The term aizuri-e (Japanese: 藍摺絵 "blue printed picture") usually refers to Japanese woodblock prints that are printed entirely or predominantly in blue. When a second color is used, it is usually red. Even if only a single type of blue ink was used, variations in lightness and darkness (value) could be achieved by superimposing multiple printings of parts of the design or by the application of a gradation of ink to the wooden printing block ( bokashi ).
The development of aizuri-e was associated with the import of the pigment Prussian blue from Europe in the 1820s. [1] [2] This pigment had a number of advantages over the indigo or dayflower petal dyes that were previously used to create blue. It was more vivid, had greater tonal range and was more resistant to fading. [3] It proved to be particularly effective in expressing depth and distance, and its popularity may have been a major factor in establishing pure landscape as a new genre of ukiyo-e print. [4]
Early adopters included Hokusai in his Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (1830), most notably in The Great Wave off Kanagawa and Kajikazawa in Kai Province . Hiroshige also used Prussian blue extensively in his landscape prints. Other prominent Japanese artists to use it included Keisai Eisen, Utagawa Kunisada and Utagawa Sadahide.
The theory that aizuri-e production was prompted by the 1842 sumptuary laws known as the Tenpō Reforms is no longer widely accepted. [5]
Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art that flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk tales; travel scenes and landscapes; flora and fauna; and erotica. The term ukiyo-e translates as 'picture[s] of the floating world'.
Katsushika Hokusai, known mononymously as Hokusai, was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker. His woodblock print series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji includes the iconic print The Great Wave off Kanagawa. Hokusai was instrumental in developing ukiyo-e from a style of portraiture largely focused on courtesans and actors into a much broader style of art that focused on landscapes, plants, and animals. His works had a significant influence on Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet during the wave of Japonisme that spread across Europe in the late 19th century.
Utagawa Hiroshige, born Andō Tokutarō, was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist, considered the last great master of that tradition.
Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji is the title of two series of woodblock prints by Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hiroshige, depicting Mount Fuji in differing seasons and weather conditions from a variety of different places and distances. The 1852 series, published by Sanoya Kihei, are in landscape orientation using the chūban format, while the 1858 series are in the portrait ōban format and were published by Tsutaya Kichizō. The same subject had previously been dealt with by Hokusai in two of his own series, Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, produced from c. 1830 to 1832, and One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji, published in three volumes from 1834 to 1849.
The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō, in the Hōeidō edition (1833–1834), is a series of ukiyo-e woodcut prints created by Utagawa Hiroshige after his first travel along the Tōkaidō in 1832.
Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji is a series of landscape prints by the Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai (1760–1849). The series depicts Mount Fuji from different locations and in various seasons and weather conditions. The immediate success of the publication led to another ten prints being added to the series.
Woodblock printing in Japan is a technique best known for its use in the ukiyo-e artistic genre of single sheets, but it was also used for printing books in the same period. Invented in China during the Tang dynasty, woodblock printing was widely adopted in Japan during the Edo period (1603–1868). It is similar to woodcut in Western printmaking in some regards, but was widely used for text as well as images. The Japanese mokuhanga technique differs in that it uses water-based inks—as opposed to Western woodcut, which typically uses oil-based inks. The Japanese water-based inks provide a wide range of vivid colors, glazes, and transparency.
The Great Wave off Kanagawa is a woodblock print by Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai, created in late 1831 during the Edo period of Japanese history. The print depicts three boats moving through a storm-tossed sea, with a large, cresting wave forming a spiral in the centre over the boats and Mount Fuji visible in the background.
Hiroshige II was a Japanese designer of ukiyo-e art. He inherited the name Hiroshige II following the death in 1858 of his master Hiroshige, whose daughter he married. In 1865 he moved from Edo to Yokohama after dissolving his marriage and began using the name Kisai Risshō. His work so resembles that of his master that scholars have often confused them.
Bokashi is a technique used in Japanese woodblock printmaking. It achieves a variation in lightness and darkness (value) of a single color or multiple colors by hand applying a gradation of ink to a moistened wooden printing block, rather than inking the block uniformly. This hand-application had to be repeated for each sheet of paper that was printed.
Yokohama-e are Japanese woodblock prints depicting non-East Asian foreigners and scenes in the port city of Yokohama.
Fine Wind, Clear Morning, also known as Red Fuji, is a woodblock print by Japanese artist Hokusai (1760–1849), part of his Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series, dating from c. 1830 to 1832. The work has been described as "one of the simplest and at the same time one of the most outstanding of all Japanese prints".
Fan print with two bugaku dancers is an ukiyo-e woodblock print dating to sometime between the mid-1820s and 1844 by celebrated Edo period artist Utagawa Kunisada, also known as Toyokuni III. This print is simultaneously an example of the uchiwa-e and aizuri-e genres. It is part of the permanent collection of the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada.
The two ukiyo-e woodblock prints making up View of Tempōzan Park in Naniwa are half of a tetraptych by Osaka artist Gochōtei Sadamasu. They depict a scene of crowds visiting Mount Tempō in springtime to admire its natural beauty. The sheets belong to the permanent collection of the Royal Ontario Museum, Canada.
Three Travellers before a Waterfall is an ukiyo-e woodblock print by Osaka-based late Edo period print designer Ryūsai Shigeharu (1802–1853). It depicts a light-hearted scene of two men and one woman travelling on foot through the country-side. The print belongs to the permanent collection of the Prince Takamado Gallery of Japanese Art in the Royal Ontario Museum, Canada.
Nishimuraya Yohachi was one of the leading publishers of woodblock prints in late 18th-century Japan. He founded the Nishimuraya Yohachi publishing house, also known as Nishiyo (西与), which operated in Nihonbashi's Bakurochō Nichōme under the shop name Eijudō. The firm's exact dates are unclear, but many art historians date its activity to between c. 1751 and 1860.
Sundai, Edo is a woodblock print by the Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai. It was produced as the fifth print in the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji from c. 1830 to 1832 in the late Edo period.
Paul Binnie is a Scottish artist working in the Japanese tradition of woodblock printing. His work is reflective of the shin-hanga artists of the early to mid-20th century, employing subjects such as landscapes, tattoos, and bijin.
Sketches of the Life of the Great Priest is a series of ten Japanese woodblock prints in ink and color on paper made by ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798–1861). It was published by Iseya Rihei in 1835–1836. The prints, which are in the large, horizontal, multi-colored woodblock format, tell the story of Nichiren (1222–1282), a Japanese Buddhist priest, philosopher and founder of Nichiren Buddhism. The series is referred to by many names, the result of various English translations, with Illustrated Abridged Biography of the Founder one of the more popular titles.