Shin hanga

Shin hanga - The new prints of Japan (1900-1960)

The Shin hanga exhibition will feature no less than 220 Japanese prints from two private collections in the Netherlands, as well as sketches, studies and prints from the collection of the grandson of the publisher Watanabe. Next to these works, the visitors will find a selection of Shin hanga prints from the rich collection of the Art & History Museum.

The Shin hanga (literally « new prints ») art movement was a revival of traditional printmaking (ukiyo‑e) in the early 20th century. The publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō (1885-1962), noting the decline in xylographic production due to competition from new imported techniques such as photography and lithography, was the movement's greatest promoter. He gathered around him artists whose drawings were printed using traditional woodblock printing techniques.

While retaining classic themes such as landscapes, beautiful women (bijin), kabuki actors and flowers-and-birds, Shin hanga prints also reflect a modernizing Japan and seduce with a new aesthetic and an extremely high production quality.

Artists: Kawase Hasui, Itō Shinsui, Ohara Koson, Kasamatsu Shirō, Komura Settai, …

This exhibition is a logical follow-up to the major Ukiyo-e exhibition held at the Museum in 2016‑2017. It takes up the history of traditional printmaking in Japan where the 2016 exhibition ended.

For the exhibition, the museum cooperates with guest curator Chris Uhlenbeck. 

Slow looking
The exhibition comes with a visitor guide giving more information about the prints on display. In addition, we carefully selected ten prints where we invite you to slow down and look a little longer. Take your time, pause and enjoy. 

For families with children aged 8 and over
We offer an active discovery trail: look at the details in the booklet and find the matching prints in the exhibition. Read on to find out more about the Japanese prints and how they were made. Search, look, think, do, and of course: have fun! Ask for your booklet at the reception desk.

Entrance fees
€ 16: adults (19-64 years)
€ 12:65 +, card Fed+, Attractions et Tourisme, Riebedebie
€ 6: Students with valid student card; People with disabilities and escort; Job seekers and integration income beneficiaries; Belgian school teachers; guides of the City of Brussels
Free: 0-18 years; on presentation of a museumPASSmusées, journalists on presentation of a valid press pass
€ 35: catalogue of the exhibition on sale in the museumshop

Opening hours
Tu - Fr : 9.30 am - 5 pm
Sa - Su : 10 am - 5 pm
Closed on Mondays, 1/1, 1/11, 25/12 and 1/1