NEW YORK.- Coinciding with two major museum shows in New York, Joan B Mirviss Ltd presents Daring Visions - Prints of the Utagawa School, an exhibition of masterworks of woodblock prints on view from March 3 through May 2, 2008, at 39 East 78th Street. Many of the nineteenth century's most celebrated artists worked under the Utagawa name, and Daring Visions will present a wide range of prints and paintings that demonstrate the variety and dynamism that established the Utagawa school as a dominant creative force in the nineteenth century.

This exhibition runs concurrently with Designed for Pleasure: The World of Edo Japan in Prints and Paintings, 1680 - 1860 at the Asia Society and Utagawa: Masters of the Japanese Print, 1770-1900 at the Brooklyn Museum, which was curated by Joan B Mirviss LTD gallery director, Laura J. Mueller. “The Brooklyn Museum exhibition will present a groundbreaking look at the development of the Utagawa school through exceptional examples from the famous Van Vleck Collection of Japanese Prints, whose core works came from the private collection of Frank Lloyd Wright,� said Mueller. “Daring Visions will complement this important exhibition with rare and fine quality prints in superb condition by many of the same pioneering artists.�

The prolific Utagawa school was responsible for over half of all extant woodblock prints in the category of ukiyo-e, or 'pictures of the floating world,' and they left behind some of the most widely recognizable images in the field, including portraits of beautiful women by Utagawa Toyokuni (1769-1825), landscapes by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858), warrior prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861), and kabuki actor portraits by Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1864). Their compositions set the standards in the genre by incorporating innovative treatments of their subject matter and by utilizing deluxe printing techniques that showcased the amazing skill with which the Japanese approached the medium. Highlights of the exhibition include a striking field of iris by Utagawa Hiroshige from his celebrated series One-hundred Views of Edo, as well as a dramatic triptych printed with sparkling mica dust by Utagawa Kuniyoshi depicting a Japanese warrior hunting a giant boar.

Daring Visions will also show a small selection of exceptionally fine paintings by members of the school, including a hanging scroll by Utagawa Toyokuni of a courtesan robed in an exquisite black and metallic gold kimono with a spider web pattern. Another rare work is a fan painting by Utagawa Kunimaru (1794-1829) of the famed kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjuro VII (1791-1859) in one of his most popular stage roles. The exhibition Daring Visions - Prints of the Utagawa School will include an exceptional selection of prints and paintings that range in price from $650 to $32,000.