Non Western Blog Exhibit
Ukiyo-e is a form of woodblock printing that originated in Japan during the Edo period. Ukiyo-e was a form of mass entertainment for the time period in Japan, being sold as small mass printed pieces. While each piece of ukiyo-e is usually attributed to the artist who drew the design, many people are needed to produce ukiyo-e. The initial design gets sent to an artist who can carve the wood press, or presses if color will be added using presses. Another method used to color the images would be for another person to paint the ukiyo-e by hand. Publishers would organize all the pieces and figure out the distribution. Initially ukiyo-e featured mainly promiscuous images, but slowly began to take on more themes, addressing cultural and socio-political topics. Ukiyo-e was also used for mass marketing, appealing because of its low cost of production and catchy style. The first piece of Ukiyo-e I want to highlight is actually from a collection commissioned to increase tourism along the Tokaido road. Utagawa Hiroshige, was commissioned by the government to create a series of Ukiyo-e and he released “The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido” (1883-1884) a beautifully detailed series that truly highlights Hiroshige’s ability as well as the technological ability of ukiyo-e process.
You can view this piece here: https://japanobjects.com/features/hiroshige-tokaido
This is “Hakone, 10th station of the Tokaido” (1834). Almost as if it is a photo from a travel magazine, you can see the depth of the image. Hiroshige draws your eyes around the image, showing the last station in the distance, mountains disappearing slowly. He tucks the busy road, barely visible, between the colorful calm mountains. The appeal of Hiroshige’s artistry is clear when it comes to advertising, but through his work, you can also see the appeal of the ukiyo-e form. This would have been printed using multiple presses, carved specifically for each color, making it easy to mass produce once the blocks have been created.
Another ukiyo-e I want to show everyone is “The Ghost of Kohada Koheiji” By Katsushika Hokusai. The first piece I showed you all from Hokusai was all the way in my first blog post. While that ukiyo-e, and many of his works were landscapes like Hiroshige’s, Hokusai features a character from Japanese folklore in this ukiyo-e.
You can view this piece here: https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/private-collection-of-fine-japanese-prints/katsushika-hokusai-1760-1849-the-ghost-of-kohada
This piece was more unconventional than most ukiyo-e, showing the ghost of Kohada Koheiji, pulling back a slightly translucent vail. You can see the attention to detail in this print in the texture of the muscles in the head and the blood vessels in the eye. The vail almost seems to separate this world and the ghosts, being pulled aside, allowing a glimpse of the “other side”. This piece stuck out to me because of the realistic representation of human anatomy. The skull and bones have eerie resemblance to that of an actual skeleton. This was due to the fact that during this time, medical anatomy books were beginning to circulate more and more, allowing artists like Hokusai to have a reference they have never had before. The next artist does the same. “Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre'' (1843) by Utagawa Kuniyoshi features the same spectacular anatomical depictions, but also highlights Kuniyoshi’s ability to draw on political themes.
As a series of three ukiyo-e Kuniyoshi illustrations his disdain for imperial rule. The incredible detail in the clothing patterns is even more impressive after thinking of how the prints had to be made, each color being printed after lining up the print and press so colors don’t overlap or misprint. While I am not fully informed on the whole political context for the time beyond knowing that one of the men is the emperor and the woman depicted is witch, summoning the skeleton Spectre, the collection holds an ominous tone. Without any context, one could still see the judgment passed on those fighting which says a lot about the power of the message. The pieces would have had to be collected or purchased individually, which drove popularity for series like this or like Hiroshige’s 53 stations of the Tokaido. Even the Hokusai Ukiyo-e I featured in this was part of a larger series. Ukiyo-e is so remarkable to me for this reason. It is like early NYC hip-hops notorious mixtape scene meets baseball cards.
Dayman, Lucy. “Masterpieces by Hiroshige: 53 Stations of the Tokaido.” Japan Objects, Japan Objects, 22 Jan. 2021, japanobjects.com/features/hiroshige-tokaido.
“The Kabuki Ghost of Kohada Koheiji.” 百物語怪談会 Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai, 2 June 2014, hyakumonogatari.com/2014/06/02/the-kabuki-ghost-of-kohada-koheiji/.
“KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI (1760-1849) THE GHOST OF KOHADA KOHEIJI EDO PERIOD, 19TH CENTURY: Private Collection of Fine Japanese Prints: Japanese.” Sotheby's, www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/private-collection-of-fine-japanese-prints/katsushika-hokusai-1760-1849-the-ghost-of-kohada.
Comments
Post a Comment