Japanese Ukiyo-e Appreciation Series 2: Floating Pictures

Author: Wu Guiyu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-10-01
Features: Ukiyo-e, referring to the genre of folk paintings from the Edo period in Japan. The term "ukiyo" originates from Buddhist language, meaning the myriad phenomena of the world, or the social realities one sees and hears. By the late 17th century, it was adopted by Japanese scholars in the field of art, giving rise to ukiyo-e. The production method of ukiyo-e began with more expensive ink paintings, followed by the well-known woodblock prints. Ukiyo-e includes folk paintings centered on beautiful women, artist portraits depicting Kabuki actors, as well as landscapes, flowers, birds, insects, grasses, and paintings of animals and plants. Among them, the beautiful women and artist portraits, which are collectively known as the two major themes of ukiyo-e, are renowned for their unique charm, attracting worldwide attention and being widely collected by major museums around the world.
Ukiyo-ga: Around 1740, ukiyo-ga emerged under the influence of Western perspective landscape engravings, characterized by its emphasis on a sense of distance. Katsushika Hokusai is considered a master of ukiyo-ga. He adopted Western perspective techniques to depict vast landscapes as if they were floating in reality, hence the name "ukiyo-ga." This volume also includes several works by other renowned ukiyo-ga artists such as Okamura Toshisada, Katsushika Hokusai, and Katsushika Hokusai (corrected as Katsushika Hokusai for consistency).