Museum Ludwig Presents Felice Beato's Handcolored Photographs of Bygone Japan

Among many other things, photography allowed people to get an insight into different, foreign cultures that were barely familiar to the Western world for a very long time. Thanks to the avid practitioners who explored a specific environment through their lens, both tradition and everyday life became subjects that informed what was considered back then as exotic.

Felice Beato, an Italian- British photographer, was the man responsible for showcasing Japan in all of its cultural glory. He is celebrated for his portraits, cityscapes and landscapes of Asia and the Mediterranean region, and his images of war. During his extensive travels, Beato captured numerous photos depicting people and events unfamiliar to most people in Europe and North America.

This month, a selection of hand-coloured photographs Beato made in Japan will be presented at the Ludwig Museum in an exhibition titled Voiceover: Felice Beato in Japan.

The Story of Felice Beato

After visiting India and China, Felice Beato travelled to Japan in 1863. This was a period when the country started opening up to the West while going through a significant social transformation from the feudal system of the Edo period (1603–1868) to the imperial Meiji era (1868–1912). He joined Charles Wirgman, with whom he had travelled from Bombay to Hong Kong, and the two men established a partnership called Beato & Wirgman, Artists and Photographers. Their business was active between 1864 and 1867 and was one of Japan's earliest and most commercial studios in Japan.

Thanks to his connection with the British army, Beato could reach parts of the country where very few Westerners had ever set foot. By 1870, the sale of his images increased, so he could keep the business going. In 1872, the photographer hired two assistants, four photographers, and four colourists, and ran a studio in the port city of Yokohama until 1884. Although the production was very commercial, each photograph was unique. 

The First Images of Japan

The people could purchase hand-coloured albumen prints mounted on cardboard individually or, on request, as part of the albums with explanatory texts. Beato's early photographs of Japan were coloured by his partner Charles Wirgman. Still, the later ones were colored by his Japanese studio employees trained in colored woodcuts or calligraphy.

Beato's pictures feature people conducting different activities, most often in front of the arranged setting of a photography studio and occasionally outside. The models were usually hired and then costumed to portray dancers or musicians.

Felice Beato at the Museum Ludwig

Curated by Miriam Szwast and Meike Deilmann, the upcoming exhibition will showcase the colored prints alongside woodcuts by the 19th century Japanese artists and pre-recorded spoken commentary by Japanese people today. All the photographs and albums are part of the collection of photojournalist Robert Lebeck which was gifted to the Museum Ludwig in 1993.

The exhibition Voiceover: Felice Beato in Japan will be on view at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne from February 19th through June 16th, 2022.

Featured image: Felice Beato - Dancers, around 1870. Albumen print, hand-colored 19.7 x 25.3 cm. Museum Ludwig, Cologne. Photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv Cologne.