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Ukiyo-e

Also Known As Pictures of the Floating World

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Ukiyo-e, meaning pictures of the floating world, is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints and paintings depicting landscapes, kabuki theater and the entertainment districts of Japanese cities. The prints were mass-produced and priced for the urban middle class rather than commissioned by aristocratic patrons. Hishikawa Moronobu is credited as the genre's originator in the 1670s, and later masters such as Katsushika Hokusai carried the form through the Edo period and into a twentieth-century revival.

Facts
Start Year
1670 1
Hishikawa Moronobu is credited as the genre's originator in the 1670s (New World Encyclopedia).
End Year
1867 1
Marks the close of the Edo period; the genre continued into a twentieth-century revival through the shin hanga and sosaku hanga movements (New World Encyclopedia).
Founded In Place
Japan 1
Key Principle
Mass-produced woodblock prints depicting landscapes, kabuki theater and the entertainment districts of Edo-period Japanese cities, made for an urban middle-class audience rather than aristocratic patrons. 1
Cross-Tradition Connections

Expressed In

Influenced

Movement Members

Sources
1. Ukiyo-e (New World Encyclopedia)
New World Encyclopedialead section and Audience section
Quote, lead section and Audience section
Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints and paintings produced between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries, depicting landscapes, the theater and scenes from the entertainment districts of Japanese cities. Ukiyo-e could be mass-produced and were intended for the urban middle class, who were generally not wealthy enough to afford an original painting.
View the Source
1. Ukiyo-e (New World Encyclopedia)
New World EncyclopediaAudience section
Quote, Audience section
Ukiyo-e could be mass-produced and were intended for the urban middle class, who were generally not wealthy enough to afford an original painting.
View the Source
1. Ukiyo-e (New World Encyclopedia)
New World EncyclopediaKey artists section
Quote, Key artists section
Hishikawa Moronobu, credited as originator in the 1670s.
View the Source
1. Ukiyo-e (New World Encyclopedia)
New World EncyclopediaMovement Members: The Great Wave off Kanagawa, Hokusai section
Quote, Movement Members: The Great Wave off Kanagawa, Hokusai section
The scene is of a great wave about to devour men and boats, with the distant Mount Fuji minimized by the size of the wave.
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1. Ukiyo-e (New World Encyclopedia)
New World EncyclopediaExpressed In: Printmaking, lead section
Quote, Expressed In: Printmaking, lead section
Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints and paintings.
View the Source
1. Ukiyo-e (New World Encyclopedia)
New World EncyclopediaInfluenced: Impressionism, Western influence section
Quote, Influenced: Impressionism, Western influence section
Ukiyo-e prints reached Europe in the mid-nineteenth century and enjoyed particular acclaim in France, becoming a source of inspiration for cubism and for many impressionist painters.
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1. Ukiyo-e (New World Encyclopedia)
New World EncyclopediaInfluenced: Cubism, Western influence section
Quote, Influenced: Cubism, Western influence section
Ukiyo-e prints reached Europe in the mid-nineteenth century and enjoyed particular acclaim in France, becoming a source of inspiration for cubism and for many impressionist painters.
View the Source
1. Ukiyo-e (New World Encyclopedia)
New World EncyclopediaInfluenced: Vincent van Gogh, Western influence section
Quote, Influenced: Vincent van Gogh, Western influence section
Notable Western artists influenced included Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Gustav Klimt, who incorporated elements like perspective techniques and compositional approaches from these Japanese woodblock prints into their own work.
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1. Ukiyo-e (New World Encyclopedia)
New World EncyclopediaInfluenced: Claude Monet, Western influence section
Quote, Influenced: Claude Monet, Western influence section
Notable Western artists influenced included Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Gustav Klimt, who incorporated elements like perspective techniques and compositional approaches from these Japanese woodblock prints into their own work.
View the Source
1. Ukiyo-e (New World Encyclopedia)
New World EncyclopediaInfluenced: Edgar Degas, Western influence section
Quote, Influenced: Edgar Degas, Western influence section
Notable Western artists influenced included Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Gustav Klimt, who incorporated elements like perspective techniques and compositional approaches from these Japanese woodblock prints into their own work.
View the Source
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