the Henri Vever Collection, sold by Sotheby s in London between 1974 and Many of these prints are included in the

catalogue for the Berès sale. It will also be the first sale of Asian art organised by Sotheby s in Paris. The Huguette Berès Collection reflects the personality of the person who created it.

2 catalogue for the Berès sale. It will also be the first sale of Asian art organised by Sotheby s in Paris. The Huguette Berès Collection reflects the personality of the person who created it. Her highly personal choice was based on a search for grace and elegance. This comprehensive collection brings together the most famous artists of ukiyo-e art, the image of the ephemeral (or in its literal meaning of the floating world ). Utamaro, Sharaku and Hokusai were active between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, and were well known all over the world. They exerted a considerable influence over the painters of the end of the 19th century in the West, especially France. Before them, in 1765, Harunobu, one of the masters of ukiyo-e, had set in motion the rapid and widespread expansion of the technique of polychrome printing. Hiroshige distinguished himself as one of the masters of the Japanese landscape, while Toyokuni, Eisho, Shunei, and Choki excelled in the art of the portrait. The collection consist of 200 prints, 50 illustrated books and albums all engraved on wood and approximately 40 drawings. Most of them date to the end of the 18th century or the beginning of the 19th century, and depict themes from everyday life, Japanese stories and legends, and the Kabuki theatre. A huge number of the prints illustrate the life of women, courtesans of the tea houses, popular scenes of merchants and artisans, nature labour in the fields, birds, flowers and fruit and erotic scenes. In the view of Jean-Baptiste de Proyart, Vice President of Sotheby s France, The sale of the Huguette Berès Collection has aroused two different feelings. The first is the pleasure of rediscovering the influence exerted over Impressionist art by the discovery in France of the art of the great Japanese masters. It is a well known fact that this revelation was orchestrated by two parisian art dealers, Samuel Bing and Hayashi Tadamasa, and by the writer Edmond de Goncourt. This is why the Huguette Berès Collection, following on the one belonging to Henri Vever, forms part of the tradition of this innovative view that marked the history of modern painting. The second feeling aroused by the Huguette Berès Collection nowadays has nothing to do with the past. These prints, with their flat-tints that ignore perspective, reveal images dominated only by the infinite precision of the drawing and the delicate colours. It is therefore a great honour for Sotheby s to be able to present works of an extraordinary quality that have always been widely acknowledged by the French and international public. The rare character of this collection lies in the quality of the printing and the state of preservation of the prints. They will inevitably arouse the interest of major collectors, museums and institutions throughout the world. The sale will also provide an opportunity for art lovers to acquire works by leading artists and from known origins at more modest prices. COURTESANS Portraits of courtesans occupy a place of honor in the Berès Collection. The

most famous of the prints by Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806), Mono Omou Koi Pensive Love, engraved around 1790, (illustration) is considered in Japan to be the very symbol of the art of Utamaro, one of

The absence of eyebrows probably indicates that she is a married woman. She is elegantly dressed, wearing two delicately coloured kimono.

