Der japanische Holzschnitt

William Merritt Chase's Der japanische Holzschnitt (The Japanese Woodblock Print, 1888) — whose German title suggests a Continental market or collector — belongs to his series of studio subjects depicting figures examining or surrounded by Japanese art objects. Chase was among the most active American collectors of Japanese art and prints in the 1880s; his Tenth Street Studio in New York was famous for its elaborate collection of Japanese and Oriental objects. These studio paintings participate in the broader Japonisme movement while specifically documenting the American engagement with Japanese visual culture.

Chase renders a figure examining a Japanese woodblock print with the bravura technique that made him the most admired American painter of his generation. The print itself — held or laid out for examination — would be rendered with the specific visual qualities of Japanese printmaking: flat areas of color, bold outlines, the distinctive surface of washi paper. The figure's absorbed concentration provides the compositional focus. His palette combines the warm tones of his studio with the specific, often brilliant colors of the Japanese print being examined.