Ukiyo-E

"We live only for the moment, in which we admire the splendor of the moonlight, the snow, the cherry blossom and the colors of the maple-leaves. We enjoy the day, warmed by wine, without allowing the poverty which stares us in the face to restore our sobriety. In this drifting- like a pumpkin carried along by the current of a river- we do not allow ourselves to be discouraged for a moment. This is what is called the floating, fleeting world." ( Fahr-Becker 23).

This quote is from a book written in 1661, here it is used to describe the essence of the art form of Ukiyo-e, which is also referred to as pictures from the floating world. One reason these are called pictures of the floating world is because of the momentary pleasure associated with the pictures. People could not change their social status and living conditions in Japan, the only escape they had were the pleasure districts and the Kabuki theater. There they could watch plays or spend time with beautiful women. (MIA) However Ukiyo-e covered many other subjects than just the theater and geishas. Other themes included scenes from everyday life in Edo, different views of famous places, historical stories, landscapes, and pictures of animals and flowers in different seasons.(Fahr-Becker 1)

Ukiyo-e was a unique development in Japanese art because for the first time the merchant class dictated the development. They were the main audience for the prints. The roots of Ukiyo-e can be traced to the urbanization which took place in the late 16th century, that led to the development of a middle class of merchants and artisans. (Wikipedia.com) The new middle class now had enough money to commission art that reflected their own interests and activities. They patronized works that featured the most up to date fashions and hairstyles.(MIA)

However the usual subjects were of city life, particularly scenes from the pleasure district. (Wikipedia.com) Two common genres dealing with the red light district are Bijin-ga and Yakusha-e. Bijin-ga are pictures of beautiful women. These include prints of courtesans, geishas and tea-house waitresses.(Fahr-Becker 1) Yakusha-e are pictures of actors from Kabuki plays. The development of Yakusha-e ran parallel to the development of Kabuki theater. The artists not only produced the posters and programs for the plays, but they also created portraits of the actors. (Fahr-Becker 14)

At first Ukiyo-e pictures were printed only in black and white. The monochromatic prints were sometimes hand colored by the artist. (Fahr-Becker 13) Soon the art process advanced to polychrome printing which used two colors. (Fahr-Becker 15) However by the 1760's the prints were being made using up to twenty colors. (MIA). This created amazingly rich and life like colors. With the advancement of color printing and the familiarity of subjects and techniques this time is considered the golden age of Ukiyo-e.

Ukiyo-e was not to last untouched forever. In 1854 Japan became open to the West so the art of this time reflects the unrest and changes. Technology such as chemical dyes and inks, lithography and photography was introduced into Japan. Soon afterwards the popularity of Ukiyo-e began to decline. ( Fahr-Becker 22) Photography began to replace the traditional woodblock prints. (Wikipedia.com)

While Ukiyo-e was declining in Japan it was discovered by the Western art world. Japanese art was used as an inspiration for the cubist movement. The perspective and