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Ukiyo-e[a] is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the feckin' 17th through 19th centuries. Right so. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk tales; travel scenes and landscapes; flora and fauna; and erotica, would ye believe it? The term ukiyo-e (浮世絵) translates as "picture[s] of the oul' floatin' world".
In 1603, the oul' city of Edo (Tokyo) became the seat of the oul' rulin' Tokugawa shogunate. Stop the lights! The chōnin class (merchants, craftsmen and workers), positioned at the feckin' bottom of the social order, benefited the most from the feckin' city's rapid economic growth, and began to indulge in and patronise the entertainment of kabuki theatre, geisha, and courtesans of the bleedin' pleasure districts; the feckin' term ukiyo ("floatin' world") came to describe this hedonistic lifestyle. Printed or painted ukiyo-e works were popular with the bleedin' chōnin class, who had become wealthy enough to afford to decorate their homes with them.
The earliest ukiyo-e works emerged in the feckin' 1670s, with Hishikawa Moronobu's paintings and monochromatic prints of beautiful women, would ye swally that? Colour prints were introduced gradually, and at first were only used for special commissions. By the bleedin' 1740s, artists such as Okumura Masanobu used multiple woodblocks to print areas of colour. C'mere til I tell ya. In the oul' 1760s, the bleedin' success of Suzuki Harunobu's "brocade prints" led to full-colour production becomin' standard, with ten or more blocks used to create each print. Whisht now and eist liom. Some ukiyo-e artists specialized in makin' paintings, but most works were prints. C'mere til I tell yiz. Artists rarely carved their own woodblocks for printin'; rather, production was divided between the oul' artist, who designed the oul' prints, the bleedin' carver, who cut the bleedin' woodblocks, the oul' printer, who inked and pressed the woodblocks onto handmade paper, and the feckin' publisher, who financed, promoted, and distributed the feckin' works, game ball! As printin' was done by hand, printers were able to achieve effects impractical with machines, such as the feckin' blendin' or gradation of colours on the printin' block.
Specialists have prized the oul' portraits of beauties and actors by masters such as Torii Kiyonaga, Utamaro, and Sharaku that came in the late 18th century. The 19th century also saw the bleedin' continuation of masters of the bleedin' ukiyo-e tradition, with the oul' creation of the oul' artist Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa, one of the feckin' most well-known works of Japanese art, and the bleedin' artist Hiroshige's The Fifty-three Stations of the oul' Tōkaidō. C'mere til I tell ya now. Followin' the deaths of these two masters, and against the feckin' technological and social modernization that followed the oul' Meiji Restoration of 1868, ukiyo-e production went into steep decline. Jaykers! However, the bleedin' 20th century saw a revival in Japanese printmakin': the shin-hanga ("new prints") genre capitalized on Western interest in prints of traditional Japanese scenes, and the sōsaku-hanga ("creative prints") movement promoted individualist works designed, carved, and printed by a holy single artist. Prints since the feckin' late 20th century have continued in an individualist vein, often made with techniques imported from the oul' West.
Ukiyo-e was central to formin' the oul' West's perception of Japanese art in the feckin' late 19th century, particularly the bleedin' landscapes of Hokusai and Hiroshige. From the bleedin' 1870s onwards, Japonisme became an oul' prominent trend and had a holy strong influence on the feckin' early Impressionists such as Edgar Degas, Édouard Manet and Claude Monet, as well as havin' an impact on Post-Impressionists such as Vincent van Gogh, and Art Nouveau artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
Japanese art since the feckin' Heian period (794–1185) had followed two principal paths: the nativist Yamato-e tradition, focusin' on Japanese themes, best known by the works of the feckin' Tosa school; and Chinese-inspired kara-e in a variety of styles, such as the feckin' monochromatic ink wash paintings of Sesshū Tōyō and his disciples. The Kanō school of paintin' incorporated features of both.
Since antiquity, Japanese art had found patrons in the feckin' aristocracy, military governments, and religious authorities. Until the bleedin' 16th century, the bleedin' lives of the common people had not been an oul' main subject of paintin', and even when they were included, the feckin' works were luxury items made for the bleedin' rulin' samurai and rich merchant classes. Later works appeared by and for townspeople, includin' inexpensive monochromatic paintings of female beauties and scenes of the oul' theatre and pleasure districts. The hand-produced nature of these shikomi-e[b] limited the oul' scale of their production, a feckin' limit that was soon overcome by genres that turned to mass-produced woodblock printin'.
Durin' an oul' prolonged period of civil war in the 16th century, a feckin' class of politically powerful merchants developed. G'wan now. These machishū, the predecessors of the bleedin' Edo period's chōnin, allied themselves with the bleedin' court and had power over local communities; their patronage of the bleedin' arts encouraged a revival in the bleedin' classical arts in the oul' late 16th and early 17th centuries. In the bleedin' early 17th century, Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616) unified the bleedin' country and was appointed shōgun with supreme power over Japan. He consolidated his government in the feckin' village of Edo (modern Tokyo), and required the bleedin' territorial lords to assemble there in alternate years with their entourages. Here's another quare one. The demands of the oul' growin' capital drew many male labourers from the oul' country, so that males came to make up nearly seventy percent of the oul' population. The village grew durin' the oul' Edo period (1603–1867) from an oul' population of 1800 to over an oul' million in the oul' 19th century.
The centralized shogunate put an end to the bleedin' power of the feckin' machishū and divided the feckin' population into four social classes, with the rulin' samurai class at the feckin' top and the merchant class at the oul' bottom, the cute hoor. While deprived of their political influence, those of the bleedin' merchant class most benefited from the feckin' rapidly expandin' economy of the oul' Edo period, and their improved lot allowed for leisure that many sought in the pleasure districts—in particular Yoshiwara in Edo—and collectin' artworks to decorate their homes, which in earlier times had been well beyond their financial means. The experience of the oul' pleasure quarters was open to those of sufficient wealth, manners, and education.
Woodblock printin' in Japan traces back to the bleedin' Hyakumantō Darani in 770 CE. Holy blatherin' Joseph, listen to this. Until the oul' 17th century, such printin' was reserved for Buddhist seals and images. Movable type appeared around 1600, but as the bleedin' Japanese writin' system required about 100,000 type pieces, hand-carvin' text onto woodblocks was more efficient, the shitehawk. In Saga Domain, calligrapher Hon'ami Kōetsu and publisher Suminokura Soan combined printed text and images in an adaptation of The Tales of Ise (1608) and other works of literature. Durin' the Kan'ei era (1624–1643) illustrated books of folk tales called tanrokubon ("orange-green books") were the bleedin' first books mass-produced usin' woodblock printin'. Woodblock imagery continued to evolve as illustrations to the oul' kanazōshi genre of tales of hedonistic urban life in the new capital. The rebuildin' of Edo followin' the oul' Great Fire of Meireki in 1657 occasioned a feckin' modernization of the oul' city, and the publication of illustrated printed books flourished in the bleedin' rapidly urbanizin' environment.
The term "ukiyo",[c] which can be translated as "floatin' world", was homophonous with an ancient Buddhist term signifyin' "this world of sorrow and grief".[d] The newer term at times was used to mean "erotic" or "stylish", among other meanings, and came to describe the hedonistic spirit of the bleedin' time for the bleedin' lower classes. Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Asai Ryōi celebrated this spirit in the bleedin' novel Ukiyo Monogatari ("Tales of the oul' Floatin' World", c. 1661):
"livin' only for the bleedin' moment, savourin' the bleedin' moon, the oul' snow, the oul' cherry blossoms, and the oul' maple leaves, singin' songs, drinkin' sake, and divertin' oneself just in floatin', unconcerned by the prospect of imminent poverty, buoyant and carefree, like a gourd carried along with the oul' river current: this is what we call ukiyo."
Emergence of ukiyo-e (late 17th – early 18th centuries)
The earliest ukiyo-e artists came from the feckin' world of Japanese paintin'. Yamato-e paintin' of the feckin' 17th century had developed a style of outlined forms which allowed inks to be dripped on a bleedin' wet surface and spread out towards the feckin' outlines—this outlinin' of forms was to become the bleedin' dominant style of ukiyo-e.
Around 1661, painted hangin' scrolls known as Portraits of Kanbun Beauties gained popularity. Sure this is it. The paintings of the feckin' Kanbun era (1661–73), most of which are anonymous, marked the feckin' beginnings of ukiyo-e as an independent school. The paintings of Iwasa Matabei (1578–1650) have a holy great affinity with ukiyo-e paintings. Jasus. Scholars disagree whether Matabei's work itself is ukiyo-e; assertions that he was the genre's founder are especially common amongst Japanese researchers. At times Matabei has been credited as the feckin' artist of the bleedin' unsigned Hikone screen, a byōbu foldin' screen that may be one of the bleedin' earliest survivin' ukiyo-e works. Here's another quare one for ye. The screen is in a refined Kanō style and depicts contemporary life, rather than the prescribed subjects of the oul' painterly schools.
In response to the increasin' demand for ukiyo-e works, Hishikawa Moronobu (1618–1694) produced the bleedin' first ukiyo-e woodblock prints. By 1672, Moronobu's success was such that he began to sign his work—the first of the oul' book illustrators to do so. He was a bleedin' prolific illustrator who worked in a feckin' wide variety of genres, and developed an influential style of portrayin' female beauties, the shitehawk. Most significantly, he began to produce illustrations, not just for books, but as single-sheet images, which could stand alone or be used as part of a series. In fairness now. The Hishikawa school attracted an oul' large number of followers, as well as imitators such as Sugimura Jihei, and signalled the beginnin' of the bleedin' popularization of a feckin' new artform.
Torii Kiyonobu I and Kaigetsudō Ando became prominent emulators of Moronobu's style followin' the feckin' master's death, though neither was a feckin' member of the feckin' Hishikawa school. Soft oul' day. Both discarded background detail in favour of focus on the bleedin' human figure—kabuki actors in the oul' yakusha-e of Kiyonobu and the oul' Torii school that followed yer man, and courtesans in the feckin' bijin-ga of Ando and his Kaigetsudō school. Here's another quare one. Ando and his followers produced a feckin' stereotyped female image whose design and pose lent itself to effective mass production, and its popularity created a demand for paintings that other artists and schools took advantage of. The Kaigetsudō school and its popular "Kaigetsudō beauty" ended after Ando's exile over his role in the Ejima-Ikushima scandal of 1714.
Kyoto native Nishikawa Sukenobu (1671–1750) painted technically refined pictures of courtesans. Considered a master of erotic portraits, he was the subject of a holy government ban in 1722, though it is believed he continued to create works that circulated under different names. Sukenobu spent most of his career in Edo, and his influence was considerable in both the oul' Kantō and Kansai regions. The paintings of Miyagawa Chōshun (1683–1752) portrayed early 18th-century life in delicate colours. Sufferin' Jaysus listen to this. Chōshun made no prints. The Miyagawa school he founded in the feckin' early-18th century specialized in romantic paintings in a style more refined in line and colour than the oul' Kaigetsudō school. Whisht now. Chōshun allowed greater expressive freedom in his adherents, a bleedin' group that later included Hokusai.
