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
Kabuki Actor with a Fan
Utagawa Kunisada
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
Fleeing from the Samurai
Keisai Eisen
Omori Hikoshichi from the series “New Forms of the Thirty-Six Ghosts”
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Gamo Sadahide's Servant, Toki Motosada, Hurling a Demon King to the Ground at Mount Inahana, from the series "New Forms of Thirty-Six Ghosts (Shinkei sanjuroku kaisen)"
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Heron Maiden from the series "New Forms of Thirty-Six Ghosts"
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
11 p.m., from the series "Twenty-Four Hours at Shinyanagi (Shinyanagi nijuyoji)"
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Four PM, from the series "Twenty-Four Hours in Shinbashi and Yanagibashi"
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
The Old Badger from the series "New Forms of Thirty-Six Ghosts"
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Oniwakamaru Observing the Great Carp in the Pond, from the series "New Forms of Thirty-Six Ghosts"
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Moon and Smoke (Enchu no tsuki), from the series "One Hundred Aspects of the Moon (Tsuki hyaku sugata)"
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
The Austerities of Saint Mongaku
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Supernatural Beings at Shirazunoyabu in Yawata
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Actor Ichikawa Danjuro VIII as Narihira at Yatsuhashi from "A Six-fold Screen of Famous Pictures (Meiga rokushi byobu)"
Utagawa Kuniyoshi
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