October 23 – 25, 2026 – The 2026 Chicago Rare Book Fair will bring together some of the finest rare print and book dealers from around the country. Please join us for a weekend of fun, education, and entertainment at the historic... Continue reading
The Verne Collection of contemporary Japanese prints and paintings was established in 1953 when my parents lived in Japan for two years. In the beginning we specialized in ukiyo-e (floating world prints). The collection began to grow and included works from such well known and respected Japanese artists such as Utamaro, Hiroshige, Hokusai, Kunisada, Yoshitoshi and other important Japanese printmakers from the 18th and 19th century.
With the help of contemporary Japanese print experts like Oliver Statler, Frances Blakemore, Yuji Abe and Norman Tolman, the collection grew to include sosaku hanga and contemporary Japanese prints. Artists such as Koshiro Onchi, Shiko Munakata, Kiyoshi Saito, Umetaro Azechi, Ryohei Tanaka, Katsunori Hamanishi, Toko Shinoda and many others were added from the 1960’s to the present. The shin hanga artists like Kawase Hasui, Ito Shinsui, Torii Kotondo, Hashiguchi Goyo, and Hiroshi Yoshida would become an important part of the Verne Gallery in the 1980’s.