Ukiyo-e
1603-1912
Ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") is a Japanese art genre of woodblock prints and paintings depicting the pleasure quarters, kabuki actors, landscapes, and everyday life of the Edo period.
Historical Context
Ukiyo-e emerged during Japan's peaceful Edo period when a wealthy merchant class sought depictions of urban pleasures. These affordable prints profoundly influenced Western Impressionists and Post-Impressionists who encountered them in the late 19th century.
Key Characteristics
- •Flat areas of bold color
- •Strong outlines and decorative patterns
- •Asymmetrical compositions
- •Depictions of courtesans, actors, and landscapes
- •Mass production through woodblock printing
- •Seasonal and ephemeral subjects
Notable Ukiyo-e Artists
Ukiyo-e Artworks
Evening Snow (Bo-setsu), from the series, "Eight Figural Views" (Sugata Hakkei)
Utagawa Kunisada
Edo meisho|Famous Sites of Edo
Katsushika Hokusai
木曽海道六拾九次之内 軽井沢|Karuizawa
Utagawa Hiroshige|Keisai Eisen
Fleeing from the Samurai
Keisai Eisen
Backward-viewing Falls, One of the Three Waterfalls (Urami-ga-taki, santaki no sono ikkei), from the series "Famous Scenic Spots in the Mountains of Nikko (Nikkosan meisho no uchi)"
Keisai Eisen
Sunrise Over Mountain Village in Winter
Keisai Eisen
Kabuki Actor with a Fan
Utagawa Kunisada
Feeling Warm
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Teasing the Cat
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Waking Up: A Girl of the Kōka Era (1844–1848)
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
月百姿 - 煙中月|Moon in the Flame from the Series One Hundred Images of the Moon (Tsuki hyaku sugata-enchūgetsu)
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
新柳二十四時 午前十二時|Twenty-Four Hours at Shinbashi/Yanagibashi: 12 Noon. (Shinyanagi nijūyo-ji, gozen jūni-ji)
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
官女ステーション着車図|Illustration of Ladies-in-waiting boarding at a station (Kanjo sutēshon chakusha zu)
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
見立多以尽 - 洋行がしたい|Collection of Desires, Wish for Foreign Travel (Mitate Tai zukushi-yōkō ga shitai)
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Police Superintendant's Party: A Gift of Food and Drink
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
皇国一新見聞誌|Chronicle of the Imperial Restoration (Kōkoku isshin kenbunshi)
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
郵便報知新聞 645号|Postal Hōchi Newspaper no. 645, Englishman raping a wine shopkeeper's daughter (Yūbin Hōchi shinbun, roppyaku yonjū gogō)
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
東錦浮世稿談－幡随院長兵衛|Banzuiin Chōbei, from the series Story of Brocades of the East in the Floating World (Azuma no hana ukiyo kōdan - Banzuiin Chōbei)
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Fifty-three Stations of Suehiro: Warrior Looks at Passing Steamship
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Kurahashi Densuke Kiyohara Takeyuki
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
新柳二十四時 午前十二時|Twenty-Four Hours at Shinbashi/Yanagibashi: 12 Noon. (Shinyanagi nijūyo-ji, gozen jūni-ji)
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Tanmeijirō Genshōgo Fighting Under Water
Utagawa Kuniyoshi
The Poet's Cabin in Tatsumi
Utagawa Kuniyoshi
二十四孝童子鑑 楊香|Yang Xiang (Yō Kō), from the series A Child’s Mirror of the Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety (Nijūshi kō dōji kagami)
Utagawa Kuniyoshi