- Standin' portrait of a courtesanInk and colour paintin' on silk, Kaigetsudō Ando, c. 1705–10
- Portrait of actorsHand-coloured printKiyonobu, 1714
- Printed page from Asakayama E-honSukenobu, 1739
- Ryukyuan Dancer and MusiciansInk and color paintin' on silk, Chōshun, c. 1718
Colour prints (mid-18th century)
Even in the feckin' earliest monochromatic prints and books, colour was added by hand for special commissions, so it is. Demand for colour in the feckin' early-18th century was met with tan-e[e] prints hand-tinted with orange and sometimes green or yellow. These were followed in the 1720s with a holy vogue for pink-tinted beni-e[f] and later the oul' lacquer-like ink of the oul' urushi-e, to be sure. In 1744, the oul' benizuri-e were the bleedin' first successes in colour printin', usin' multiple woodblocks—one for each colour, the bleedin' earliest beni pink and vegetable green.
A great self-promoter, Okumura Masanobu (1686–1764) played a bleedin' major role durin' the bleedin' period of rapid technical development in printin' from the late 17th to mid-18th centuries. He established a bleedin' shop in 1707 and combined elements of the feckin' leadin' contemporary schools in a bleedin' wide array of genres, though Masanobu himself belonged to no school. Amongst the oul' innovations in his romantic, lyrical images were the feckin' introduction of geometrical perspective in the oul' uki-e genre[g] in the feckin' 1740s; the oul' long, narrow hashira-e prints; and the combination of graphics and literature in prints that included self-penned haiku poetry.
Ukiyo-e reached a peak in the feckin' late 18th century with the bleedin' advent of full-colour prints, developed after Edo returned to prosperity under Tanuma Okitsugu followin' a long depression. These popular colour prints came to be called nishiki-e, or "brocade pictures", as their brilliant colours seemed to bear resemblance to imported Chinese Shuchiang brocades, known in Japanese as Shokkō nishiki. The first to emerge were expensive calendar prints, printed with multiple blocks on very fine paper with heavy, opaque inks. These prints had the feckin' number of days for each month hidden in the oul' design, and were sent at the feckin' New Year[h] as personalized greetings, bearin' the name of the feckin' patron rather than the oul' artist. Me head is hurtin' with all this raidin'. The blocks for these prints were later re-used for commercial production, obliteratin' the patron's name and replacin' it with that of the bleedin' artist.
The delicate, romantic prints of Suzuki Harunobu (1725–1770) were amongst the first to realize expressive and complex colour designs, printed with up to an oul' dozen separate blocks to handle the oul' different colours and half-tones. His restrained, graceful prints invoked the oul' classicism of waka poetry and Yamato-e paintin'. C'mere til I tell ya now. The prolific Harunobu was the oul' dominant ukiyo-e artist of his time. The success of Harunobu's colourful nishiki-e from 1765 on led to an oul' steep decline in demand for the bleedin' limited palettes of benizuri-e and urushi-e, as well as hand-coloured prints.
A trend against the oul' idealism of the oul' prints of Harunobu and the bleedin' Torii school grew followin' Harunobu's death in 1770. Chrisht Almighty. Katsukawa Shunshō (1726–1793) and his school produced portraits of kabuki actors with greater fidelity to the bleedin' actors' actual features than had been the oul' trend. Sometime-collaborators Koryūsai (1735 – c. 1790) and Kitao Shigemasa (1739–1820) were prominent depicters of women who also moved ukiyo-e away from the oul' dominance of Harunobu's idealism by focusin' on contemporary urban fashions and celebrated real-world courtesans and geisha. Koryūsai was perhaps the feckin' most prolific ukiyo-e artist of the oul' 18th century, and produced a feckin' larger number of paintings and print series than any predecessor. The Kitao school that Shigemasa founded was one of the oul' dominant schools of the bleedin' closin' decades of the feckin' 18th century.
In the bleedin' 1770s, Utagawa Toyoharu produced a feckin' number of uki-e perspective prints that demonstrated a feckin' mastery of Western perspective techniques that had eluded his predecessors in the genre. Toyoharu's works helped pioneer the oul' landscape as an ukiyo-e subject, rather than merely a background for human figures. In the bleedin' 19th century, Western-style perspective techniques were absorbed into Japanese artistic culture, and deployed in the feckin' refined landscapes of such artists as Hokusai and Hiroshige, the bleedin' latter a holy member of the feckin' Utagawa school that Toyoharu founded. Would ye swally this in a minute now?This school was to become one of the feckin' most influential, and produced works in a far greater variety of genres than any other school.
- Two Lovers Beneath an Umbrella in the feckin' SnowHarunobu, c. 1767
- Arashi Otohachi as Ippon SaemonShunshō, 1768
- Hinazuru of the feckin' ChōjiyaKoryūsai, c. 1778–80
- Geisha and a servant carryin' her shamisen boxShigemasa, 1777
Peak period (late 18th century)
While the late 18th century saw hard economic times, ukiyo-e saw a peak in quantity and quality of works, particularly durin' the bleedin' Kansei era (1789–1791). The ukiyo-e of the feckin' period of the feckin' Kansei Reforms brought about a bleedin' focus on beauty and harmony that collapsed into decadence and disharmony in the bleedin' next century as the feckin' reforms broke down and tensions rose, culminatin' in the feckin' Meiji Restoration of 1868.
Especially in the bleedin' 1780s, Torii Kiyonaga (1752–1815) of the Torii school depicted traditional ukiyo-e subjects like beauties and urban scenes, which he printed on large sheets of paper, often as multiprint horizontal diptychs or triptychs, the shitehawk. His works dispensed with the bleedin' poetic dreamscapes made by Harunobu, optin' instead for realistic depictions of idealized female forms dressed in the latest fashions and posed in scenic locations. He also produced portraits of kabuki actors in a bleedin' realistic style that included accompanyin' musicians and chorus.
A law went into effect in 1790 requirin' prints to bear a holy censor's seal of approval to be sold. Chrisht Almighty. Censorship increased in strictness over the bleedin' followin' decades, and violators could receive harsh punishments. G'wan now and listen to this wan. From 1799 even preliminary drafts required approval. A group of Utagawa-school offenders includin' Toyokuni had their works repressed in 1801, and Utamaro was imprisoned in 1804 for makin' prints of 16th-century political and military leader Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Utamaro (c. 1753–1806) made his name in the bleedin' 1790s with his bijin ōkubi-e ("large-headed pictures of beautiful women") portraits, focusin' on the bleedin' head and upper torso, a holy style others had previously employed in portraits of kabuki actors. Utamaro experimented with line, colour, and printin' techniques to brin' out subtle differences in the features, expressions, and backdrops of subjects from a holy wide variety of class and background. Sufferin' Jaysus. Utamaro's individuated beauties were in sharp contrast to the bleedin' stereotyped, idealized images that had been the feckin' norm. By the end of the feckin' decade, especially followin' the oul' death of his patron Tsutaya Jūzaburō in 1797, Utamaro's prodigious output declined in quality, and he died in 1806.
Appearin' suddenly in 1794 and disappearin' just as suddenly ten months later, the bleedin' prints of the bleedin' enigmatic Sharaku are amongst ukiyo-e's best known. Sharaku produced strikin' portraits of kabuki actors, introducin' a feckin' greater level of realism into his prints that emphasized the oul' differences between the feckin' actor and the bleedin' portrayed character. The expressive, contorted faces he depicted contrasted sharply with the serene, mask-like faces more common to artists such as Harunobu or Utamaro. Published by Tsutaya, Sharaku's work found resistance, and in 1795 his output ceased as mysteriously as it had appeared, and his real identity is still unknown. Utagawa Toyokuni (1769–1825) produced kabuki portraits in a style Edo townsfolk found more accessible, emphasizin' dramatic postures and avoidin' Sharaku's realism.
A consistent high level of quality marks ukiyo-e of the late 18th-century, but the works of Utamaro and Sharaku often overshadow those other masters of the bleedin' era. One of Kiyonaga's followers, Eishi (1756–1829), abandoned his position as painter for shōgun Tokugawa Ieharu to take up ukiyo-e design. G'wan now and listen to this wan. He brought a feckin' refined sense to his portraits of graceful, shlender courtesans, and left behind an oul' number of noted students. With a holy fine line, Eishōsai Chōki (fl. Would ye believe this shite?1786–1808) designed portraits of delicate courtesans. Here's a quare one for ye. The Utagawa school came to dominate ukiyo-e output in the feckin' late Edo period.
Edo was the primary centre of ukiyo-e production throughout the feckin' Edo period. Another major centre developed in the Kamigata region of areas in and around Kyoto and Osaka. Whisht now and listen to this wan. In contrast to the feckin' range of subjects in the feckin' Edo prints, those of Kamigata tended to be portraits of kabuki actors, grand so. The style of the bleedin' Kamigata prints was little distinguished from those of Edo until the late 18th century, partly because artists often moved back and forth between the bleedin' two areas. Colours tend to be softer and pigments thicker in Kamigata prints than in those of Edo. In the oul' 19th century many of the oul' prints were designed by kabuki fans and other amateurs.
- Coolin' on RiversideKiyonaga, c. 1785
- Ichikawa Ebizo as Takemura SadanoshinSharaku, 1794
- Onoe Eisaburo IToyokuni, c. 1800
- Niwaka Festival in the bleedin' Licensed QuartersChōki, c. 1800
Late flowerin': flora, fauna, and landscapes (19th century)
The Tenpō Reforms of 1841–1843 sought to suppress outward displays of luxury, includin' the bleedin' depiction of courtesans and actors. As a feckin' result, many ukiyo-e artists designed travel scenes and pictures of nature, especially birds and flowers. Landscapes had been given limited attention since Moronobu, and they formed an important element in the oul' works of Kiyonaga and Shunchō, bejaysus. It was not until late in the feckin' Edo period that landscape came into its own as a genre, especially via the works of Hokusai and Hiroshige The landscape genre has come to dominate Western perceptions of ukiyo-e, though ukiyo-e had a long history precedin' these late-era masters. The Japanese landscape differed from the feckin' Western tradition in that it relied more heavily on imagination, composition, and atmosphere than on strict observance of nature.
The self-proclaimed "mad painter" Hokusai (1760–1849) enjoyed an oul' long, varied career. Whisht now. His work is marked by a feckin' lack of the feckin' sentimentality common to ukiyo-e, and a focus on formalism influenced by Western art. Among his accomplishments are his illustrations of Takizawa Bakin's novel Crescent Moon, his series of sketchbooks, the oul' Hokusai Manga, and his popularization of the oul' landscape genre with Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, which includes his best-known print, The Great Wave off Kanagawa, one of the feckin' most famous works of Japanese art. In contrast to the bleedin' work of the feckin' older masters, Hokusai's colours were bold, flat, and abstract, and his subject was not the bleedin' pleasure districts but the feckin' lives and environment of the bleedin' common people at work. Established masters Eisen, Kuniyoshi, and Kunisada also followed Hokusai's steps into landscape prints in the oul' 1830s, producin' prints with bold compositions and strikin' effects.
Though not often given the bleedin' attention of their better-known forebears, the feckin' Utagawa school produced a few masters in this declinin' period. The prolific Kunisada (1786–1865) had few rivals in the bleedin' tradition of makin' portrait prints of courtesans and actors. One of those rivals was Eisen (1790–1848), who was also adept at landscapes. Perhaps the last significant member of this late period, Kuniyoshi (1797–1861) tried his hand at a holy variety of themes and styles, much as Hokusai had. His historical scenes of warriors in violent combat were popular, especially his series of heroes from the feckin' Suikoden (1827–1830) and Chūshingura (1847). He was adept at landscapes and satirical scenes—the latter an area rarely explored in the bleedin' dictatorial atmosphere of the oul' Edo period; that Kuniyoshia could dare tackle such subjects was a sign of the weakenin' of the feckin' shogunate at the feckin' time.
