Paul Jacoulet Original Woodblock Prints

Paul Jacoulet's art is a unique synthesis of the traditions of the two great artistic cultures of Japan and France.  While born in Paris, his family moved to Japan when he was six.  It was a time when Japan was still ruled by the Imperial Court and the Emperor revered as a god.  Living in an elite neighborhood in Tokyo, he attended fine Japanese private schools, becoming fluent in Japanese, French and English. Jacoulet self published many of his prints and worked with the most skilled woodblock carvers and printers of the day.  He spared no expense in using the best quality materials, papers and pigments, including silver and gold, mica and other precious elements.  Thus, his prints have a unique beauty and have survived the passage of time much better than many woodblock prints due to the quality of materials used.  His exacting standards caused many prints to be destroyed and his lifetime output is generally thought to be about 166 prints, though he made many thousands of drawings and paintings.  Many illustrious people and museums collected his work including General MacArthur, Queen Elizabeth II, Greta Garbo, Pope Pius X1, President Truman, the British Museum and the Asia Pacific Museum. Today, it is widely revered, hard to find, as the editions were relatively small, and highly prized and collected.

Each print measures approximately 14 inches by 18 inches. The high quality paper is in excellent condition, with very little of the toning so often seen and the rich, vibrant colouring so typical of his work. The notch cut in the corner of the paper represents a registration cut for aligning the paper during printing. The verso contains either the print's edition number stamp or the elaborate PJ stamp.