RENEGADE EDO AND PARIS: JAPANESE PRINTS AND TOULOUSE-LAUTREC

at SAAM JULY 21 – DEC 3 2023

What do late 18th- to 19th-century Edo (present-day Tokyo) and late 19th-century Paris have in common? This exhibition, which can only be seen in Seattle, uncovers the shared renegade spirit that characterized the graphic arts and social cultures of these two dynamic cities. On view are over 90 Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints and paintings from SAM’s Japanese collection alongside private loans of works by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901). In addition to the intriguing formal and thematic parallels between these two collections of graphic arts, the exhibition reveals the social impulses behind their burgeoning art production. As both cities faced challenges to the status quo from the rising middle classes, subversive impulses gave rise to vibrant cultures of theatregoing, pleasure seeking, and new forms of visual art.

Renegade Edo and Paris marks the first time that the Seattle Asian Art Museum presents an exhibition comparing Japanese and French art. It is curated by Xiaojin Wu, Luther W. Brady Curator of Japanese Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, formerly Atsuhiko and Ina Goodwin Tateuchi Foundation Curator of Japanese and Korean Art at the Seattle Art Museum.