Hiroshige (1797–1858) is considered Hokusai's greatest rival in stature, enda story. He specialized in pictures of birds and flowers, and serene landscapes, and is best known for his travel series, such as The Fifty-three Stations of the bleedin' Tōkaidō and The Sixty-nine Stations of the feckin' Kiso Kaidō, the oul' latter a cooperative effort with Eisen. His work was more realistic, subtly coloured, and atmospheric than Hokusai's; nature and the oul' seasons were key elements: mist, rain, snow, and moonlight were prominent parts of his compositions. Hiroshige's followers, includin' adopted son Hiroshige II and son-in-law Hiroshige III, carried on their master's style of landscapes into the bleedin' Meiji era.
- Dawn at Futami-ga-uraKunisada, c. 1832
Decline (late 19th century)
Followin' the deaths of Hokusai and Hiroshige and the oul' Meiji Restoration of 1868, ukiyo-e suffered a bleedin' sharp decline in quantity and quality. The rapid Westernization of the feckin' Meiji period that followed saw woodblock printin' turn its services to journalism, and face competition from photography. Bejaysus this is a quare tale altogether. Practitioners of pure ukiyo-e became more rare, and tastes turned away from a bleedin' genre seen as a feckin' remnant of an obsolescent era. Artists continued to produce occasional notable works, but by the feckin' 1890s the tradition was moribund.
Synthetic pigments imported from Germany began to replace traditional organic ones in the mid-19th century. Many prints from this era made extensive use of a holy bright red, and were called aka-e ("red pictures"). Artists such as Yoshitoshi (1839–1892) led a trend in the 1860s of gruesome scenes of murders and ghosts, monsters and supernatural beings, and legendary Japanese and Chinese heroes. His One Hundred Aspects of the feckin' Moon (1885–1892) depicts a variety of fantastic and mundane themes with a moon motif. Kiyochika (1847–1915) is known for his prints documentin' the feckin' rapid modernization of Tokyo, such as the feckin' introduction of railways, and his depictions of Japan's wars with China and with Russia. Earlier a holy painter of the Kanō school, in the bleedin' 1870s Chikanobu (1838–1912) turned to prints, particularly of the bleedin' imperial family and scenes of Western influence on Japanese life in the oul' Meiji period.
- Mirror of the feckin' Japanese NobilityChikanobu, 1887
- Russo-Japanese Naval Battle at the bleedin' Entrance of Incheon: The Great Victory of the bleedin' Japanese Navy—Banzai!Kiyochika, 1904
Introduction to the oul' West
Aside from Dutch traders, who had had tradin' relations datin' to the bleedin' beginnin' of the oul' Edo period, Westerners paid little notice to Japanese art before the oul' mid-19th century, and when they did they rarely distinguished it from other art from the East. Swedish naturalist Carl Peter Thunberg spent an oul' year in the Dutch tradin' settlement Dejima, near Nagasaki, and was one of the oul' earliest Westerners to collect Japanese prints, the shitehawk. The export of ukiyo-e thereafter shlowly grew, and at the feckin' beginnin' of the 19th century Dutch merchant-trader Isaac Titsingh's collection drew the feckin' attention of connoisseurs of art in Paris.
The arrival in Edo of American Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853 led to the oul' Convention of Kanagawa in 1854, which opened Japan to the outside world after over two centuries of seclusion, so it is. Ukiyo-e prints were amongst the items he brought back to the feckin' United States. Such prints had appeared in Paris from at least the oul' 1830s, and by the 1850s were numerous; reception was mixed, and even when praised ukiyo-e was generally thought inferior to Western works which emphasized mastery of naturalistic perspective and anatomy. Japanese art drew notice at the feckin' International Exhibition of 1867 in Paris, and became fashionable in France and England in the oul' 1870s and 1880s. The prints of Hokusai and Hiroshige played a feckin' prominent role in shapin' Western perceptions of Japanese art. At the oul' time of their introduction to the West, woodblock printin' was the bleedin' most common mass medium in Japan, and the oul' Japanese considered it of little lastin' value.
Early Europeans promoters and scholars of ukiyo-e and Japanese art included writer Edmond de Goncourt and art critic Philippe Burty, who coined the feckin' term "Japonism".[i] Stores sellin' Japanese goods opened, includin' those of Édouard Desoye in 1862 and art dealer Siegfried Bin' in 1875. From 1888 to 1891 Bin' published the feckin' magazine Artistic Japan in English, French, and German editions, and curated an ukiyo-e exhibition at the oul' École des Beaux-Arts in 1890 attended by artists such as Mary Cassatt.
American Ernest Fenollosa was the earliest Western devotee of Japanese culture, and did much to promote Japanese art—Hokusai's works featured prominently at his inaugural exhibition as first curator of Japanese art Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and in Tokyo in 1898 he curated the bleedin' first ukiyo-e exhibition in Japan. By the oul' end of the 19th century, the oul' popularity of ukiyo-e in the oul' West drove prices beyond the feckin' means of most collectors—some, such as Degas, traded their own paintings for such prints. Whisht now. Tadamasa Hayashi was an oul' prominent Paris-based dealer of respected tastes whose Tokyo office was responsible for evaluatin' and exportin' large quantities of ukiyo-e prints to the West in such quantities that Japanese critics later accused yer man of siphonin' Japan of its national treasure. The drain first went unnoticed in Japan, as Japanese artists were immersin' themselves in the classical paintin' techniques of the West.
Japanese art, and particularly ukiyo-e prints, came to influence Western art from the bleedin' time of the oul' early Impressionists. Early painter-collectors incorporated Japanese themes and compositional techniques into their works as early as the feckin' 1860s: the bleedin' patterned wallpapers and rugs in Manet's paintings were inspired by the bleedin' patterned kimono found in ukiyo-e pictures, and Whistler focused his attention on ephemeral elements of nature as in ukiyo-e landscapes. Van Gogh was an avid collector, and painted copies in oil of prints by Hiroshige and Eisen. Degas and Cassatt depicted fleetin', everyday moments in Japanese-influenced compositions and perspectives. ukiyo-e's flat perspective and unmodulated colours were an oul' particular influence on graphic designers and poster makers. Toulouse-Lautrec's lithographs displayed his interest not only in ukiyo-e's flat colours and outlined forms, but also in their subject matter: performers and prostitutes. He signed much of this work with his initials in a holy circle, imitatin' the oul' seals on Japanese prints. Other artists of the bleedin' time who drew influence from ukiyo-e include Monet, La Farge, Gauguin, and Les Nabis members such as Bonnard and Vuillard. French composer Claude Debussy drew inspiration for his music from the feckin' prints of Hokusai and Hiroshige, most prominently in La mer (1905). Imagist poets such as Amy Lowell and Ezra Pound found inspiration in ukiyo-e prints; Lowell published a book of poetry called Pictures of the oul' Floatin' World (1919) on oriental themes or in an oriental style.
- Bamboo Yards, Kyōbashi BridgeHiroshige, c. 1857–58
- Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi bridge and AtakeHiroshige, 1857
- Mary Cassatt at the Louvre: The Paintings GalleryDegas, c. 1879–80
- Woman Bathin'Cassatt, c. 1890–91
Descendant traditions (20th century)
The travel sketchbook became a popular genre beginnin' about 1905, as the oul' Meiji government promoted travel within Japan to have citizens better know their country. In 1915, publisher Shōzaburō Watanabe introduced the bleedin' term shin-hanga ("new prints") to describe a bleedin' style of prints he published that featured traditional Japanese subject matter and were aimed at foreign and upscale Japanese audiences. Prominent artists included Goyō Hashiguchi, called the bleedin' "Utamaro of the Taishō period" for his manner of depictin' women; Shinsui Itō, who brought more modern sensibilities to images of women; and Hasui Kawase, who made modern landscapes. Watanabe also published works by non-Japanese artists, an early success of which was a bleedin' set of Indian- and Japanese-themed prints in 1916 by the oul' English Charles W, game ball! Bartlett (1860–1940). Other publishers followed Watanabe's success, and some shin-hanga artists such as Goyō and Hiroshi Yoshida set up studios to publish their own work.
Artists of the feckin' sōsaku-hanga ("creative prints") movement took control of every aspect of the feckin' printmakin' process—design, carvin', and printin' were by the feckin' same pair of hands. Kanae Yamamoto (1882–1946), then a holy student at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, is credited with the birth of this approach. In 1904, he produced Fisherman usin' woodblock printin', a holy technique until then frowned upon by the bleedin' Japanese art establishment as old-fashioned and for its association with commercial mass production. The foundation of the feckin' Japanese Woodcut Artists' Association in 1918 marks the bleedin' beginnin' of this approach as an oul' movement. The movement favoured individuality in its artists, and as such has no dominant themes or styles. Works ranged from the feckin' entirely abstract ones of Kōshirō Onchi (1891–1955) to the traditional figurative depictions of Japanese scenes of Un'ichi Hiratsuka (1895–1997). These artists produced prints not because they hoped to reach a feckin' mass audience, but as a feckin' creative end in itself, and did not restrict their print media to the bleedin' woodblock of traditional ukiyo-e.
Prints from the late-20th and 21st centuries have evolved from the bleedin' concerns of earlier movements, especially the sōsaku-hanga movement's emphasis on individual expression, the shitehawk. Screen printin', etchin', mezzotint, mixed media, and other Western methods have joined traditional woodcuttin' amongst printmakers' techniques.
Taj Mahal, Charles W. Bartlett, 1916
- Combin' the bleedin' HairGoyō Hashiguchi, 1920
Shiba Zōjōji, Hasui Kawase, 1925
- Lyric No. G'wan now. 23Kōshirō Onchi, 1952
Early ukiyo-e artists brought with them a sophisticated knowledge of and trainin' in the bleedin' composition principles of classical Chinese paintin'; gradually these artists shed the oul' overt Chinese influence to develop a native Japanese idiom. Soft oul' day. The early ukiyo-e artists have been called "Primitives" in the bleedin' sense that the bleedin' print medium was a bleedin' new challenge to which they adapted these centuries-old techniques—their image designs are not considered "primitive". Many ukiyo-e artists received trainin' from teachers of the Kanō and other painterly schools.
A definin' feature of most ukiyo-e prints is a feckin' well-defined, bold, flat line. The earliest prints were monochromatic, and these lines were the oul' only printed element; even with the bleedin' advent of colour this characteristic line continued to dominate. In ukiyo-e composition forms are arranged in flat spaces with figures typically in a bleedin' single plane of depth. Attention was drawn to vertical and horizontal relationships, as well as details such as lines, shapes, and patterns such as those on clothin'. Compositions were often asymmetrical, and the bleedin' viewpoint was often from unusual angles, such as from above. Elements of images were often cropped, givin' the feckin' composition a feckin' spontaneous feel. In colour prints, contours of most colour areas are sharply defined, usually by the linework. The aesthetic of flat areas of colour contrasts with the feckin' modulated colours expected in Western traditions and with other prominent contemporary traditions in Japanese art patronized by the bleedin' upper class, such as in the oul' subtle monochrome ink brushstrokes of zenga brush paintin' or tonal colours of the oul' Kanō school of paintin'.
