Ukiyo-e facts for kids
Ukiyo-e (浮世絵), "pictures of the floating world", is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints. They were produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries, that showed landscapes, tales from history and the theatre. It is the main artistic genre of woodblock printing in Japan.
Ukiyo-e were cheap because they could be mass-produced. They were meant for mainly townsmen, who were generally not rich enough to pay an original painting. The original subject of ukiyo-e was city life, in particular activities and scenes from the entertainment district. To this day, Ukiyo-e is still very popular across the world.
A novelist of the time period, Asai Ryōi, in his Ukiyo monogatari (浮世物語, "Tales of the Floating World", c. 1661), gives an insight into the idea of the floating world:
- "Living only for the moment, turning our full attention to the pleasures of the moon, the snow, the cherry blossoms and the maple leaves; singing songs, drinking wine, diverting ourselves in just floating, floating; ... refusing to be disheartened, like a gourd floating along with the river current: this is what we call the floating world".
Images for kids
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Tokugawa Ieyasu established his government in the early 17th century in Edo (modern Tokyo).Portrait of Tokugawa Ieyasu, Kanō school painting, Kanō Tan'yū, 17th century
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Early woodblock print, Hishikawa Moronobu, late 1670s or early 1680s
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Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa, 1831
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Not only the visual arts but also music drew inspiration from ukiyo-e in the West: the cover of Debussy's La mer (1905).
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Woman Visiting the Shrine in the Night, Harunobu, 17th century. Bold, flat lines define and contain areas of flat colour.
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Wabi-sabi aesthetic in a 16th-century tea bowl
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Portraits of beauties were a mainstay of ukiyo-e. The wallpaper and other items in this brocade print are extensively embossed.Evening Snow on the Nurioke, Harunobu, 1766
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Prussian blue was a prominent synthetic dye in the 19th century.
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The woodblock printing process in a print by Kunisada, 1857. An actual print shop would not have been staffed by such beauties.
See also
In Spanish: Ukiyo-e para niños