UKIYO-E:Images of the Floating World

ANTECEDENTS AND INFLUENCES• Hyakumanto Darani (c. 764)• Muromachi era (1338-1572)—used for book publication,

typically Buddhist texts• Edo period—less expensive materials and slightly

different method of printing responds to rise in demand for literature among the merchant class/ chōnin, or “townsman.”**

• Kanō—artists in residence to Tokugawa family• “one brush, unchanged for a thousand generations

• Tosa school of painting

• Tanroku-bon—genre stories, printed with illustrations added by hand. (emulate Yamato-e painting)

• Kanazōshi—popular stories written in kana**• Jōruribon—books of ballad plays• Ezōshi—picture books

Proto-Ukiyo-e

Hishikawa Moronobu (d. 1694) “Father of Ukiyo-e”1672

Sumizuri-eMonochromatic line reproduction of a drawing—one impression

Early 18th century developments in use of color in the printsTan-e (use of tan ink)Urushi-e (use of lacquer)

Ichikawa Danjuro I in the role of Takenuki GoroTorii Kiyomasuc. 1697

ca. 1745 development: using color blocks

Prior to this, images hand-colored

benizuri-e—”a picture printed with crimson ink” *

(often juxtaposed with soft green tones)

Ishikawa Toyonobuca. 1745

Suzuki Harunobu (1724-1770)

1765—introduction of polychrome prints using multiple color blocks

a.k.a. nishiki-e—brocade picturemusha-e—over 100 impressionskimedashi—embossingkirazuri—using mica to obtain

silver tone on the print

**resulted in adoption of hōsho paper

Otani Oniji II, c. 1794Tōshūsai Sharaku **140 prints in 10 months

POPULAR SUBJECTS• KABUKI—

• Images of the theater• Yakusha-e, or portraits of Famous actors

• Bijin-ga—• Portraits of feminine beauty• Famous courtesans

• Yoshiwara, or the “Pleasure Quarters” in Edo• shunga, or erotica prints (e.g. “dream of the fisherman’s wife”)

• Heroic narratives & other stories from the existing literary tradition (often reimagined in genre images of the familiar & mundane)

• Travel narratives• Landscapes• Ghosts (toward the later 19th century)

• NOTE: privileged elite, and humble genre images of mundane daily life—both depicted elegantly

VISUAL CHARACTERISTICS

• COLOR!• Decoration & ornament• Eloquent, fluid, and often complex network of linear

elements• Flat, patterned shapes arranged across the picture

plane (taking advantage of the flat surface) rather than constructing deep illusory space. **

• Asymmetrical compositions

Cutting the Key block

TECHNIQUE

• ARTIST• CARVER• PRINTER

Once the key block is finished, the printer runs several impressions and give them to the artist in order that they can “map” in where the different colors should be printed. These individual color maps are used to cut the color blocks.

The print set-up

Ink is applied with brushes rather than brayers, and then spread evenly over the printable area with horse-hair brushes.

Using a baren to transfer ink to the paper

Contrast:Gutenberg style press

Kanabara from: tōkaidō gojusan-tsugi (53 stages of the Tōkaidō), 1833Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)

Mono no aware

http://www.asia.si.edu/explore/japan/pulverer/sumidagawa.asp

Ehon Sumidagawa ryōgan ichiran, ca. 1805Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)—”the one who is crazy about drawing”

Freer Gallery of Art

CULTURAL PRODUCTION:Some central questions

• How does one’s work function in/ contribute to contemporary society—both within the discourse about art and beyond? (i.e. why is it important that you make this work now?)e.g. Hokusai & Hiroshige: palette as political resistance

• Versatility as an artist and longevity of perspective; creative stamina.e.g. Hokusai—”the one who is mad about drawing”

60+ year career

• Relationship and essential conversation between artist, art, and audience.

COLLABORATIVE ARTISTIC PRODUCTION vs. SHIN HANGA (creative printmaking movement in which artist’s hand is involved in and evident in every stage)

LEGACY OF VISUAL CULTUREThe advantages of becoming fluent in a visual language AS WELL AS literary tradition

Ways of looking and interpreting (metaphor/poetics) as well as ways of making MITATE, YATSUSHI, FURYUPROTO-MANGA

KATA

practice within a traditionvs. pressure to be the avant garde

Integrated practice:Devotion to excellence and skill development by following the way of time-honored and time-tested methods that seek to integrate thought/ being with action.

e.g. 10 yr apprentice before being released to cut key block

“The craftsman’s dedication to the right way of working and the artist’s wonder at the infinite riches of experience.”~Oliver Statler