The colourful, ostentatious, and complex patterns, concern with changin' fashions, and tense, dynamic poses and compositions in ukiyo-e are in strikin' contrast with many concepts in traditional Japanese aesthetics. Prominent amongst these, wabi-sabi favours simplicity, asymmetry, and imperfection, with evidence of the bleedin' passage of time; and shibui values subtlety, humility, and restraint. Ukiyo-e can be less at odds with aesthetic concepts such as the feckin' racy, urbane stylishness of iki.
ukiyo-e displays an unusual approach to graphical perspective, one that can appear underdeveloped when compared to European paintings of the feckin' same period. Western-style geometrical perspective was known in Japan—practised most prominently by the bleedin' Akita ranga painters of the bleedin' 1770s—as were Chinese methods to create a sense of depth usin' an oul' homogeny of parallel lines. Bejaysus here's a quare one right here now. The techniques sometimes appeared together in ukiyo-e works, geometrical perspective providin' an illusion of depth in the feckin' background and the oul' more expressive Chinese perspective in the feckin' fore. The techniques were most likely learned at first through Chinese Western-style paintings rather than directly from Western works. Long after becomin' familiar with these techniques, artists continued to harmonize them with traditional methods accordin' to their compositional and expressive needs. Other ways of indicatin' depth included the feckin' Chinese tripartite composition method used in Buddhist pictures, where an oul' large form is placed in the bleedin' foreground, a smaller in the bleedin' midground, and yet a bleedin' smaller in the background; this can be seen in Hokusai's Great Wave, with a bleedin' large boat in the feckin' foreground, a smaller behind it, and an oul' small Mt Fuji behind them.
There was a bleedin' tendency since early ukiyo-e to pose beauties in what art historian Midori Wakakura called an oul' "serpentine posture",[j] which involves the bleedin' subjects' bodies twistin' unnaturally while facin' behind themselves. Bejaysus here's a quare one right here now. Art historian Motoaki Kōno posited that this had its roots in traditional buyō dance; Haruo Suwa countered that the feckin' poses were artistic licence taken by ukiyo-e artists, causin' a holy seemingly relaxed pose to reach unnatural or impossible physical extremes. Stop the lights! This remained the case even when realistic perspective techniques were applied to other sections of the feckin' composition.
Themes and genres
Typical subjects were female beauties ("bijin-ga"), kabuki actors ("yakusha-e"), and landscapes. The women depicted were most often courtesans and geisha at leisure, and promoted the entertainments to be found in the feckin' pleasure districts. The detail with which artists depicted courtesans' fashions and hairstyles allows the feckin' prints to be dated with some reliability, game ball! Less attention was given to accuracy of the oul' women's physical features, which followed the bleedin' day's pictorial fashions—the faces stereotyped, the bleedin' bodies tall and lanky in one generation and petite in another. Portraits of celebrities were much in demand, in particular those from the kabuki and sumo worlds, two of the feckin' most popular entertainments of the era. While the landscape has come to define ukiyo-e for many Westerners, landscapes flourished relatively late in the feckin' ukiyo-e's history.
Ukiyo-e prints grew out of book illustration—many of Moronobu's earliest single-page prints were originally pages from books he had illustrated. E-hon books of illustrations were popular and continued be an important outlet for ukiyo-e artists, be the hokey! In the late period, Hokusai produced the bleedin' three-volume One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji and the feckin' 15-volume Hokusai Manga, the bleedin' latter an oul' compendium of over 4000 sketches of an oul' wide variety of realistic and fantastic subjects.
Traditional Japanese religions do not consider sex or pornography a feckin' moral corruption in the bleedin' sense of most Abrahamic faiths, and until the bleedin' changin' morals of the bleedin' Meiji era led to its suppression, shunga erotic prints were an oul' major genre. While the bleedin' Tokugawa regime subjected Japan to strict censorship laws, pornography was not considered an important offence and generally met with the feckin' censors' approval. Many of these prints displayed a high level an oul' draughtsmanship, and often humour, in their explicit depictions of bedroom scenes, voyeurs, and oversized anatomy. As with depictions of courtesans, these images were closely tied to entertainments of the bleedin' pleasure quarters. Nearly every ukiyo-e master produced shunga at some point. Records of societal acceptance of shunga are absent, though Timon Screech posits that there were almost certainly some concerns over the bleedin' matter, and that its level of acceptability has been exaggerated by later collectors, especially in the West.
Scenes from nature have been an important part of Asian art throughout history. Artists have closely studied the oul' correct forms and anatomy of plants and animals, even though depictions of human anatomy remained more fanciful until modern times. C'mere til I tell ya now. Ukiyo-e nature prints are called kachō-e, which translates as "flower-and-bird pictures", though the feckin' genre was open to more than just flowers or birds, and the flowers and birds did not necessarily appear together. Hokusai's detailed, precise nature prints are credited with establishin' kachō-e as a genre.
The Tenpō Reforms of the feckin' 1840s suppressed the oul' depiction of actors and courtesans. G'wan now and listen to this wan. Aside from landscapes and kachō-e, artists turned to depictions of historical scenes, such as of ancient warriors or of scenes from legend, literature, and religion. Listen up now to this fierce wan. The 11th century Tale of Genji and the oul' 13th-century Tale of the Heike have been sources of artistic inspiration throughout Japanese history, includin' in ukiyo-e. Well-known warriors and swordsmen such as Miyamoto Musashi (1584–1645) were frequent subjects, as were depictions of monsters, the feckin' supernatural, and heroes of Japanese and Chinese mythology.
From the bleedin' 17th to 19th centuries Japan isolated itself from the rest of the world. Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Trade, primarily with the oul' Dutch and Chinese, was restricted to the oul' island of Dejima near Nagasaki, the hoor. Outlandish pictures called Nagasaki-e were sold to tourists of the bleedin' foreigners and their wares. In the feckin' mid-19th century, Yokohama became the bleedin' primary foreign settlement after 1859, from which Western knowledge proliferated in Japan. Especially from 1858 to 1862, Yokohama-e prints documented, with various levels of fact and fancy, the bleedin' growin' community of world denizens with whom the bleedin' Japanese were now comin' in contact; triptychs of scenes of Westerners and their technology were particularly popular.
Specialized prints included surimono, deluxe, limited-edition prints aimed at connoisseurs, of which an oul' five-line kyōka poem was usually part of the feckin' design; and uchiwa-e printed hand fans, which often suffer from havin' been handled.
Ukiyo-e artists often made both prints and paintings; some specialized in one or the bleedin' other. In contrast with previous traditions, ukiyo-e painters favoured bright, sharp colours, and often delineated contours with sumi ink, an effect similar to the feckin' linework in prints. Unrestricted by the bleedin' technical limitations of printin', a holy wider range of techniques, pigments, and surfaces were available to the oul' painter. Artists painted with pigments made from mineral or organic substances, such as safflower, ground shells, lead, and cinnabar, and later synthetic dyes imported from the feckin' West such as Paris green and Prussian blue. Silk or paper kakemono hangin' scrolls, makimono handscrolls, or byōbu foldin' screens were the most common surfaces.
- Bijin-gaKaigetsudō Ando, 18th century
- A Winter PartyUtagawa Toyoharu, mid-18th – late 19th century
- Yoshiwara no HanaUtamaro, c. 1788–91
Ukiyo-e prints were the works of teams of artisans in several workshops; it was rare for designers to cut their own woodblocks. Labour was divided into four groups: the bleedin' publisher, who commissioned, promoted, and distributed the bleedin' prints; the oul' artists, who provided the bleedin' design image; the bleedin' woodcarvers, who prepared the oul' woodblocks for printin'; and the feckin' printers, who made impressions of the bleedin' woodblocks on paper. Normally only the oul' names of the bleedin' artist and publisher were credited on the finished print.
Ukiyo-e prints were impressed on hand-made paper manually, rather than by mechanical press as in the oul' West. The artist provided an ink drawin' on thin paper, which was pasted to a holy block of cherry wood[k] and rubbed with oil until the feckin' upper layers of paper could be pulled away, leavin' a translucent layer of paper that the bleedin' block-cutter could use as a holy guide. The block-cutter cut away the non-black areas of the image, leavin' raised areas that were inked to leave an impression. The original drawin' was destroyed in the feckin' process.
Prints were made with blocks face up so the feckin' printer could vary pressure for different effects, and watch as paper absorbed the oul' water-based sumi ink, applied quickly in even horizontal strokes. Amongst the bleedin' printer's tricks were embossin' of the oul' image, achieved by pressin' an uninked woodblock on the paper to achieve effects, such as the bleedin' textures of clothin' patterns or fishin' net. Other effects included burnishin' rubbin' the paper with agate to brighten colours; varnishin'; overprintin'; dustin' with metal or mica; and sprays to imitate fallin' snow.
The ukiyo-e print was a holy commercial art form, and the feckin' publisher played an important role. Publishin' was highly competitive; over a holy thousand publishers are known from throughout the bleedin' period. The number peaked at around 250 in the 1840s and 1850s—200 in Edo alone—and shlowly shrank followin' the oul' openin' of Japan until about 40 remained at the feckin' openin' of the 20th century. The publishers owned the bleedin' woodblocks and copyrights, and from the bleedin' late 18th century enforced copyrights through the bleedin' Picture Book and Print Publishers Guild.[l] Prints that went through several pressings were particularly profitable, as the oul' publisher could reuse the oul' woodblocks without further payment to the oul' artist or woodblock cutter, begorrah. The woodblocks were also traded or sold to other publishers or pawnshops. Publishers were usually also vendors, and commonly sold each other's wares in their shops. In addition to the artist's seal, publishers marked the prints with their own seals—some a simple logo, others quite elaborate, incorporatin' an address or other information.
Print designers went through apprenticeship before bein' granted the oul' right to produce prints of their own that they could sign with their own names. Young designers could be expected to cover part or all of the bleedin' costs of cuttin' the woodblocks. Here's another quare one for ye. As the feckin' artists gained fame, publishers usually covered these costs, and artists could demand higher fees.
In pre-modern Japan, people could go by numerous names throughout their lives, their childhood yōmyō personal name different from their zokumyō name as an adult, fair play. An artist's name consisted of a gasei—an artist surname—followed by an azana personal art name. C'mere til I tell ya. The gasei was most frequently taken from the bleedin' school the bleedin' artist belonged to, such as Utagawa or Torii, and the azana normally took a Chinese character from the master's art name—for example, many students of Toyokuni (豊国) took the bleedin' "kuni" (国) from his name, includin' Kunisada (国貞) and Kuniyoshi (国芳). The names artists signed to their works can be a source of confusion as they sometimes changed names through their careers; Hokusai was an extreme case, usin' over an oul' hundred names throughout his 70-year career.
The prints were mass-marketed, and by the oul' mid-19th century, the bleedin' total circulation of a holy print could run into the oul' thousands. Retailers and travellin' sellers promoted them at prices affordable to prosperous townspeople. In some cases, the feckin' prints advertised kimono designs by the feckin' print artist. From the second half of the oul' 17th century, prints were frequently marketed as part of a holy series, each print stamped with the feckin' series name and the feckin' print's number in that series. This proved a feckin' successful marketin' technique, as collectors bought each new print in the feckin' series to keep their collections complete. By the bleedin' 19th century, series such as Hiroshige's Fifty-three Stations of the bleedin' Tōkaidō ran to dozens of prints.
