Paul Jacoulet
Born: Paris, 1902 (1896?) and died in Karuizawa, Japan 1960
Medium: Woodblock


Jacoulet spent almost his entire life in Japan, moving there as a young child in 1906. Always somewhat sickly and frail, he took leisurely jaunts throughout Asia to improve his health. As an artist from very young, Jacoulet sketched wherever he visited. He then began to make woodblock prints of the peoples of Asia, in the tradition of Ukiyo-e woodblocks. That is, he employed others to do both the carving and printing for his images. Unlike previous artists employing this collaborative approach, Jacoulet actually gave credit to his assistants, whose names are printed on the margins of each piece. During his career, he was able to create less than two hundred different editions of woodblock.

Jacoulet’s prints are known for their particularly rich use of color. He sometimes included embossed textures (gauffrage), metallic inks and powdered coral, mica or pearl in the imagery. Some works required more than three hundred separate printings to create the final image. Jacoulet would often only printed as many prints as he had subscribers for. As a result, many editions were not printed to the allotted three hundred and fifty prints. Always considered a rather unique eccentric, his fame and appreciation for these intricate woodblock prints has grown immensely since his death.

Selected Exhibits:
1937--Thomas Nickerson, Honolulu, Hawaii
1938--Ueno Museum, Tokyo
1939--Alliance Francaise, Yokohama
1940--Pan Pacific Club, Tokyo Vernet Club, Kobe
1950--Kenneth Brown, Beverly Hills
1951--Jones Gallery, Amherst, MA
1952--Brooklyn Public Library, NY The Asia Institute, New York
1953--La Jolla Art Center, California
1954--Dayton Art Institute, Ohio Boans Gallery, Perth, Australia
1956--Hameenlinna Taidemuseossa, Helsinki, Finland
1981--The Print Room, Sidney Australia
1982--Riccar Museum, Tokyo Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena

Selected Public Collections:
Art Museum of the Ateneum, Helsinki
Baltimore Museum of Art
British Museum, London
Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena
Seoul National Museum, Korea
Vatican Museum, Italy