ukiyo-e

Japanese picture or print depicting the pleasures of everyday life; mainly produced by the technique of woodcut, or woodblock. Beginning in the 17th century, ukiyo-e became the dominant art form in 18th- and 19th-century Japan. Originally made in black and white, advances in woodcut printing in the late 18th century enabled the production of multicoloured works. Aiming to satisfy the tastes of the increasingly affluent merchant classes, ukiyo-e artists employed bright colours and strong images, and featured actors, women, and landscapes among their favoured subjects; over a quarter of ukiyo-e were erotic works. Hiroshige, Utamaro, Hokusai, and Suzuki were leading exponents. The flat decorative colour and lively designs of ukiyo-e prints were later to influence many prominent French avant-garde artists.

The art of ukiyo-e began around 1600, reflecting a society at relative peace after over 400 years of political unrest. Production was centred mainly in Kyoto and later, at the end of the 17th century, in Endo. There were three development phases. The early bold black and white designs of ‘primitive’ ukiyo-e, gave way to delicate benizuri-e two-colour prints, and multicoloured nishiki-e (Japanese ‘brocade pictures’) in the late 18th-century. In these early phases, many ukiyo-e were created as souvenirs and advertisements for local entertainment and services. Kabuki theatre was a major theme, along with pictures of everyday life, tea houses and restaurants, the female form, and legends. With the growth of censorship in the 19th century, artists turned to the natural world for inspiration, marking a new era of simplified, dramatic works that were to have a profound influence on 20th-century art, such as Hokusai's Fugaku sanj u-rokkei/36 views of Mount Fuji (1823-29; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston).

Woodcut printing The technique of woodcut was introduced into Japan from China in the 8th century. It was perfected to a fine art from the 17th century onwards, when woodcut became the principal medium used to meet the popular demand for ukiyo-e. Woodcut printing was a collaborative art; an artist would create the design, a specialist would transfer the lines to the wooden blocks, and a printer would finish off the final step.

Primitive period The so-called ‘primitive’ ukiyo-e printing period began with the bold black and white designs of Hishikawa Moronobu (c. 1625-1694) and the rhythmic prints of artists from the Torii School such as Kiyotada, (active early 18th century). Kiyotada mainly concentrated on depicting Kabuki actors, producing works such as his famous Dancing Kabuki Actor (1725; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). Japanese printmaking remained unchanged for many years but, by the late 18th century, the introduction of a colour printing process brought the primitive period to a close.

Middle period The two-colour benizuri-e process was invented by Okumura Masanobu (1686-1794), who had previously experimented with a lacquer technique. Artists using the benizuri-e method created small delicate ukiyo-e, primarily of graceful women, in bright pink, pale green, and black. With the development of multicoloured nishiki-e, the predominant style became much more delicate and subtle, as evident in the work of the distinguished Suzuki Harunobu, creator of The Evening Glow of the Andon (1765; Art Institute of Chicago). The nishiki-e, or ‘brocade pictures’, were so-called because their appearance was likened to exquisitely coloured silk brocades. Although the art of printmaking flourished throughout the 18th century after the death of Harunobu, its subject matter became more intimate and harsh. Artists such as Kitagawa Utamaro, the first Japanese artist to become well known in Europe, created sensual ukiyo-e of women in domestic and private scenes, while Toshusai Sharaku depicted actors and wrestlers with a caustic edge.

Late period It was during the 19th century, when censorship of the ukiyo-e was on the rise, that artists found new themes in the natural world. Concentrating on landscape, and simplifying natural objects to base forms prior to interpretation, artists such as Katsushika Hokusai and Andō Hiroshige brought printmaking and the art of ukiyo-e to a new level that would continue to inspire artists into the next century. Their work influenced Western artists, particularly those working in France, such as James Whistler, Edward Degas, and Vincent van Gogh. Ukiyo-e by Hokusai, in particular, such as Kanagawa oki nami-ura/Under the Wave at Kanagawa from 36 views of Mount Fuji, changed the entire feel and style of modern Japanese printmaking, and subsequently the modern, predominately abstract, art of Western culture.