Makin' Prints, Hosoki Toshikazu, 1879
Colour print production
While colour printin' in Japan dates to the 1640s, early ukiyo-e prints used only black ink. Here's a quare one for ye. Colour was sometimes added by hand, usin' a feckin' red lead ink in tan-e prints, or later in a holy pink safflower ink in beni-e prints. Arra' would ye listen to this. Colour printin' arrived in books in the feckin' 1720s and in single-sheet prints in the feckin' 1740s, with a different block and printin' for each colour, begorrah. Early colours were limited to pink and green; techniques expanded over the bleedin' followin' two decades to allow up to five colours. The mid-1760s brought full-colour nishiki-e prints made from ten or more woodblocks. To keep the feckin' blocks for each colour aligned correctly, registration marks called kentō were placed on one corner and an adjacent side.
Printers first used natural colour dyes made from mineral or vegetable sources. The dyes had an oul' translucent quality that allowed a variety of colours to be mixed from primary red, blue, and yellow pigments. In the 18th century, Prussian blue became popular, and was particularly prominent in the feckin' landscapes of Hokusai and Hiroshige, as was bokashi, where the bleedin' printer produced gradations of colour or blended one colour into another. Cheaper and more consistent synthetic aniline dyes arrived from the oul' West in 1864, to be sure. The colours were harsher and brighter than traditional pigments, to be sure. The Meiji government promoted their use as part of broader policies of Westernization.
Criticism and historiography
Contemporary records of ukiyo-e artists are rare. The most significant is the oul' Ukiyo-e Ruikō ("Various Thoughts on ukiyo-e"), a collection of commentaries and artist biographies. G'wan now and listen to this wan. Ōta Nanpo compiled the oul' first, no-longer-extant version around 1790. Jaysis. The work did not see print durin' the feckin' Edo era, but circulated in hand-copied editions that were subject to numerous additions and alterations; over 120 variants of the Ukiyo-e Ruikō are known.
Before World War II, the predominant view of ukiyo-e stressed the bleedin' centrality of prints; this viewpoint ascribes ukiyo-e's foundin' to Moronobu. Followin' the oul' war, thinkin' turned to the feckin' importance of ukiyo-e paintin' and makin' direct connections with 17th century Yamato-e paintings; this viewpoint sees Matabei as the genre's originator, and is especially favoured in Japan. G'wan now. This view had become widespread among Japanese researchers by the bleedin' 1930s, but the militaristic government of the feckin' time suppressed it, wantin' to emphasize an oul' division between the feckin' Yamato-e scroll paintings associated with the oul' court, and the feckin' prints associated with the oul' sometimes anti-authoritarian merchant class.
The earliest comprehensive historical and critical works on ukiyo-e came from the feckin' West. Chrisht Almighty. Ernest Fenollosa was Professor of Philosophy at the Imperial University in Tokyo from 1878, and was Commissioner of Fine Arts to the Japanese government from 1886. Whisht now. His Masters of Ukioye of 1896 was the first comprehensive overview and set the stage for most later works with an approach to the bleedin' history in terms of epochs: beginnin' with Matabei in a primitive age, it evolved towards a bleedin' late-18th century golden age that began to decline with the oul' advent of Utamaro, and had an oul' brief revival with Hokusai and Hiroshige's landscapes in the feckin' 1830s. Laurence Binyon, the bleedin' Keeper of Oriental Prints and Drawings at the bleedin' British Museum, wrote an account in Paintin' in the Far East in 1908 that was similar to Fenollosa's, but placed Utamaro and Sharaku amongst the oul' masters. Listen up now to this fierce wan. Arthur Davison Ficke built on the bleedin' works of Fenollosa and Binyon with an oul' more comprehensive Chats on Japanese Prints in 1915. James A, for the craic. Michener's The Floatin' World in 1954 broadly followed the bleedin' chronologies of the earlier works, while droppin' classifications into periods and recognizin' the earlier artists not as primitives but as accomplished masters emergin' from earlier paintin' traditions. For Michener and his sometime collaborator Richard Lane, ukiyo-e began with Moronobu rather than Matabei. Lane's Masters of the Japanese Print of 1962 maintained the bleedin' approach of period divisions while placin' ukiyo-e firmly within the feckin' genealogy of Japanese art, fair play. The book acknowledges artists such as Yoshitoshi and Kiyochika as late masters.
Seiichirō Takahashi's Traditional Woodblock Prints of Japan of 1964 placed ukiyo-e artists in three periods: the oul' first was a primitive period that included Harunobu, followed by a holy golden age of Kiyonaga, Utamaro, and Sharaku, and then a closin' period of decline followin' the feckin' declaration beginnin' in the bleedin' 1790s of strict sumptuary laws that dictated what could be depicted in artworks, to be sure. The book nevertheless recognizes an oul' larger number of masters from throughout this last period than earlier works had, and viewed ukiyo-e paintin' as a holy revival of Yamato-e paintin'. Tadashi Kobayashi further refined Takahashi's analysis by identifyin' the decline as coincidin' with the feckin' desperate attempts of the feckin' shogunate to hold on to power through the bleedin' passin' of draconian laws as its hold on the feckin' country continued to break down, culminatin' in the bleedin' Meiji Restoration in 1868.
Ukiyo-e scholarship has tended to focus on the feckin' cataloguin' of artists, an approach that lacks the oul' rigour and originality that has come to be applied to art analysis in other areas. Such catalogues are numerous, but tend overwhelmingly to concentrate on a group of recognized geniuses, game ball! Little original research has been added to the oul' early, foundational evaluations of ukiyo-e and its artists, especially with regard to relatively minor artists. While the oul' commercial nature of ukiyo-e has always been acknowledged, evaluation of artists and their works has rested on the aesthetic preferences of connoisseurs and paid little heed to contemporary commercial success.
Standards for inclusion in the feckin' ukiyo-e canon rapidly evolved in the feckin' early literature. Utamaro was particularly contentious, seen by Fenollosa and others as a degenerate symbol of ukiyo-e's decline; Utamaro has since gained general acceptance as one of the form's greatest masters. Artists of the 19th century such as Yoshitoshi were ignored or marginalized, attractin' scholarly attention only towards the oul' end of the bleedin' 20th century. Works on late-era Utagawa artists such as Kunisada and Kuniyoshi have revived some of the feckin' contemporary esteem these artists enjoyed, to be sure. Many late works examine the bleedin' social or other conditions behind the feckin' art, and are unconcerned with valuations that would place it in a period of decline.
Novelist Jun'ichirō Tanizaki was critical of the feckin' superior attitude of Westerners who claimed a higher aestheticism in purportin' to have discovered ukiyo-e, you know yerself. He maintained that ukiyo-e was merely the bleedin' easiest form of Japanese art to understand from the perspective of Westerners' values, and that Japanese of all social strata enjoyed ukiyo-e, but that Confucian morals of the bleedin' time kept them from freely discussin' it, social mores that were violated by the bleedin' West's flauntin' of the feckin' discovery.
Since the bleedin' dawn of the oul' 20th century historians of manga—Japanese comics and cartoonin'—have developed narratives connectin' the oul' art form to pre-20th century Japanese art. In fairness now. Particular emphasis falls on the Hokusai Manga as a feckin' precursor, though Hokusai's book is not narrative, nor does the feckin' term "manga" originate with Hokusai. In English and other languages, the bleedin' word "manga" is used in the bleedin' restrictive sense of "Japanese comics" or "Japanese-style comics", while in Japanese it indicates all forms of comics, cartoonin', and caricature.
Collection and preservation
The rulin' classes strictly limited the space permitted for the homes of the feckin' lower social classes; the feckin' relatively small size of ukiyo-e works was ideal for hangin' in these homes. Little record of the feckin' patrons of ukiyo-e paintings has survived. Sufferin' Jaysus listen to this. They sold for considerably higher prices than prints—up to many thousands of times more, and thus must have been purchased by the feckin' wealthy, likely merchants and perhaps some from the oul' samurai class. Late-era prints are the oul' most numerous extant examples, as they were produced in the bleedin' greatest quantities in the feckin' 19th century, and the feckin' older a print is the feckin' less chance it had of survivin'. Ukiyo-e was largely associated with Edo, and visitors to Edo often bought what they called azuma-e[m] as souvenirs. Shops that sold them might specialize in products such as hand-held fans, or offer a diverse selection.
The ukiyo-e print market was highly diversified as it sold to a feckin' heterogeneous public, from dayworkers to wealthy merchants. Little concrete information is known about production and consumption habits, so it is. Detailed records in Edo were kept of a wide variety of courtesans, actors, and sumo wrestlers, but no such records pertainin' to ukiyo-e remain—or perhaps ever existed, be the hokey! Determinin' what is understood about the demographics of ukiyo-e consumption has required indirect means.
Determinin' at what prices prints sold is a holy challenge for experts, as records of hard figures are scanty and there was great variety in the production quality, size, supply and demand, and methods, which went through changes such as the bleedin' introduction of full-colour printin'. How expensive prices can be considered is also difficult to determine as social and economic conditions were in flux throughout the oul' period. In the bleedin' 19th century, records survive of prints sellin' from as low as 16 mon to 100 mon for deluxe editions. Jun'ichi Ōkubo suggests that prices in the 1920s and 1930s of mon were likely common for standard prints. As a feckin' loose comparison, a holy bowl of soba noodles in the feckin' early 19th century typically sold for 16 mon.
The dyes in ukiyo-e prints are susceptible to fadin' when exposed even to low levels of light; this makes long-term display undesirable, be the hokey! The paper they are printed on deteriorates when it comes in contact with acidic materials, so storage boxes, folders, and mounts must be of neutral pH or alkaline. Prints should be regularly inspected for problems needin' treatment, and stored at a feckin' relative humidity of 70% or less to prevent fungal discolourations.
The paper and pigments in ukiyo-e paintings are sensitive to light and seasonal changes in humidity. Soft oul' day. Mounts must be flexible, as the feckin' sheets can tear under sharp changes in humidity. Jesus Mother of Chrisht almighty. In the Edo era, the feckin' sheets were mounted on long-fibred paper and preserved scrolled up in plain paulownia wood boxes placed in another lacquer wooden box. In museum settings, display times are heavily limited to prevent deterioration from exposure to light and environmental pollution, and care is taken in the unrollin' and rerollin' of scrolls, with scrollin' causin' concavities in the feckin' paper, and the unrollin' and rerollin' of the scrolls causin' creasin'. The humidity levels that scrolls are kept in are generally between 50 percent and 60 percent, as scrolls kept in too dry an atmosphere become brittle.
Because ukiyo-e prints were mass-produced, collectin' them presents considerations different from the bleedin' collectin' of paintings, bedad. There is wide variation in the feckin' condition, rarity, cost, and quality of extant prints. Be the hokey here's a quare wan. Prints may have stains, foxin', wormholes, tears, creases, or dogmarks, the bleedin' colours may have faded, or they may have been retouched. Carvers may have altered the bleedin' colours or composition of prints that went through multiple editions. When cut after printin', the bleedin' paper may have been trimmed within the margin. Values of prints depend on a variety of factors, includin' the artist's reputation, print condition, rarity, and whether it is an original pressin'—even high-quality later printings will fetch a bleedin' fraction of the oul' valuation of an original.
Ukiyo-e prints often went through multiple editions, sometimes with changes made to the bleedin' blocks in later editions, Lord bless us and save us. Editions made from recut woodblocks also circulate, such as legitimate later reproductions, as well as pirate editions and other fakes. Takamizawa Enji (1870–1927), an oul' producer of ukiyo-e reproductions, developed a holy method of recuttin' woodblocks to print fresh colour on faded originals, over which he used tobacco ash to make the fresh ink seem aged. Soft oul' day. These refreshed prints he resold as original printings. Amongst the feckin' defrauded collectors was American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who brought 1500 Takamizawa prints with yer man from Japan to the oul' US, some of which he had sold before the truth was discovered.
