King Family Collection of Japanese Prints

September 18 – December 29, 2026

Newly gifted to the Zillman Art Museum are twenty-one Japanese color woodblock prints that date from the mid-1700s to the 1950s. Mokuhanga is the traditional Japanese woodblock technique which uses water-based inks to provide a wide range of vivid colors, glazes, and transparency. The oldest of the prints (c.1764-72) by Suzuki Harunobu is from the Edo Period (1603-1868). This type of woodblock print, ukiyo-e, flourished during the Edo. The word “ukiyo” translates to “floating world”, and these artworks illustrate lifestyle, pleasures, and the interests of the urban population. 

The illustrious Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) is represented by four prints in the King Family Collection. Hiroshige imbued landscape with lyricism by creating an aura of transient weather and activity. His artistry was celebrated by both Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh, who owned the artist’s woodblock prints.  

The largest grouping  of the King Family Collection is made up of seven artworks by Tsuchiya Kōitsu (1797-1858) of the Shin-hanga genre. Kōitsu’s work focused on landscapes and city scenes of highly saturated color with an emphasis on light and weather effects. The glowing radiance of warm tones in Yotsuya Araki Yokocho (translation: The Alley in Araki, Yotsuya) is complemented by the exquisite line-work that defines the teahouse. In Morning Rain at Lake Hakone, Kōitsu illuminates the scene more subtly to convey the atmospheric sense of soft light during a rainstorm.  

The Zillman Art Museum expresses its appreciation to Roger King and Laurie Hicks for their gracious donation of the 21 Japanese prints that have formed the Museum’s new King Family Collection of Japanese Prints. The prints were collected by Roger King’s grandparents, Frank Haviland King and Olga Rosaline (Opie) King.