Prints of Paul Jacoulet

Excerpt from the Foreword: Some 15 years ago, while browsing in an antique shop in Cape Town, South Africa, I came across a brightly colored, highly imaginative woodblock print vaguely reminiscent of a Japanese print. I asked the proprietor to tell me something about it and he answered my inquiries with, “That is by Paul Jacoulet, a Frenchman who lived in Tokyo and copied Japanese woodblock prints.” I remember thinking as I held it that it could not possibly be the copy of any known ukiyo-e print, and yet the techniques involved in producing it were obviously similar to those of Edo period Japan. The strongest impression was that it was freshly conceived and not in the least bit imitative. I was, at that time, and am still, a collector of classical Japanese prints. Because of prejudices ingrained by looking at the subtle colors and superb, but for the most part, somewhat safe designs of the older prints, it is difficult to look at the works of Paul Jacoulet without being disturbed,