Ukiyo-e artists are referred to in the Japanese style, the oul' surname precedin' the personal name, and well-known artists such as Utamaro and Hokusai by personal name alone. Dealers normally refer to ukiyo-e prints by the feckin' names of the standard sizes, most commonly the oul' 34.5-by-22.5-centimetre (13.6 in × 8.9 in) aiban, the bleedin' 22.5-by-19-centimetre (8.9 in × 7.5 in) chūban, and the bleedin' 38-by-23-centimetre (15.0 in × 9.1 in) ōban—precise sizes vary, and paper was often trimmed after printin'.
Many of the feckin' largest high-quality collections of ukiyo-e lie outside Japan. Examples entered the bleedin' collection of the National Library of France in the bleedin' first half of the oul' 19th century. The British Museum began a feckin' collection in 1860 that by the late 20th century numbered 70000 items. The largest, surpassin' 100000 items, resides in the feckin' Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, begun when Ernest Fenollosa donated his collection in 1912. The first exhibition in Japan of ukiyo-e prints was likely one presented by Kōjirō Matsukata in 1925, who amassed his collection in Paris durin' World War I and later donated it to the oul' National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. The largest collection of ukiyo-e in Japan is the feckin' 100000 pieces in the oul' Japan Ukiyo-e Museum in the oul' city of Matsumoto.
- List of ukiyo-e terms
- Schools of ukiyo-e artists
- Ukiyo-e Ōta Memorial Museum of Art
- Ukiyo-e Society of America
- The obsolete transliteration "ukiyo-ye" appears in older texts.
- shikomi-e (仕込絵)
- ukiyo (浮世, "floatin' world")
- ukiyo (憂き世, "world of sorrow")
- tan (丹): a pigment made from red lead mixed with sulphur and saltpetre
- beni (紅): a pigment produced from safflower petals.
- Torii Kiyotada is said to have made the oul' first uki-e; Masanobu advertised himself as its innovator.A Layman's Explanation of the feckin' Rules of Drawin' with a feckin' Compass and Ruler introduced Western-style geometrical perspective drawin' to Japan in the feckin' 1734, based on a holy Dutch text of 1644 (see Rangaku, "Dutch learnin'" durin' the oul' Edo period); Chinese texts on the bleedin' subject also appeared durin' the decade.Okumura likely learned about geometrical perspective from Chinese sources, some of which bear a feckin' strikin' resemblance to Okumura's works.
- Until 1873 the feckin' Japanese calendar was lunisolar, and each year the oul' Japanese New Year fell on different days of the feckin' Gregorian calendar's January or February.
- Burty coined the term "le Japonisme" in French in 1872.
- jatai shisei (蛇体姿勢, "serpentine posture")
- Traditional Japanese woodblocks were cut along the feckin' grain, as opposed to the bleedin' blocks of Western wood engravin', which were cut across the grain. Here's a quare one. In both methods, the bleedin' dimensions of the bleedin' woodblock was limited by the feckin' girth of the bleedin' tree. In the oul' 20th century, plywood became the oul' material of choice for Japanese woodcarvers, as it is cheaper, easier to carve, and less limited in size.
- Jihon Toiya (地本問屋, "Picture Book and Print Publishers Guild")
- azuma-e (東絵, "pictures of the bleedin' Eastern capital")
- Lane 1962, pp. 8–9.
- Kobayashi 1997, p. 66.
- Kobayashi 1997, pp. 66–67.
- Kobayashi 1997, pp. 67–68.
- Kita 1984, pp. 252–253.
- Penkoff 1964, pp. 4–5.
- Marks 2012, p. 17.
- Singer 1986, p. 66.
- Penkoff 1964, p. 6.
- Bell 2004, p. 137.
- Kobayashi 1997, p. 68.
- Harris 2011, p. 37.
- Kobayashi 1997, p. 69.
- Kobayashi 1997, pp. 69–70.
- Hickman 1978, pp. 5–6.
- Kikuchi & Kenny 1969, p. 31.
- Kita 2011, p. 155.
- Kita 1999, p. 39.
- Kita 2011, pp. 149, 154–155.
- Kita 1999, pp. 44–45.
- Yashiro 1958, pp. 216, 218.
- Kobayashi 1997, pp. 70–71.
- Kobayashi 1997, pp. 71–72.
- Kobayashi 1997, p. 71.
- Kobayashi 1997, pp. 72–73.
- Kobayashi 1997, pp. 72–74.
- Kobayashi 1997, pp. 75–76.
- Kobayashi 1997, pp. 74–75.
- Noma 1966, p. 188.
- Hibbett 2001, p. 69.
- Munsterberg 1957, p. 154.
- Kobayashi 1997, p. 76.
- Kobayashi 1997, pp. 76–77.
- Kobayashi 1997, p. 77.
- Penkoff 1964, p. 16.
- Kin' 2010, p. 47.
- Kobayashi 1997, p. 78.
- Suwa 1998, pp. 64–68.
- Suwa 1998, p. 64.
- Kobayashi 1997, pp. 77–79.
- Kobayashi 1997, pp. 80–81.
- Kobayashi 1997, p. 82.
- Lane 1962, pp. 150, 152.
- Kobayashi 1997, p. 81.
- Michener 1959, p. 89.
- Munsterberg 1957, p. 155.
- Kobayashi 1997, pp. 82–83.
- Kobayashi 1997, p. 83.
- Kobayashi 1997, pp. 84–85.
- Hockley 2003, p. 3.
- Kobayashi 1997, p. 85.
- Marks 2012, p. 68.
- Stewart 1922, p. 224; Neuer, Libertson & Yoshida 1990, p. 259.
- Thompson 1986, p. 44.
- Salter 2006, p. 204.
- Bell 2004, p. 105.
- Neuer, Libertson & Yoshida 1990, p. 145.
- Kobayashi 1997, p. 91.
- Kobayashi 1997, pp. 85–86.
- Kobayashi 1997, p. 87.
- Michener 1954, p. 231.
- Lane 1962, p. 224.
- Kobayashi 1997, pp. 87–88.
- Kobayashi 1997, p. 88.
- Kobayashi 1997, pp. 88–89.
- Neuer, Libertson & Yoshida 1990, p. 40.
- Kobayashi 1997, pp. 91–92.
- Kobayashi 1997, pp. 89–91.
- Neuer, Libertson & Yoshida 1990, pp. 40–41.
- Harris 2011, p. 38.
- Salter 2001, pp. 12–13.
- Winegrad 2007, pp. 18–19.
- Harris 2011, p. 132.
- Michener 1959, p. 175.
- Michener 1959, pp. 176–177.
- Kobayashi 1997, pp. 92–93.
- Lewis & Lewis 2008, p. 385; Honour & Flemin' 2005, p. 709; Benfey 2007, p. 17; Addiss, Groemer & Rimer 2006, p. 146; Buser 2006, p. 168.
- Lewis & Lewis 2008, p. 385; Belloli 1999, p. 98.
- Munsterberg 1957, p. 158.
- Kin' 2010, pp. 84–85.
- Lane 1962, pp. 284–285.
- Lane 1962, p. 290.
- Lane 1962, p. 285.
- Harris 2011, pp. 153–154.
- Kobayashi 1997, pp. 94–95.
- Munsterberg 1957, pp. 158–159.
- Kin' 2010, p. 116.
- Michener 1959, p. 200.
- Michener 1959, p. 200; Kobayashi 1997, p. 95.
- Kobayashi 1997, p. 95; Faulkner & Robinson 1999, pp. 22–23; Kobayashi 1997, p. 95; Michener 1959, p. 200.
- Seton 2010, p. 71.
- Seton 2010, p. 69.
- Harris 2011, p. 153.
- Meech-Pekarik 1986, pp. 125–126.
- Watanabe 1984, p. 667.
- Neuer, Libertson & Yoshida 1990, p. 48.
- Harris 2011, p. 163.
- Meech-Pekarik 1982, p. 93.
- Watanabe 1984, pp. 680–681.
- Watanabe 1984, p. 675.
- Salter 2001, p. 12.
- Weisberg, Rakusin & Rakusin 1986, p. 7.
- Weisberg 1975, p. 120.
- Joblin' & Crowley 1996, p. 89.
- Meech-Pekarik 1982, p. 96.
- Weisberg, Rakusin & Rakusin 1986, p. 6.
- Joblin' & Crowley 1996, p. 90.
- Meech-Pekarik 1982, pp. 101–103.
- Meech-Pekarik 1982, pp. 96–97.
- Merritt 1990, p. 15.
- Mansfield 2009, p. 134.
- Ives 1974, p. 17.
- Sullivan 1989, p. 230.
- Ives 1974, p. 37–39, 45.
- Joblin' & Crowley 1996, pp. 90–91.
- Ives 1974, p. 80.
- Meech-Pekarik 1982, p. 99.
- Ives 1974, p. 96.
- Ives 1974, p. 56.
- Ives 1974, p. 67.
- Gerstle & Milner 1995, p. 70.
- Hughes 1960, p. 213.
- Kin' 2010, pp. 119, 121.
- Seton 2010, p. 81.
- Brown 2006, p. 22; Seton 2010, p. 81.
- Brown 2006, p. 23; Seton 2010, p. 81.
- Brown 2006, p. 21.
- Merritt 1990, p. 109.
- Munsterberg 1957, p. 181.
- Statler 1959, p. 39.
- Statler 1959, pp. 35–38.
- Fiorillo 1999.
- Penkoff 1964, pp. 9–11.
- Lane 1962, p. 9.
- Bell 2004, p. xiv; Michener 1959, p. 11.
- Michener 1959, pp. 11–12.
- Michener 1959, p. 90.
- Bell 2004, p. xvi.
- Sims 1998, p. 298.
- Bell 2004, p. 34.
- Bell 2004, pp. 50–52.
- Bell 2004, pp. 53–54.
- Bell 2004, p. 66.
- Suwa 1998, pp. 57–60.
- Suwa 1998, pp. 62–63.
- Suwa 1998, pp. 106–107.
- Suwa 1998, pp. 108–109.
- Suwa 1998, pp. 101–106.
- Harris 2011, p. 60.
- Hillier 1954, p. 20.
- Harris 2011, pp. 95, 98.
- Harris 2011, p. 41.
- Harris 2011, pp. 38, 41.
- Harris 2011, pp. 124.
- Seton 2010, p. 64; Harris 2011.
- Seton 2010, p. 64.
- Screech 1999, p. 15.
- Harris 2011, pp. 128.
- Harris 2011, p. 134.
- Harris 2011, p. 146.
- Harris 2011, pp. 155–156.
- Harris 2011, pp. 148, 153.
- Harris 2011, p. 163–164.
- Harris 2011, p. 166–167.
- Harris 2011, p. 170.
- Kin' 2010, p. 111.
- Fitzhugh 1979, p. 27.
- Bell 2004, p. xii.
- Bell 2004, p. 236.
- Bell 2004, p. 235–236.
- Fitzhugh 1979, pp. 29, 34.
- Fitzhugh 1979, pp. 35–36.
- Faulkner & Robinson 1999, p. 27.
- Penkoff 1964, p. 21.
