Ukiyo-e

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.

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.

Hishikawa Moronobu, credited as originator in the 1670s.

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.

Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints and paintings.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.