|
Paul
Jacoulet's art is a unique synthesis of the traditions
of the two great artistic cultures of Japan and France.
While born in Paris, his family moved to Japan
when he was six.
It was a time when Japan was still ruled by the
Imperial Court and the Emperor revered as a god.
Living in an elite neighborhood in Tokyo, he
attended fine Japanese private schools, becoming fluent
in Japanese, French and English. Jacoulet self published many of his prints and worked
with the most skilled woodblock carvers and printers of
the day. He
spared no expense in using the best quality materials,
papers and pigments, including silver and gold,
mica and other precious elements.
Thus, his prints have a unique beauty and have
survived the passage of time much better than many
woodblock prints due to the quality of materials used.
His exacting standards caused many prints to be
destroyed and his lifetime output is generally thought
to be about 166 prints, though he made many thousands of
drawings and paintings. Many
illustrious people and museums collected his work
including General MacArthur, Queen Elizabeth II, Greta
Garbo, Pope Pius X1, President Truman, the British
Museum and the Asia Pacific Museum. Today, it is widely revered, hard to find, as the
editions were relatively small, and highly prized and
collected.
Each
print measures approximately 14 inches by 18 inches. The
high quality paper is in excellent condition, with very
little of the toning so often seen and the rich, vibrant colouring so typical of his work. The
notch cut in the corner of the paper represents a
registration cut for aligning the paper during printing.
The verso contains either the print's edition number
stamp or the elaborate PJ stamp.
|