3 most famous of the prints by Kitagawa Utamaro ( ), Mono Omou Koi Pensive Love, engraved around 1790, (illustration) is considered in Japan to be the very symbol of the art of Utamaro, one of the greatest ukiyo-e artists. It portrays a beautiful woman, head leaning on her hand, lost in her thoughts. A pin decorated with a paulownia leaf pierces her sober hairstyle. The absence of eyebrows probably indicates that she is a married woman. She is elegantly dressed, wearing two delicately coloured kimono. This print is part of the Kasen Koi no bu series, a selection of poems on the theme of love, and it comes from the Henri Vever Collection (estimated at 280/320,000). A superb edition on a grey and mica-tinted background of the Portrait of Kokin, circa 1796, by Chokosai Eisho (active during the years ) is part of a set of three prints entitled Portraits of Fashionable Beauties. It portrays the courtesan Kokin waiting by the pillar of a bridge and is estimated at 45/55,000. A very rare edition, one of only two known, of the Portrait of a Young Woman Carrying a Charcoal Conatiner by Eishosai Choki (active around ) shows a courtesan near the window of a brothel while a group of men disappear into the rice paddies. A song written on the banner evokes a heron, white as snow, and black crows flying away to indicate that it is dawn (estimated at 30/40,000). Utagawa Toyokuni ( ) was the most eminent artist of the Utagawa School. He was the son of a sculptor of puppets, which explains why the theatre inspired so many of his works. The perfection of Japanese printing techniques is reflected in this superb print entitled Kayoi Komachi A Much Beloved Komachi, circa 1790 (illustration). It depicts a geisha walking towards an evening festival, accompanied by her servant who is holding a paper lantern that lights up the faces of the two women. The title of this print refers to a scene from Japanese literature, the seven important chapters in the life of the poetess, Ono no Komachi. She had promised her young and noble lover to open the door on the hundredth night as long as he came to knock every night despite wind or snow. He died on the ninety-ninth night. This rare print is embellished with lacquer on a background treated with the fuki-bokashi, or crachis technique, which is a spray of fine particles of ink (estimated at 90/120,000). ACTORS OF THE KABUKI THEATRE The works by Kunimasa, Utamaro, Toyokuni and the extremely rare Sharaku portray the figures and attitudes of actors playing their part. According to Japanese custom, male actors often performed the roles of women.

Highly appreciated in the West, they were very much inspired by the work of Toulouse-Lautrec and the Impressionist painters.

4 Toshusai Sharaku was an outstanding artist whose life is still wrapped in mystery. The 145 prints he made in his career were executed in nine months (he was active between 1794 and 1795), and they are considered to be masterpieces of Japanese art. Highly appreciated in the West, they were very much inspired by the work of Toulouse-Lautrec and the Impressionist painters. The very fine portrait with a partly mica-tinted dark grey background of the actor Matsumoto Yonesaburo I in his role as the courtesan Shinobu evokes the theme of the play of Katakiuchi noriai banashi performed in Shinobu, who worked with her sister Miyagino in the red light district of Edo, sets off with her in search of the person who murdered their father with the intention of seeking revenge. Shinobu, who became a courtesan, is also portrayed draped in a violet kimono with geometric motifs worn over a second kimono in old rose decorated with starfish holding a long pipe between her fingers (estimated at 100/150,000). The Portrait of the Actor Bando Hikosaburo III by Katsukawa Shunei (circa ) is striking (illustration). The actor is shown in his role as a minister at the court in the 9th century. He is wearing a ceremonial hat, partially mica-tinted, and is holding a fan in his hand. The play, entitled Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami, was performed at the Miyako theatre during the seventh month of 1796 (estimated at 95/120,000). A print by Utamaro represents a Young Woman Examining a Piece of Veil. Dressed in a blue yukata with a black obi around her waist, this young woman s face can be seen through a transparent veil, is kneeling down with a baby cradled between her knees. The child is playing with a fan decorated with the mon of the popular actor Iwai Hanshiro IV, the emblem of the Ichikawa, a famous dynasty of actors. This very fine print with its fresh colours (estimated at 60/80,000), bears the stamp of Hayashi, a major dealer in Japanese art who had settled in Paris around His Collection was sold in Another print on a grey background by Utamaro is of two famous lovers from the Kabuki theatre, Jihei of Kamiya and Koharu of Kinokuniya (illustration), executed around , in a scene drawn from the puppet drama by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Shinju Tenno Amijima (The Suicide of the Lovers at Amijima). The courtesan Koharu and her lover, a paper merchant from Osaka, are on their way to the Daishoji temple where they are determined to end their lives (estimated at 15/20,000). One of the yakusha-e masterpieces (prints of the heads and shoulders of actors) is the Portrait of the Actor Nakamura Noshio II by Utagawa Kunimasa (circa ), which he made at the peak of his career during the years Only three copies of this print are known, one at the Musée Guimet in Paris, another at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and a third

for many poets and artists, the most famous being Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), sometimes referred to as the painter of Mount Fuji.

