Japan on Paper in Dresden

Japan on Papier in Dresden. Utamaro, Hokusai, Hiroshige and the Modern Graphic Art

The outstanding Japanese collection of the Kupferstich-Kabinett of the State Art Collections Dresden (SKD) is at the center of a research project carried out in collaboration with colleagues from Japan, Switzerland, and Germany, running until 2026. The goals are to catalogue and put the extensive collection online, as well as to present and communicate it in an exhibition aimed at both an international audience and specialists.

Project for cataloguing the collection of Japanese works at the Dresden Kupferstich-Kabinett

With the intention of going beyond the usual presentation of just well-known highlights in the exhibition 'Japan on Paper in Dresden. Utamaro, Hokusai, Hiroshige and Modern Graphic Art' we have succeeded in developing new perspectives on the collection by digitizing and cataloguing the entire collection of over 10,000 works. For the exhibition, a small group of around 150 Japanese works were selected. These then formed an initial group of works from the collection to be researched and presented to the public. The problematic conditions mainly of the prints shown in the exhibition were conserved by our restoration studio.

An initial digital inventory was created in 2012/13 as part of the database project 'Daphne' of the SKD.

Most of the works have been digitized since 2014 in a close collaboration with Prof. Ryo Akama from Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto. The Japanese language metadata from this survey has been recorded in the Ritsumeikan University's database.

From 2023 to 2025, the Ishibashi Foundation has generously supported the processing of datasets in the museum database with the goal of making them fully available to the public and researchers on the SKD's online database collection.

The processing of the data in the database experienced a several-month delay due to a cyberattack on the SKD in January 2026.

On September 5, 2026, more than 11,500 data records were put online. The total collection is now largely complete and can be accessed online with images.

The entire collection, which also includes bound books and multi-part works, both of which have been recorded page by page, is being further supplemented with a small number of outstanding items. As a result, the database is constantly undergoing revision. Since there is no standardized German translation of titles, Japanese series and/or page titles are inserted in order to allow a clear identification or assignment of the works. This revision is an ongoing process, during which the data and image files remain accessible online.  Changes include certain IT processing processes, such as the occasional need to adjust inventory numbers. We are still working on the technical requirements needed to create an English version of the online collection.  In addition, we are also planning to add additional comments to selected works in the collection.

Access to an advanced search of the SKD online collection can be provided by entering

Museum: 'Kupferstich-Kabinett' – Ort (location): 'Japan'

The results can be filtered by adding categories such as artist names under 'Person.'  When clicking on the images, they will expand and give access to further information.

The online comments in the data view will gradually be supplemented with additional details.

Duration

September 2023 - December 2026

Editorial team SKD

Dr. Petra Kuhlmann-Hodick, project head
Liliane Wiblishauser M.A., project assistant
Susann Krüger M.A., collection management
supported by the staff of the restoration workshop Mayumi Nishikawa and Olaf Simon, as well as by Angela Rietschel, photo clerk, Angelika Kobel, volunteer in the study room, and Mia Wirkner, intern

Support from the Ishibashi Foundation 2023–2025

Thanks to the generous support of the Ishibashi Foundation, it was possible to hire a skilled external team, who could focus on specific areas of the collection:  
Prof. em. Dr. Hans Bjarne Thomsen, Zurich University (Processing of woodcuts acquired before 1937, the estate of Singer acquired in 1957, as well as selected thematic groups of works from the model collection of the former Dresden School of Applied Arts transferred in the 1960s)
Dr. des. Sabine Bradel, Waseda University, Tokyo (Processing of the works from the estate of Johann Friedrich Lahmann, of the bound woodcut books and the newly rediscovered triptychs from the model collection of the former Dresden School of Applied Arts)
Saskia Goldschmid, M.A., Zurich University (processing selected works from the model collection of the former Dresden School of Applied Arts)
Olivia Nagorski, M.A., Berlin (processing selected works from the model collection of the former Dresden School of Applied Arts)

In 2023/24 the grant by the Ishibashi foundation included a subside to the database-work of Liliane Wiblishauser.

You'll find the report on the exhibition project here shortly.