Helen Frankenthaler | Tales of GenjiInspired by Murasaki Shikibu's classic narrative work & the Japanese Ukiyo-e tradition

American painter and printmaker, Helen Frankenthaler (1928-) returned to the oldest form of printmaking, woodcut, to create her famous series of prints, Tales of Genji. Appropriately for the series title, Frankenthaler, chose a romance about the passionate meanderings of an emperor's son in Heiam Japan, a unique tribute to what many consider to be the world's first novel. The Tales of Genji, written by a court lady known as Murasaki Shikibu in the 11th century, has inspired innumerable ukiyo-e woodcuts since it was written. However, these prints have distinctly stepped outside the ukiyo-e tradition and beyond what Frankenthaler has already achieve in her past woodblock editions.



Tales of Genji I, 1998
Thirty-three color woodcut from 11 woodblocks on light sienna TGL handmade paper
42" x 47"
Edition of 30, 12 Artist Proofs





Tales of Genji II, 1998
Forty-one-color woodcut from 14 woodblocks on pale orange TGL handmade paper
47" x 42"
Edition of 35, 12 Artist Proofs





Tales of Genji III, 1998
Fifty-three color woodcut from 18 woodblocks and 2 stencils on gray TGL handmade paper
47" x 42"
Edition of 36, 14 Artist's proofs





Helen Frankenthaler
Tales of Genji IV, 1998
Collage
47" x 42"
Edition of 30, 12 Artist Proofs





Tales of Genji V, 1998
Forty-eight color woodcut from 21 woodblocks and one stencil on rust TGL handmade paper
42" x 47"
Edition of 36, 14 Artist Proofs





Tales of Genji VI, 1998
Thirty-five color woodcut from 14 woodblocks and one stencil on tan TGL handmade paper
47" x 42"
Edition of 35, 14 Artist Proofs


* Frankenthaler: The Woodcuts (Helen Frankenthaler) (Hardcover)
by Judith Goldman (Author), Myra Janco Daniels (Author), Suzanne Boorsch (Author)

* Some images taken from Against the Grain : Helen Frankenthaler Woodcuts

* Some text taken from "Notes on Tales of Geji" by Kenneth E. Tyler of Tyler Graphics, LTD, New York