5 that was included in the Vever sale in 1974 (estimated at 90/120,000). JAPANESE LANDSCAPES: HOKUSAI AND HIROSHIGE THE RARE AND COMPLETE SERIES OF VIEWS OF MOUNT FUJI BY HOKUSAI As the symbol of the beauty of the Japanese landscape, Mount Fuji was a source of inspiration for many poets and artists, the most famous being Katsushika Hokusai ( ), sometimes referred to as the painter of Mount Fuji. The most important lot of the sale is the complete series of Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji by Hokusai, which is considered to be his masterpiece. The series was published in Edo (Tokyo) during the years by the publisher Nishimura Yohachi. It consists of thirty-six views, including the universally known Wave at Kanagawa and a superb print of Fuji in a Storm with blue outlines in the first edition. Ten additional views were published following their success. The forty-six prints will be sold in one single lot. It is perhaps the first time that such a complete and rare set has been put up for sale (estimated at 1.4/1.8 million). Another landscape that inspired artists is the road to the Tokaido that linked Edo, the town of the shogun, to Kyoto, the town of the Emperor. It was lined with 53 stations, fords, inns, checkpoints, relays, etc., as well as the departure bridge at Edo and the arrival bridge at Kyoto, which was immortalised by Ando Hiroshige ( ). The son of a fire brigade officer at the court of the Shogun, he belonged to the same brigade and in this capacity accompanied official processions along this road. When he became an artist, in 1833, he devoted himself to landscapes. He travelled all over Japan bringing back numerous sketches that he used for his most famous series of prints: the Fifty-three Stations of Tokaido, the Sixty-nine Relays Along the Main Road of Kiso, the Eight Views of Omi and the Famous Places of the Capital of the East. The prints are in an excellent state of preservation with very fresh colours, and they are the most sought after series by Hiroshige. The series includes Kambara in the Snow depicting a peasant under an umbrella walking down a slope covered in snow while two others, protected by thick straw coats, are walking up (estimated at 45/55,000) and Rain on Shono (estimated at 15/20,000), both of them being masterpieces from the Fifty-three Stations of Tokaido. DRAWINGS The Berès Collection consists of about forty preparatory drawings printed

6 xylographically. They show the brush strokes of the artists disclosing their hesitations and changes of mind. It includes two fine drawings by Hokusai from the Henri Vever Collection. The first is a striking Warrior on a Rearing Horse in sumi and red ink on fine paper (estimated at 10/15,000). The other one is a Woman and Young Boy Crossing a Bridge, from around 1830 (estimated at 15/20,000). There are also two studies for the book One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji. The sale will also present a number of preparatory drawings by Hiroshige (11 lots) for the colour prints of the famous Tokaido series, and others from unpublished series, as well as a few harimaze-e (prints depicting several subjects). BOOKS AND ALBUMS FROM THE COLLECTION Another interesting facet of this collection also lies in the set of books and albums engraved on wood dating to the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries by classic artists and members of the ukiyo-e school. A particularly remarkable example is the very rare book by Katsuma Ryusui, Yama no sachi (Happiness of the Mountain), published in 1765 and devoted to flowers and insects poems (estimated at 24/28,000). Each picture is accompanied by a Haïku poem. Finally, one of the most sought after Japanese works, Soken Sekisatsu, was created by a remarkable artist, Ito Jakuchu, in Each illustration is of a white flower in ishizuri (relief technique), placed opposite a Chinese poem (estimated at 15/20,000). THE HUGUETTE BERÈS COLLECTION (230 LOTS) IS ESTIMATED AT BETWEEN 4.4/5.5 MILLION EXHIBITIONS New York: September 12-19, during Asia Week Tokyo: October London: November Paris: November SALE IN PARIS Wednesday, November 27 at am and 2.30 pm SOTHEBY S FRANCE - GALERIE CHARPENTIER 76 RUE DU FAUBOURG SAINT-HONORÉ PARIS

ARTH305 Guided Observation 3: Japanese Woodblock Prints

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