During the closing decades of the nine-teenth century, Japan's leaders strove to establish their country as an important member of the global community through an ambitious modernization program. A national postal system was introduced in the 1870s and by the first few years of the 1900s the postcard had became a highly popular graphic medium. Its novelty, intimacy and immediacy inspired many well-known Japanese artists to create innovative com-positions that often synthesized new West-ern and traditional Japanese sensibilities.

Essays by Kendall H. Brown, Leonard A. Lauder, Anne Nishimura Morse,and J.Thomas Rimer, with a note on printing techniques by Joan Wright.From the late 19th to the early 20th century, Japan was a vital world center for postcard art. More than just casual mail pieces, these post-cards were often designed by promi-nent artists and had a visual impactthat belied their modest format.Remarkably beautiful examples of graphic design in their own right,they also recorded the shifting definitions of'East' and 'West' at a time when such European currents as Art Nouveau began to show up in Japanese visual productions.Art of the Japanese Postcard presents 300 full-color examples of these cards, culled from the vast Leonard A. Lauder Collection.They are astonishing not only for their beauty and the quality of their printing, but also for the insight they provide into contemporary Japanese artistic practices - insights not relayed in standard histories that focus on painting and sculpture - as well as for the fluid interplay of European and Japanese modes. Authoritative essays by leading scholars of Japanese art and culture, plus a statement by the collector himself,highlight the design, development,and cultural function of these rarely studied, but highly influential and visually exciting, expressions of graphic genius.

DIRECTOR'S FOREWORD  MALCOLM ROGERS   

COLLECTOR'S PREFACE  LEONARD A. LAUDER    

NOTE TO THE READER    

ART OFTHE JAPANESE POSTCARD  ANNE NISHIMURA MORSE   

AN OPENING INTO A WIDER WORLD  J.THOMAS RIMER    

POSTCARDS, COMMERCE, AND CREATIVITY IN JAPAN, 1904-1940

           KENDALL H. BROWN    

CATALOGUE  POSTCARD HISTORY    

           THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR    

           ARTIST CARDS    

           ART NOUVEAU    

           ART DECO    

           THE WORLD OF HUMOR    

           ADVERTISING    

           NEW YEAR'S GREETINGS    

POSTCARDS OBSERVED: NOTES ON PRINTING TECHNIQUES

           JOAN WRIGHT   

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

           ANNE NISHIMURA MORSE AND TOMOKO OKAMURA    

ARTISTS' BIOGRAPHIES  TOMOKO OKAMURA   

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS