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Paper short abstract:

Through a close reading of Hillier’s major publications on the illustrated book in early modern Japan, and surveys of the collections he helped form, I will seek to define Hillier’s approach to this vast body of material, delineate his 'ideal collection’, and assess his contribution to the field.

Paper long abstract:

The English scholar, connoisseur and collector Jack Hillier put the appreciation of Japanese illustrated books on a new footing with his publications of the 1970s and 1980s: The uninhibited brush: Japanese art in the Shijō style (London: H.M. Moss, 1974); The art of Hokusai in book illustration (London: Sotheby Parke Bernet and Berkley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1980), Japanese prints: 300 years of albums and books (with Lawrence Smith, London: British Museum Publications Ltd., 1980); the massive two-volume The art of the Japanese book (London: Sotheby’s Publications, 1987); and his last publication, The Japanese picture book: a selection from the Ravicz collection (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1991). Through his publications, he not only alerted us to the rich store of images that lay between the pliant covers of these woodblock-printed books, he also brought the work of artists of the Maruyama-Shijō school to a wider audience, and unapologetically treated explicit erotica as a significant facet of the art of the book in Japan.

In parallel with his publications, Hillier assembled an important personal collection of Japanese books. The British Museum’s acquisition of his collection in 1979 materially enhanced its holdings. At the same time, Hillier advised three outstanding private collectors—Gerhard Pulverer, Chester Beatty, and Robert Ravicz—in the formation of their collections. Those collections now rest in the National Museum of Asian Art (Washington), the Chester Beatty Library (Dublin), and the Chiba City Museum respectively.

Hillier's wide-ranging, richly illustrated and fluently written monographs, and the presence in public institutions on three continents of the four collections he helped shape, has guaranteed his continued influence on our understanding of the illustrated book in early modern Japan.

On the basis many days spent—over four decades—working with each of the four collections mentioned above, coupled with the close reading of Hillier's publications, I will seek to define his approach to this vast body of material, delineate his 'ideal collection’ and assess his lasting contribution to Japanese art history and the history of the book in early modern Japan.