After three visits to "The Artist’s Touch, The Craftsman’s Hand: Three Centuries of Japanese Prints from the Portland Art Museum," I am ready to declare that this is the most exciting exhibit I have seen at the Portland Art Museum (PAM), and the competition has been stiff indeed. Moreover, three visits will not be enough for me, and may not be enough for you. If you have been thinking of becoming a member of the museum, entitling you to visit whenever you like, for as long as you like, now is a great time.

"The Artist’s Touch, The Craftsman’s Hand" is organized into 10 thematic sections — beginning with a wonderful timeline: "Endurance and Innovation" — with historical notes and representative prints from 1600 to the present. Well worth a long, slow perusal, this chronology provides not only a historical context for the works on display, but a preview of coming attractions.

Since space here does not allow for the thorough description each thematic section deserves, I will touch briefly on some personal favorites and let you look forward to the glorious surprise of the rest. "Kabuki in Print," the first large section, lends itself to its very own visit.

"The thing that surprised me as kabuki scholar," says Laurence Kominz, professor of Japanese language and literature at Portland State University, "is that there are so many prints from 1703 to the 1760s. Very few of these exist outside Japan. You the viewer can get a glimpse of an era you can’t see if you go to Chicago or Boston, where there are huge collections of Japanese prints."

Look for pairs throughout this section: an actor and a female fan of the actor, two different actors playing the same role, puppets and their handlers. Kabuki, which Dr. Kominz describes as the "Hollywood, pro-sports" of its time, is, above all, fun.

"Urban Pleasures and the Joys of Travel" includes perspective pictures of a Japanese department store and a noh performance in the mid-1700s, a startling 1884 view of one bridge from another bridge, and the snowclad, shockingly familiar Mount Rainier from a 1972 print.

In light of Japan’s recent earthquake and its terrible aftermath, "Two Views of Tokyo" may put a lump in your throat. One of the two series of prints on display in this section contains images of the aftermath of the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923.

An undamaged temple building seen in the distance through a tangle of wires and a tilting post, a tent hospital beneath the façade of what was a hospital building before the earthquake, and a scene of temporary refuge, including the name and address of the refugees and the name and age of another person for whom they are searching, are testaments to the arbitrary nature of disaster and the resilience of the human spirit.

"Art for Art’s Sake," featuring contemporary Japanese printmaking, is another section that deserves, and perhaps even demands, its very own visit. Coming at the end of "The Artist’s Touch, The Craftsman’s Hand" as it must, this collection of contemporary Japanese prints is worthy of far better attention than the fatigued visitor is likely to have available after looking so closely at so much beauty already. The work of three women depicting an Old Delhi mosque, a Tibetan monastery, and a "Corpse Princess" over a 50-year span is particularly arresting.

Perhaps the most remarkable facet of this astounding collection is how accessible it is. "Think of Edo-period Japan as one constant Star Trek convention," says Maribeth Graybill, the Arlene and Harold Schnitzer curator of Asian art and the primary genius behind "The Artist’s Touch, The Craftsman’s Hand." Maybe the reason these exotic works seem so familiar is that the collectors of these prints over the last four centuries have been, as Dr. Graybill describes them, "Urban, cosmopolitan, hip, with a little spare change. They’re like us."

You have until January 22, 2012 to witness it for yourself. Do not miss this show.

The Portland Art Museum is located at 1219 S.W. Park Avenue in Portland. To learn more, call (503) 226-2811 or visit <www.portlandartmuseum.org>.

* * *

"The Artist’s Touch, The Craftsman’s Hand: Three Centuries

of Japanese Prints from the Portland Art Museum"

On display through January 22

Portland Art Museum, 1219 S.W. Park Avenue, Portland

Upcoming events:

"Where Have All the Great Prints Gone?:

The Passionate Art of Collecting Japanese Ukiyo-e Prints"

December 1, 6:00pm

"Connoisseurship Workshop for Ukiyo-e Prints"

December 3, 1:30pm

"City and Countryside in Japanese Prints" guided tour

December 11, 3:00pm

* * *