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Ukiyo-e Gallery

Kitagawa Utamaro

(1753-1806)

Kitagawa Utamaro started his career by doing book illustrations for a major publisher run by Tsutaya Juzaburo. He started gaining popularity from around 1791 for his okubi-e, or close-ups, of beautiful women's faces. As his fame grew, other publishers also started selling his prints, and Utamaro became a leading ukiyo-e artist of the day. However, the government of the time labeled one of his works inappropriate and banned him from continuing his artistic activities in 1804. He died two years later in despair.

Naniwaya Okita (Okita of Naniwaya)

This shows a young woman working in a tea house. It's a rare ukiyo-e that shows her from both the front and the back.

Hokkoku Goshikizumi Oiran (High-Ranked Courtesan from the series of Five Shades of Ink in the Northern Quarter)

This ukiyo-e shows a high-ranking courtesan known as an oiran writing a letter while her hair dries. The wet hair is especially realistic.

Fujin Tewaza Ayatsuri Kagami: Sentaku (Model Images of Women at Work: Laundry)

This is one of a series depicting the daily life and housework of married women. It's interesting to see what people's lives were like in those days.

Toshusai Sharaku

(dates of birth and death unknown)

Tsutaya Juzaburo, the man who discovered Utamaro's talent, commissioned Toshusai Sharaku, an unknown artist drawing yakusha-e (portraits of kabuki actors) at the time, to make actors' okubi-e (close-ups). These prints of Edo (modern-day Tokyo) kabuki actors in theatrical roles caused a sensation. What surprised the public was that the prints weren't intended to depict the actors beautifully; the highly original designs purposely emphasized the actors' idiosyncrasies.

Along with Utamaro, Sharaku played an important part in bringing about the golden age of ukiyo-e prints. However, his works were too daring for the tastes of many people, and he disappeared from the world of ukiyo-e after only 10 months of activity.

Ichikawa Ebizo no Takemura Sadanoshin (Ichikawa Ebizo as Takemura Sadanoshin)

This print highlights the honest personality of the role played by Ichikawa Ebizo. The use of just a few colors produces a powerful effect.

Ichikawa Omezo no Yakko Ippei (Ichikawa Omezo as Yakko Ippei)

This print depicts a warrior just as he draws his sword to attack his enemy. The solid red costume is striking.

Tanimura Torazo no Washizuka Yaheiji (Tanimura Torazo as Washizuka Yaheiji)

The mean look on the actor's face skillfully expresses the character's evil ambition.

Utagawa Hiroshige

(1797-1858)

Utagawa Hiroshige was born as the son of a low-class samurai. He became an ukiyo-e apprentice at the age of 15 and a professional artist at 16. He started with yakusha-e and bijin-ga like other artists, but when he was 35 years old, his landscape series Toto Meisho (Famous Sights in the Eastern City), depicting famous parts of Edo (present-day Tokyo), was published and attracted a lot of attention for the poetic atmosphere of his prints. The following year, Hiroshige traveled alone to Kyoto via the Tokaido, a walking highway along the Pacific coast that connects Nihonbashi in modern-day Tokyo with Sanjo Ohashi in Kyoto, as a governmental messenger. His series Tokaido Gojusantsugi (Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido), based on sights he had seen during this journey, became popular and won him fame as a landscape artist.

Tokaido Gojusantsugi: Nihonbashi Asa no Kei (Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido: Morning Scene at Nihonbashi)

Early in the morning, the procession of a daimyo (a lord owning a vast amount of land) begins its journey from Edo. Peddlers can also be seen carrying fish they have bought at a nearby fish market.

Tokaido Gojusantsugi: Kanbara Yoru no Yuki (Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido: Night Snow at Kanbara)

People bend low as they hurry along in the thick snow. This is a masterpiece depicting the relationship between people and nature.

Tokaido Gojusantsugi: Shono Hakuu (Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido: White Rain at Shono)

A sudden shower causes the bamboo grove to sway wildly. Men are seen running up the hill with a palanquin (carried by the two men in the middle). The palanquin is covered in a cloth so that it doesn't get wet. Designs like this one, with a strong sense of movement, are unusual for Hiroshige.

Katsushika Hokusai

(1760-1849)

Katsushika Hokusai was active in many different fields, including yakusha-e and book illustrations. He also learned Chinese and Western art techniques and blended them into his ukiyo-e works. In the early 1820s, when Hokusai was already in his sixties, his famous 46-piece series depicting Mt. Fuji, Fugaku Sanjurokkei (Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji), was published. This series made Hokusai famous for his dynamic composition and beautiful use of colors, and elevated landscape prints into an established genre of ukiyo-e.

Katsushika Hokusai's world-famous work "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji," which uses the motif of Mount Fuji and is thought to be highly representative of Japan, is used in the latest Japanese passport design from 2020.

Fugaku Sanjurokkei: Gaifu Kaisei (Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji: Pleasant Winds, Fine Weather)

This print, dynamically depicting Mt. Fuji glowing in the morning light, is one of Hokusai's representative landscape prints.

Fugaku Sanjurokkei: Fukagawa Mannenbashi Shita (Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji: Under the Fukagawa Mannen Bridge)

Mt. Fuji can be seen in the distance underneath the arched bridge. Hokusai was skilled at unusual compositions like this.

Fugaku Sanjurokkei: Bishū Fujimigahara (Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji: Fuji View Field in Owari Province)

Mt. Fuji can be seen through a large, round wooden tub. This print combines a bold composition with a detailed human subject.

Shiika Shashinkyo: Seisho Nagon (Realistic Impressions of Poetry: Seisho Nagon)

This is one of a series illustrating famous poems that were taught as an academic subject at the time. It depicts a scene from a Chinese story that appears in a poem by Seisho Nagon. The man in the tree, knowing that the gates will not be opened until morning, is crying like a rooster to make the gatekeepers think that morning has come. Hyakunin Isshu is an anthology of poems containing 1 waka poem each from 100 different authors and were collected by Fujiwara no Teika (1162–1241) who was active between the late Heian period (794–1185) and the early Kamakura period (1185–1333). The authors range from Emperor Tenji in the Asuka period (sometime in the 6th century–710) to Juntoku-in in the Kamakura period. Seisho Nagon (c. 966–1025) was a female author and poet in the mid-Heian period.

(Tokyo National Museum)
Source: ColBase

Related Links

Ukiyo-e (video)

Japanese: 浮世絵
English: The Ukiyoe Tradition
French: L'Ukiyo-e se perpétue
Spanish: La tradición del Ukiyoe
Chinese: 浮世绘
Portuguese: Pinturas Ukiyo-e
Arabic: تقاليد الأوكييوئيه

Katsushika Hokusai

English: Katsushika Hokusai: An Influential Figure in Art Around the World
French: Katsushika Hokusai : Une figure influente de l'art dans le monde entier
Spanish: Katsushika Hokusai: Una influyente figura en el arte de todo el mund
Chinese: 葛饰北斋：在全世界艺术领域富有影响力的人物
Arabic: كاتسوشيكا هوكوساي: عمل فني مؤثر حول العالم

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