Gina Collia-Suzuki
Frightfully serious art historian and incredibly silly novelist

Gina Collia-Suzuki's Blog

RSS

Oct.21.2008

So why now? Or more importantly, why not then?

Recently I was asked why I'd not thought of writing a book about Japanese prints earlier, as it is clear to everyone who meets me that I am absolutely obsessed with them. In truth, the thought occurred many years ago, it's simply the case that the book did not follow. Before I explain why I chose...

Oct.21.2008

Missing masterpieces

Chrysanthemum Viewing in the Ninth Month

I recently bought a book called "Missing Masterpieces: Lost Works of Art 1450-1900". The masterpieces in question are all European works of art, but it made me think about the number of entries I come across in books and catalogues of Japanese prints which refer to the whereabouts of...

Oct.21.2008

Getting reacquainted...

I found myself, on this rainy grey afternoon, with an hour or so to kill, and little energy to do anything approaching real work. It's been a hectic few months and, ironically, whilst spending so much time writing about Japanese prints I haven't had much of an opportunity to simply sit back and...

Oct.21.2008

Images of Unknown Japan

Ôtani Oniji III playing the part of the servant Edohei

Whilst tidying up my bookshelves today, I came across an exhibition catalogue from 1988:Ukiyo-e, Images of Unknown Japan. The exhibition, held at the British Museum in London, was the first I'd ever attended. I can recall the month in which the visit took place (July), as it was arranged to...

Oct.20.2008

Getting a feel for Japanese prints

When I first became interested in Japanese prints I was a teenager, so I couldn't afford to go out and buy an Utamaro or Hokusai broadsheet, as much as I would have loved to. Initially I relied upon reference books to get a feel for the artists and their respective designs, learning as much as I...

Oct.20.2008

A passion for prints...

I was fifteen years old when I first encountered a Japanese woodblock print. It wasn't an actual print, it was a reproduction of one on the cover of a book... “Utamaro: Colour Prints and Paintings” by Jack Hillier. And I was at least fifteen feet from it at the time. If books had eyes, it would...

Continue Reading » 2 comments

About Gina

Gina Collia-Suzuki is a writer, artist and art historian based in the UK. Having developed a deep interest in eighteenth century Japanese art and culture at an early age, she began studying Japanese woodblock prints whilst training as an artist in the 1980s....

Read full bio »