Japanese Paintings in Canadian Collections

Virginia Gillham is Associate Librarian in the Public Service Library at
the University of Guelph.

This catalogue is a particularly informative treatment of a particularly lovely school of art, Japanese painting. What a shame that not a single one of the 107 reproductions is in colour.

In 1982, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria organized an exhibit of Chinese Paintings in Canadian Collections. This proved to be so popular that a sequel, Japanese Paintings in Canadian Collections, was organized in 1983.

Included in the exhibition and in this catalogue are the collection of Japanese paintings belonging to the Art Gallery of Greater Vancouver (the finest of its kind in Canada), plus many items on loan from other Canadian galleries and private collections.

The text of the catalogue begins with a statement of the essential characteristics of Japanese painting. This is followed by a fairly lengthy treatment of its history by period, beginning with pre-historic art prior to the sixth century B.C. and working forward to the Edo period (1615-1868). A 39-item bibliography, including a significant representation of Japanese authors, completes this section of the catalogue.

The list of works is organized by school (the same order in which the reproductions are arranged). Each entry includes a descriptive citation giving artist, title, period, size, medium, and source/owner. This is followed, in each case, by a lengthy, detailed paragraph explaining the painting and setting it into context by school and period.

More than half of the catalogue is devoted to the reproductions, frequently two or three to the page. There is, of course, no solution to the problem of cost versus colour reproductions, but the reader mourns the loss of detail and nuance.