Ukiyo-e: Art of Japan's Edo Period

1. Why did Ukiyo-e emerge?

Around 1603, hand-painted illustrations (nikubi-e) appeared in Japan. These were created by artists using ink and color, rather than being carved onto woodblocks. Hishikawa Moronobu, a master of hand-painted illustration, is considered the founder of Ukiyo-e. Hand-painted illustration flourished in Kyoto and Osaka.

During the Edo period, the late feudal period in Japan, economic growth led to the emergence of urban culture. The demand for art among the urban class increased, and hand-painted illustration gradually transitioned into woodblock Ukiyo-e. After Hishikawa Moronobu's death, Ukiyo-e known as tan-e (cinnabar-e) became popular.

Subsequently, red-e (red-e) and lacquer-e (lacquer-e) appeared. Tan-e used vermilion as its main pigment; red-e used red instead of vermilion, resulting in a more vibrant color; lacquer-e added glue to the inked areas to give them a lacquer-like sheen and was often covered with gold powder.

In the early 1740s, Okumura Masanobu, a publisher and painter in Edo, invented red-brush-e (red-and-green) illustration. Later, Suzuki Harunobu invented nishi-e (brocade prints) that could overlay multiple colors. Ukiyo-e covered an extremely wide range of subjects, including social events, folk tales, historical anecdotes, theatrical scenes, and illustrations for classic works. Some artists even specialized in depicting women's lives, recording war events, or portraying landscapes.

By the 1850s, Ukiyo-e had spread to Europe, sparking a "Japanese wave" and influencing Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and Art Nouveau. However, it was precisely this exchange with the West that led to the decline of Ukiyo-e within Japan. Japanese artists were drawn to Western painting techniques, and traditional Ukiyo-e came to an end in the 1880s.

2. Subject Matter Classification

Category 1: Figure Painting

Includes paintings of beautiful women, actors, warriors, and sumo wrestlers, with paintings of beautiful women and actors being the most famous.

Category 2: Landscape Painting

Includes ukiyo-e (woodblock prints) and famous place paintings. Katsushika Hokusai and Utagawa Hiroshige made outstanding contributions to the development and dissemination of landscape painting.

Category 3: Flower and Bird Painting

Corresponding to flower and bird paintings in Chinese painting, encompassing flowers, birds, fish, insects, and wild animals.

Category 4: Other

Includes periodicals, travel paintings, story paintings, enlightenment paintings, and erotic paintings, with periodicals and erotic paintings being the most famous.

3. Representative Painters, Works and Styles

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), a Japanese painter, was skilled in landscape painting, genre painting, and manga.

Hiroshige Utagawa (1797-1858) was a Japanese painter who excelled in landscape and genre paintings. His landscape paintings are often brightly colored.

Impact

In 1867, Ukiyo-e prints appeared at the Universal Exposition in Paris, France. Soon after, artists such as Katsushika Hokusai and Utagawa Hiroshige gained popularity among Western artists, sparking a "Japanese wave."

However, in Japan at the time, Ukiyo-e prints were not even considered valuable works of art. By the early 20th century, more Ukiyo-e works were exported to Europe. Artists influenced by Ukiyo-e included Cézanne, Manet, Monet, Whistler, and Klimt.

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