Japanese engravings from the Abbey of Montserrat

In the mid-19th century, the commercial opening of Japan to the West cast a fascination for Japanese culture that was an important component of our Modernisme. Santiago Rusiñol was a collector of Japanese prints.

The collection of Japanese prints at the Museum of Montserrat comes from the donation of the Paris-based Catalan librarian Just Cabot (1898-1961), who came to Montserrat in 1962. It consists of sixteen engravings, eight of which are by Hiroshige, the Velázquez of Japanese art. The other eight are by artists of lesser status but of great interest. They all date from the 18th and 19th centuries, the golden age of Japanese printmaking.

They are prints of the Ukiyo-e style, which means ‘painting of the floating world’, a school which takes pleasure in representing scenes of everyday life, women known for their beauty or popularity, kabuki theatre actors, but also typical and popular landscapes and still the social life of the city of Edo which attracted a multitude of artists dedicated mainly to singing the delights of the good life of the wealthy merchants.

It is unusual to find in the West, and much less so in our country, large collections of Japanese prints, which is why the one at Montserrat Abbey is particularly interesting.
It is rare to find large collections of Japanese prints in the West, and even less so in our country, which is why the one at the Abbey of Montserrat is particularly interesting.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)