In conclusion it may be well to specify briefly some of the qualities in the prints that appeal to people of taste. In the first place, there is the compelling charm of colour. Equally notable are excellence of composition, grace, beauty, and sweep of line, distinctive character, daringness of conception, and perfect balance of both line and mass. Collectively the prints furnish the clearest exemplification of the basic principles of design that the world has to offer. Nowhere else can we find so much accomplished with simple means. Technically, also, they fulfil every requirement. Considered merely as wood-engravings, they are of the first order of excellence. Though the drawing is seldom scientifically accurate, it is, nevertheless, of exquisite refinement and subtlety. In short, the best prints are creative works of very high order which amply justify our admiration because of their intrinsic merit. [KORYUSAI. Musume leaping from Temple Balcony.] KORYUSAI. Musume leaping from Temple Balcony. CATALOGUE OF A LOAN COLLECTION OF JAPANESE COLOUR-PRINTS THE JAPAN SOCIETY OF NEW YORK FIFTH AVENUE BUILDING. APRIL 19 TO MAY 19, 1911 INTRODUCTION The leading masters of the Ukiyoé school were a group of very great artists. The names of Kiyonaga, Harunobu, Okumura Masanobu, Utamaro, Hokusai, and Hiroshige belong in the category of those whose fame is world-wide. [SHUNSHO. Woman in Red.] SHUNSHO. Woman in Red. The finest of the colour-prints designed by these men and their fellow-artists are masterpieces of rare distinction. This does not mean that all of their works should be so classed. The method by which the prints were produced enabled the artists to turn them out rapidly, and many were made that were trivial in character. They served almost as many purposes in their time as engravings, etchings, lithographs, and the photographic process reproductions do with us to-day. Naturally they varied widely in merit and in quality. Many have been preserved, but the important prints by the greater artists are unfortunately very rare; few of them have survived the vicissitudes of time, and fewer still in good condition. The inception of the Ukiyoé school dates back to the early years of the seventeenth century, when a painter named Iwasa Matahei, departing from the traditional subjects of the painters of the classic schools, made pictures of dancing-girls and scenes of every-day life. The first prints were made about 1660 by Hishikawa Moronobu and were in simple black outline. They were sometimes coloured by hand with a few touches of colour roughly laid on, probably by the publisher’s assistants.