- Salter 2001, p. 11.
- Salter 2001, p. 61.
- Michener 1959, p. 11.
- Penkoff 1964, p. 1.
- Salter 2001, p. 64.
- Statler 1959, pp. 34–35.
- Statler 1959, p. 64; Salter 2001.
- Bell 2004, p. 225.
- Bell 2004, p. 246.
- Bell 2004, p. 247.
- Frédéric 2002, p. 884.
- Harris 2011, p. 62.
- Marks 2012, p. 180.
- Salter 2006, p. 19.
- Marks 2012, p. 10.
- Marks 2012, p. 18.
- Marks 2012, p. 21.
- Marks 2012, p. 13.
- Marks 2012, pp. 13–14.
- Marks 2012, p. 22.
- Merritt 1990, pp. ix–x.
- Link & Takahashi 1977, p. 32.
- Ōkubo 2008, pp. 153–154.
- Harris 2011, p. 62; Meech-Pekarik 1982, p. 93.
- Kin' 2010, pp. 48–49.
- "'Japanesque" sheds light on two worlds", The Mercury New, by Jennifer Modenessi, 14 October 2010
- Ishizawa & Tanaka 1986, p. 38; Merritt 1990, p. 18.
- Harris 2011, p. 26.
- Harris 2011, p. 31.
- Bell 2004, p. 234.
- Takeuchi 2004, pp. 118, 120.
- Tanaka 1999, p. 190.
- Bell 2004, pp. 3–5.
- Bell 2004, pp. 8–10.
- Bell 2004, p. 12.
- Bell 2004, p. 20.
- Bell 2004, pp. 13–14.
- Bell 2004, pp. 14–15.
- Bell 2004, pp. 15–16.
- Hockley 2003, pp. 13–14.
- Hockley 2003, pp. 5–6.
- Bell 2004, pp. 17–18.
- Bell 2004, pp. 19–20.
- Yoshimoto 2003, p. 65–66.
- Stewart 2014, pp. 28–29.
- Stewart 2014, p. 30.
- Johnson-Woods 2010, p. 336.
- Morita 2010, p. 33.
- Bell 2004, pp. 140, 175.
- Kita 2011, p. 149.
- Bell 2004, p. 140.
- Hockley 2003, pp. 7–8.
- Kobayashi & Ōkubo 1994, p. 216.
- Ōkubo 2013, p. 31.
- Ōkubo 2013, p. 32.
- Kobayashi & Ōkubo 1994, pp. 216–217.
- Ōkubo 2008, pp. 151–153.
- Kobayashi & Ōkubo 1994, p. 217.
- Ōkubo 2013, p. 43.
- Kobayashi & Ōkubo 1994, p. 217; Bell 2004, p. 174.
- Fiorillo 1999–2001.
- Flemin' 1985, p. 61.
- Flemin' 1985, p. 75.
- Toishi 1979, p. 25.
- Harris 2011, p. 180, 183–184.
- Fiorillo 2001–2002a.
- Fiorillo 1999–2005.
- Merritt 1990, p. 36.
- Fiorillo 2001–2002b.
- Lane 1962, p. 313.
- Faulkner & Robinson 1999, p. 40.
- Merritt 1990, p. 13.
- Bell 2004, p. 38.
- Merritt 1990, pp. 13–14.
- Bell 2004, p. 39.
- Checkland 2004, p. 107.
- Garson 2001, p. 14.
- Fitzhugh, Elisabeth West (1979). "A Pigment Census of Ukiyo-E Paintings in the Freer Gallery of Art". C'mere til I tell yiz. Ars Orientalis. Here's a quare one for ye. Freer Gallery of Art, The Smithsonian Institution and Department of the oul' History of Art, University of Michigan. Sufferin' Jaysus. 11: 27–38, be the hokey! JSTOR 4629295.
- Flemin', Stuart (November–December 1985). "Ukiyo-e Paintin': An Art Tradition under Stress". Jasus. Archaeology. Archaeological Institute of America. 38 (6): 60–61, 75, be the hokey! JSTOR 41730275.
- Hickman, Money L. Chrisht Almighty. (1978). "Views of the Floatin' World", would ye swally that? MFA Bulletin. Be the holy feck, this is a quare wan. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Be the holy feck, this is a quare wan. 76: 4–33, would ye swally that? JSTOR 4171617.
- Meech-Pekarik, Julia (1982). "Early Collectors of Japanese Prints and the Metropolitan Museum of Art". Soft oul' day. Metropolitan Museum Journal. Sure this is it. University of Chicago Press. Stop the lights! 17: 93–118. C'mere til I tell ya now. doi:10.2307/1512790. Jesus, Mary and holy Saint Joseph. JSTOR 1512790. S2CID 193121981.
- Kita, Sandy (September 1984). "An Illustration of the oul' Ise Monogatari: Matabei and the bleedin' Two Worlds of Ukiyo". Stop the lights! The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art. G'wan now. Cleveland Museum of Art, you know yerself. 71 (7): 252–267. JSTOR 25159874.
- Singer, Robert T, that's fierce now what? (March–April 1986), would ye believe it? "Japanese Paintin' of the feckin' Edo Period". Archaeology. C'mere til I tell ya now. Archaeological Institute of America. Be the hokey here's a quare wan. 39 (2): 64–67, the shitehawk. JSTOR 41731745.
- Tanaka, Hidemichi (1999). Sufferin' Jaysus listen to this. "Sharaku Is Hokusai: On Warrior Prints and Shunrô's (Hokusai's) Actor Prints". Stop the lights! Artibus et Historiae, to be sure. IRSA s.c. Arra' would ye listen to this. 20 (39): 157–190. doi:10.2307/1483579. Jasus. JSTOR 1483579.
- Thompson, Sarah (Winter–Sprin' 1986). Would ye believe this shite?"The World of Japanese Prints". Philadelphia Museum of Art Bulletin. Would ye believe this shite?Philadelphia Museum of Art. Bejaysus this is a quare tale altogether. 82 (349/350, The World of Japanese Prints): 1, 3–47. Jaysis. JSTOR 3795440.
- Toishi, Kenzō (1979). "The Scroll Paintin'". Jaykers! Ars Orientalis. Arra' would ye listen to this. Freer Gallery of Art, The Smithsonian Institution and Department of the bleedin' History of Art, University of Michigan. 11: 15–25. JSTOR 4629294.
- Watanabe, Toshio (1984). "The Western Image of Japanese Art in the Late Edo Period", begorrah. Modern Asian Studies. Right so. Cambridge University Press, would ye believe it? 18 (4): 667–684. Sufferin' Jaysus. doi:10.1017/s0026749x00016371. JSTOR 312343.
- Weisberg, Gabriel P. (April 1975). Jesus, Mary and Joseph. "Aspects of Japonisme". Bejaysus this is a quare tale altogether. The Bulletin of the feckin' Cleveland Museum of Art. G'wan now and listen to this wan. Cleveland Museum of Art. C'mere til I tell ya now. 62 (4): 120–130. Sufferin' Jaysus. JSTOR 25152585.
- Weisberg, Gabriel P.; Rakusin, Muriel; Rakusin, Stanley (Sprin' 1986). Bejaysus here's a quare one right here now. "On Understandin' Artistic Japan". I hope yiz are all ears now. The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts. Arra' would ye listen to this. Florida International University Board of Trustees on behalf of The Wolfsonian-FIU. I hope yiz are all ears now. 1: 6–19, begorrah. doi:10.2307/1503900, you know yourself like. JSTOR 1503900.
- Addiss, Stephen; Groemer, Gerald; Rimer, J. Thomas (2006). Traditional Japanese Arts And Culture: An Illustrated Sourcebook. G'wan now and listen to this wan. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-2018-3.
- Bell, David (2004). Bejaysus. Ukiyo-e Explained. Global Oriental. ISBN 978-1-901903-41-6.
- Belloli, Andrea P. A. (1999). Explorin' World Art. Sufferin' Jaysus listen to this. Getty Publications, so it is. ISBN 978-0-89236-510-4.
- Benfey, Christopher (2007). The Great Wave: Gilded Age Misfits, Japanese Eccentrics, and the feckin' Openin' of Old Japan. Random House. Sufferin' Jaysus listen to this. ISBN 978-0-307-43227-8.
- Brown, Kendall H. (2006). Listen up now to this fierce wan. "Impressions of Japan: Print Interactions East and West". Whisht now and listen to this wan. In Javid, Christine (ed.). Color Woodcut International: Japan, Britain, and America in the oul' Early Twentieth Century. Chazen Museum of Art. Jaykers! pp. 13–29. C'mere til I tell ya now. ISBN 978-0-932900-64-7.
- Buser, Thomas (2006). Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Experiencin' Art Around Us. Here's another quare one. Cengage Learnin'. I hope yiz are all ears now. ISBN 978-0-534-64114-6.
- Checkland, Olive (2004). Arra' would ye listen to this. Japan and Britain After 1859: Creatin' Cultural Bridges. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-22183-9.
- Faulkner, Rupert; Robinson, Basil William (1999). Sufferin' Jaysus listen to this. Masterpieces of Japanese Prints: Ukiyo-e from the oul' Victoria and Albert Museum. C'mere til I tell ya. Kodansha International. ISBN 978-4-7700-2387-2.
- Frédéric, Louis (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press. Whisht now. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.
- Garson, Alfred (2001). Suzuki Twinkles: An Intimate Portrait, would ye swally that? Alfred Music, grand so. ISBN 978-1-4574-0504-4.
- Gerstle, C. Would ye swally this in a minute now?Andrew; Milner, Anthony Crothers (1995). Me head is hurtin' with all this raidin'. Recoverin' the Orient: Artists, Scholars, Appropriations, would ye swally that? Psychology Press. Here's another quare one for ye. ISBN 978-3-7186-5687-5.
- Harris, Frederick (2011). C'mere til I tell yiz. Ukiyo-e: The Art of the bleedin' Japanese Print. I hope yiz are all ears now. Tuttle Publishin'. Whisht now. ISBN 978-4-8053-1098-4.
- Hibbett, Howard (2001). Me head is hurtin' with all this raidin'. The Floatin' World in Japanese Fiction. Jasus. Tuttle Publishin'. Whisht now and eist liom. ISBN 978-0-8048-3464-3.
- Hillier, Jack Ronald (1954). Japanese Masters of the oul' Colour Print: A Great Heritage of Oriental Art. G'wan now. Phaidon Press. OCLC 1439680.[ISBN missin']
- Hockley, Allen (2003). Right so. The Prints of Isoda Koryūsai: Floatin' World Culture and Its Consumers in Eighteenth-century Japan. Sufferin' Jaysus listen to this. University of Washington Press. Listen up now to this fierce wan. ISBN 978-0-295-98301-1.
- Honour, Hugh; Flemin', John (2005). A World History of Art. Laurence Kin' Publishin'. ISBN 978-1-85669-451-3.
- Hughes, Glenn (1960), would ye believe it? Imagism & the bleedin' Imagists: A Study in Modern Poetry. Biblo & Tannen Publishers. Jesus Mother of Chrisht almighty. ISBN 978-0-8196-0282-4.
- Ishizawa, Masao; Tanaka, Ichimatsu (1986). Holy blatherin' Joseph, listen to this. The Heritage of Japanese art. Kodansha International. ISBN 978-0-87011-787-9.
