The Triptych Format in Japanese Prints

This exhibition focuses on three-paneled (triptych) woodblock prints made in Japan during the 1800s. Toward the end of the 1700s, artists had begun combining two or more sheets of paper to expand the surface area available for their compositions. Each section was printed separately, then the sheets were aligned. This resulted in a more sweeping design that suited panoramic landscapes and elaborate figural arrangements.

Many artists employed this more expansive format to add drama to shallow, stage-like settings depicting stories from literature or rituals, or to landscapes and architecturally framed scenes with receding space. Landscapes were not common subject matter in Japanese prints until the 1800s, and they worked particularly well on the grander scale of the triptych. The very striking and powerful designs on display here demonstrate how Japanese printmakers continually revitalized their tradition through innovations in format and composition.

Abby Aldrich Rockefeller (1874-1948), a daughter of Rhode Island senator Nelson W. Aldrich and the wife of John D. Rockefeller, Jr, was a lifelong supporter of the arts. Mrs. Rockefeller assembled a remarkable collection of Asian woodblock prints, donating more than 700 Japanese prints to the RISD Museum. Architect Philip Johnson was commissioned in 1952 by Mrs. Rockefeller’s sons, Nelson and David, and her sister, Lucy Truman Aldrich, to design a room for the continuous exhibition of Japanese prints at the Museum. Originally located on the east side of this floor, the room has been recreated here to Johnson’s specifications.

We are grateful to Deborah Del Gais, former RISD Museum curator of Asian art, for her research on the prints displayed here.