01th July – 30 September 2018

Japanese Woodcuts from the Ernst Grosse Collection

Ethnologischen Sammlung des Museum Natur und Mensch im Haus der Graphischen Sammlung

Some hundred years ago, Japanese prints of the highest quality became part of the ethnological collection of the Museum Natur und Mensch.

An exhibition in the Haus der Graphischen Sammlung, curated by the East Asia specialist Hans Bjarne Thomsen from Zürich, now enables visitors to see these treasures for the first time. Among the approximately 60 works on display are prints by Hokusai und Hiroshige, and also rare pieces from the series of beautiful women from the 18th century. The works found their way into the Freiburg collections via the ethnologist Ernst Grosse, who taught at the university and worked at times as a curator of the municipal collections. Grosse was a close friend of Julius Bissier whose work is on display in a parallel exhibition in the exhibition hall of the Augustinermuseum.

Utagawa Kunisada, Dancing in the Bizenya from Furuichi in Ise (Ise Furuichi Bizenya odori no zu) © Städtische Museen Freiburg - Museum Natur und Mensch. Foto: Axel Killian