- Ives, Colta Feller (1974), you know yourself like. The Great Wave: The Influence of Japanese Woodcuts on French Prints (PDF), you know yerself. Metropolitan Museum of Art. OCLC 1009573.
- Johnson-Woods, Toni (2010). Listen up now to this fierce wan. Manga: An Anthology of Global and Cultural Perspectives. Continuum International Publishin' Group. ISBN 978-0-8264-2938-4.
- Joblin', Paul; Crowley, David (1996), the shitehawk. Graphic Design: Reproduction and Representation Since 1800. Jesus Mother of Chrisht almighty. Manchester University Press. Jesus, Mary and holy Saint Joseph. ISBN 978-0-7190-4467-0.
- Kikuchi, Sadao; Kenny, Don (1969). A Treasury of Japanese Wood Block Prints (Ukiyo-e). G'wan now. Crown Publishers. Whisht now. OCLC 21250.
- Kin', James (2010). Beyond the oul' Great Wave: The Japanese Landscape Print, 1727–1960. Jesus, Mary and holy Saint Joseph. Peter Lang. Would ye swally this in a minute now?ISBN 978-3-0343-0317-0.
- Kita, Sandy (1999). The Last Tosa: Iwasa Katsumochi Matabei, Bridge to Ukiyo-e. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-1826-5.
- Kita, Sandy (2011), the shitehawk. "Japanese Prints". Jaykers! In Nietupski, Paul Kocot; O'Mara, Joan (eds.). Bejaysus. Readin' Asian Art and Artifacts: Windows to Asia on American College Campuses. Rowman & Littlefield. C'mere til I tell yiz. pp. 149–162. G'wan now and listen to this wan. ISBN 978-1-61146-070-4.
- Kobayashi, Tadashi; Ōkubo, Jun'ichi (1994). Whisht now and eist liom. 浮世絵の鑑賞基礎知識 [Fundamentals of Ukiyo-e Appreciation] (in Japanese). Shibundō. ISBN 978-4-7843-0150-8.
- Kobayashi, Tadashi (1997), grand so. Ukiyo-e: An Introduction to Japanese Woodblock Prints, fair play. Kodansha International, be the hokey! ISBN 978-4-7700-2182-3.
- Lane, Richard (1962). Masters of the feckin' Japanese Print: Their World and Their Work. Bejaysus here's a quare one right here now. Doubleday, the shitehawk. OCLC 185540172.[ISBN missin']
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- Link, Howard A.; Takahashi, Seiichirō (1977). Whisht now and listen to this wan. Utamaro and Hiroshige: In a Survey of Japanese Prints from the oul' James A, enda story. Michener Collection of the oul' Honolulu Academy of Arts. Right so. Ōtsuka Kōgeisha. Whisht now. OCLC 423972712.
- Mansfield, Stephen (2009). Jesus, Mary and holy Saint Joseph. Tokyo A Cultural History. Stop the lights! Oxford University Press. G'wan now. ISBN 978-0-19-972965-4.
- Marks, Andreas (2012), like. Japanese Woodblock Prints: Artists, Publishers and Masterworks: 1680–1900. I hope yiz are all ears now. Tuttle Publishin', the cute hoor. ISBN 978-1-4629-0599-7.
- Meech-Pekarik, Julia (1986). Here's another quare one. The World of the feckin' Meiji Print: Impressions of an oul' New Civilization, that's fierce now what? Weatherhill. ISBN 978-0-8348-0209-4.
- Merritt, Helen (1990), Lord bless us and save us. Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: The Early Years. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-1200-3.
- Michener, James Albert (1954). The Floatin' World. University of Hawaii Press, begorrah. ISBN 978-0-8248-0873-0.
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- Morita, Naoko (2010). "Cultural Recognition of Comics and Comics Studies: Comments on Thierry Groensteen's Keynote Lecture", begorrah. In Berndt, Jaqueline (ed.). Holy blatherin' Joseph, listen to this. Comics worlds & the feckin' world of comics : towards scholarship on an oul' global scale. Jesus, Mary and holy Saint Joseph. Global Manga Studies. Jesus Mother of Chrisht almighty. Vol. 1, begorrah. International Manga Research Center, Kyoto Seika University. Right so. pp. 31–39. I hope yiz are all ears now. ISBN 978-4-905187-03-5.
- Munsterberg, Hugo (1957). The Arts of Japan: An Illustrated History. Charles E. Tuttle Company, you know yerself. ISBN 9780804800426.
- Naito, Masato (2017). Whisht now. うき世と浮世絵 [Images of the oul' Floatin' World] (in Japanese), bedad. University of Tokyo Press. ISBN 978-4-13-083071-3.
- Neuer, Roni; Libertson, Herbert; Yoshida, Susugu (1990). Here's a quare one. Ukiyo-e: 250 Years of Japanese Art. Here's another quare one. Studio Editions. Here's another quare one for ye. ISBN 978-1-85170-620-4.
- Noma, Seiroku (1966). Jesus Mother of Chrisht almighty. The Arts of Japan: Late Medieval to Modern. Kodansha International. C'mere til I tell ya now. ISBN 978-4-7700-2978-2.
- Ōkubo, Jun'ichi (2008). カラー版 浮世絵 [Ukiyo-e: Colour Edition] (in Japanese), the hoor. Iwanami Shoten. Story? ISBN 978-4-00-431163-8.
- Ōkubo, Jun'ichi (2013). 浮世絵出版論 [On Ukiyo-e Publishin'] (in Japanese). Fujiwara Printin'. Jasus. ISBN 978-4-642-07915-0.
- Penkoff, Ronald (1964), the hoor. Roots of the oul' Ukiyo-e; Early Woodcuts of the feckin' Floatin' World (PDF). Whisht now and listen to this wan. Ball State Teachers College, begorrah. OCLC 681751700.
- Rikardson, Anders (1978), what? Japanese Woodblock Prints. Antik & Auktion.
- Salter, Rebecca (2001). Be the holy feck, this is a quare wan. Japanese Woodblock Printin'. Arra' would ye listen to this shite? University of Hawaii Press, the hoor. ISBN 978-0-8248-2553-9.
- Salter, Rebecca (2006). G'wan now. Japanese Popular Prints: From Votive Slips to Playin' Cards. University of Hawaii Press, Lord bless us and save us. ISBN 978-0-8248-3083-0.
- Screech, Timon (1999). Sex and the bleedin' Floatin' World: Erotic Images in Japan, 1700–1820, would ye believe it? Reaktion Books. Jesus, Mary and holy Saint Joseph. ISBN 978-1-86189-030-6.
- Seton, Alistair (2010). C'mere til I tell ya. Collectin' Japanese Antiques, grand so. Tuttle Publishin'. ISBN 978-4-8053-1122-6.
- Sims, Richard (1998). French Policy Towards the oul' Bakufu and Meiji Japan 1854–95, what? Psychology Press. Holy blatherin' Joseph, listen to this. ISBN 978-1-873410-61-5.
- Statler, Oliver (1959), for the craic. Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn, like. Charles E, the cute hoor. Tuttle Company.
- Stewart, Basil (1922), to be sure. A Guide to Japanese Prints and Their Subject Matter. Courier Corporation, be the hokey! ISBN 978-0-486-23809-8.
- Stewart, Ronald (2014), like. "Manga as Schism: Kitazawa Rakuten's Resistance to "Old-Fashioned" Japan". Sure this is it. In Berndt, Jaqueline; Kümmerlin'-Meibauer, Bettina (eds.), you know yerself. Manga's Cultural Crossroads. C'mere til I tell ya. Routledge. Be the holy feck, this is a quare wan. pp. 27–49. Here's another quare one for ye. ISBN 978-1-134-10283-9.
- Sullivan, Michael (1989). Soft oul' day. The Meetin' of Eastern and Western Art. University of California Press. Arra' would ye listen to this shite? ISBN 978-0-520-05902-3.
- Suwa, Haruo (1998). Story? 日本人と遠近法 [The Japanese and Graphical Perspective] (in Japanese). Would ye believe this shite?Chikuma Shobō, you know yourself like. ISBN 978-4-480-05768-6.
- Takeuchi, Melinda (2004). The Artist as Professional in Japan. Stanford University Press, fair play. ISBN 978-0-8047-4355-6.
- Webber, Pauline (2005). "The care of Japanese prints". In Newland, Amy Reigle (ed.). The Hotei encyclopedia of Japanese woodblock prints. Here's a quare one for ye. Hotei Publishin', bedad. pp. 351–370. Would ye believe this shite?ISBN 90-74822-65-7.
- Winegrad, Dilys Pegler (2007). Jesus Mother of Chrisht almighty. Dramatic Impressions: Japanese Theatre Prints from the bleedin' Gilbert Luber Collection. Bejaysus. University of Pennsylvania Press. Sufferin' Jaysus listen to this. ISBN 978-0-8122-1985-2.
- Yashiro, Yukio (1958). Soft oul' day. 2000 Years of Japanese Art. In fairness now. H. N. Abrams, so it is. OCLC 1303930.
- Yoshimoto, Mitsuhiro (2003), for the craic. "Reexaminin' the bleedin' East and the oul' West: Tanizaki Jun'ichiro, 'Orientalism', and Popular Culture". In Lau, Jenny Kwok Wah (ed.), enda story. Multiple Modernities: Cinemas and Popular Media in Transcultural East Asia. Would ye swally this in a minute now?Temple University Press. Whisht now and eist liom. pp. 53–75. Bejaysus this is a quare tale altogether. ISBN 978-1-56639-986-9.
- AFP–Jiji staff (23 June 2016), like. "Utamaro woodblock print fetches world-record €745,000 in Paris", to be sure. AFP–Jiji Press. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Whisht now and listen to this wan. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- Fiorillo, John, that's fierce now what? "Kindai Hanga". Sure this is it. Viewin' Japanese Prints. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
- Fiorillo, John, be the hokey! "FAQ: Care and Repair of Japanese Prints". Jesus Mother of Chrisht almighty. Viewin' Japanese Prints. Jasus. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
- Fiorillo, John. C'mere til I tell ya now. "FAQ: "Original" Prints". Jasus. Viewin' Japanese Prints, fair play. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
- Fiorillo, John. "FAQ: How do you grade quality and condition?", bejaysus. Viewin' Japanese Prints, the shitehawk. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
- Fiorillo, John. Whisht now and listen to this wan. "Deceptive Copies (Takamizawa Enji)", you know yerself. Viewin' Japanese Prints, begorrah. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
- Calza, Gian Carlo (2007). Whisht now. Ukiyo-E. Phaidon Press, fair play. ISBN 978-0-7148-4794-8.
- Kanada, Margaret Miller (1989). Here's another quare one. Color Woodblock Printmakin': The Traditional Method of Ukiyo-e. Sufferin' Jaysus listen to this. Shufunomoto, the shitehawk. ISBN 978-4-07-975316-6.
- Lane, Richard (1978), you know yerself. Images from the bleedin' Floatin' World, The Japanese Print. Jaykers! Oxford University Press, that's fierce now what? ISBN 978-0-19-211447-1.
- Newland, Amy Reigle (2005). Sufferin' Jaysus listen to this. Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints. Hotei. ISBN 978-90-74822-65-7.
- A Guide to the feckin' Ukiyo-e Sites of the feckin' Internet
- ukiyo-e.org, Japanese Woodblock Print Search – Ukiyo-e Search, extensive collection of digitized ukiyo-e images
- Japanese Woodblock collection at the bleedin' Library of Congress
- Ukiyo-e Collection at SOAS University of London