Japanese woodcuts became widespread in Edo (Tokyo). During the XVII - XIX centuries Edo was the main residence of the shoguns, scientists, writers and artists were attracted here, which provided the city with a powerful economic and cultural upsurge. In 1868, after the overthrow of the shogunate and the restoration of imperial power, the capital of Japan was moved from Kyoto to Edo. Here the direction of fine arts was born, which is denoted by the term "ukiyo-e" (translated from Japanese - "pictures of the changing world"). This concept was borrowed from the philosophy of Zen Buddhism, for which the awareness of frailty is important. human being compared to eternity. Therefore, in the Zen school, the comprehension of life "here and now" came to the fore. Admiring the fleeting moments of the present has become an integral part of Japanese aesthetics and one of the ways of natural closeness to nature and meditation in the spirit of Zen Buddhism.

"... Live only the moment given to you, enjoy, admiring the moon, cherry blossoms, autumn leaves maples, sing songs, drink wine and have fun, not caring at all about the poverty that defiantly looks into our faces, thoughtlessly surrendering to the stream, like a pumpkin, impassively drawn by the current of the river. This is what we call ukiyo-e..." (Asai Ryoi, 17th century writer)

The art of ukiyo-e was associated with the poetry of tanka and haiku (haiku), which also sought to convey the moment of the present in an extremely simple form and at the same time contain all space and the whole world.

In a flower cup
A bumblebee is napping. Don't touch him
Sparrow friend!

Colored prints of ukiyo-e were more affordable than pictorial scrolls in terms of cost and were purchased by various segments of the urban population to decorate their homes. With the advent of cameras, the phenomenon of ukiyo-e began to disappear, as photography became a more perfect way of capturing the moment.

In Japanese woodcuts, there was a division into genres:
KATYO-GA - images of flowers and birds
FUKEI-GA - natural scenery and city views
BIJIN-GA - images of beautiful people
YAKUSHA-E - portraits of popular actors of the kabuki theater
MUSYA-E - images of famous samurai
SHUN-GA ("spring pictures") - erotic engravings

KATE-GA
Almost all kinds of garden flowers came to Japan from China, including the chrysanthemum (in Japanese "kiku" - "flower of the sun"), which soon became national flower countries. The names of shades of Japanese chrysanthemums were poetic in nature: " dawn", "evening sunset", "northern downpour", "foggy morning", "lion's mane", "blaze of the sword"".
In 1496, a book was published in Kyoto with a botanical description of more than 10 varieties of chrysanthemums, which differed sharply from each other in flower shape and color. There was no color printing at that time, so the shades of varieties were described in words. With the advent of color engraving, multi-volume collection albums began to appear, in which not a descriptive, but an artistic and pictorial aspect came to the fore.
In the 18th century, the Maruyama-Shijo school of Japanese classical naturalistic painting was founded in Kyoto on the "street of artists" Shijo. Its founder, artist Maruyama Okyo, combined the naturalism, chiaroscuro and perspective of the western school with traditional oriental image techniques.

One of the students of Maruyama-Shijo became Kono Bayrei- the famous master of kacho-ga. He created a huge number of easel engravings, several books and albums. A special place in his work is occupied by the "Album of Birds and Flowers" (1883), in which the artist depicts birds and flowers in certain time of the year. Engravings were published both as separate editions and combined in blocks: spring-summer, autumn-winter. The engraving album "One Hundred Birds" went through three editions in 1891, 1892 and 1896. The album One Hundred Flowering Plants was first published posthumously in 1901.

BIJIN-GA
With the development of the large urban centers of Edo and Osaka, scenes with traditional holidays and entertainment of the townspeople appear on scrolls and screens. Central characters these paintings are young metropolitan fashionistas and dandies in catchy outfits. Portraits of courtesans, which served as an advertisement for the "fun" quarter of Yoshiwara, became widespread. Despite the advertising nature, bijin-ga were rarely allowed to assess the true appearance of a particular beauty. Rather, it was a collective portrait, reflecting fashion trends in costume, makeup and hair.

Tighten a narrow belt.
From the eyes of a young beauty
Seems cold.
The recognized master of the genre is considered Kitagawa Utamaro.The female image in his works was subjected to enhanced typification. The ideal of female beauty in the works of the master is the elongated oval of the face and proportions of the body, the traditional high hairstyle, eyes outlined with a minimum number of strokes, thin lines of the lips and a straight nose. At the same time, for the image of one detail, Utamaro could use several dozen boards! Thanks to the constant search for the master, the ukiyo-e palette has been enriched with many nuanced tones. So, for example, the artist first began to mix gold and silver powder to achieve the effect of flickering background.

The engraving depicts three beauties of Edo - Nanbaya O-Kita, Takashima O-Hisa and Tomimoto Toyohina. O-Kita worked as a waitress in a tea house located in front of the Zuishinmon gate in Asakusa, Toyohina was a geisha in Yoshiwara. Takashima O-Hisa (picture on the right) came from a wealthy family, she was the daughter of the owner of several tea houses in the Ryogoku Yagenbori area. In the book Mizuchaya Hyakunin Issho (1793), which compared one hundred girls from tea houses, O-Kita was in 16th place, and O-Hisa in 17th place.

Flower arranging competition between Takashima O-Hisa and O-Kita

The ideal of female beauty created by Utamaro inspired both contemporaries and younger artists. Among the followers of the master it is worth mentioning Eisho Chokasai. The most significant series of his engravings - "The Competition of the Beauties of the Cheerful Quarters" - demonstrates the gradual complication of the genre: the development of multi-figured compositions and the filling of portraits with numerous details.

Utagawa Kunisada

Toyohara Kunitika, a student of Utagawa Kunisada, depicts courtesans of the highest rank, whose distinctive skill was to create an impression of luxury and impregnability. Tayu (as they were called in Osaka and Kyoto) and oiran (in Edo) made very complex hairstyles with a lot of jewelry, wore a kimono in three or more layers with a long train and a huge decorative bow in front. In Kunitika's works, the composition becomes complex and multi-layered, like the robes and hairstyles of geishas, ​​pierced by dozens of hairpins - "kanzashi".
"Three Famous Courtesans"

MUSYA-E
For many millennia, the history of Japan is a history of irreconcilable inter-clan wars and power struggles between shoguns. According to the legendary "Records of Ancient Affairs" (708) and "Annals of Japan" (720), the emperors are the direct descendants of the sun goddess Amaterasu. The dynasty was not interrupted from the VI century BC to the present reigning emperor Akihito. Since the 12th century, the family coat of arms ("mon") has been a 16-leaf chrysanthemum.
To maintain power, the imperial family entered into alliances with other major clans. As a result, in 1192, Minamoto Yoritomo became the first military ruler of the country - the shogun. The title appeared as an abbreviation for the temporary rank of sei-taishogun ("commander-in-chief"). Unlike the emperor, his figure was not sacred, but he became the actual head of the government - the bakufu.
Samurai ("bushi") are not just warriors, but officials, as well as bodyguards and servants of their overlord. The "golden age" for the samurai came in the Edo era, when they received many privileges. And it was allowed to carry two swords, a large and a small one, while the rest could only carry one small sword. Tokugawa Ieyasu called the sword the "soul" of the samurai. It was a family heirloom and sacred item.
Each samurai developed fortitude through the practice of Zen Buddhism, guided by a set of ethical rules and norms of behavior in society and at home - Bushido or the "Way of the Warrior".
In 1868, the power of the emperor was restored. A rapid modernization of the country began along the lines of England and the USA; in 1873, the samurai troops were disbanded. In 1876, a law was passed prohibiting the carrying of swords and abolishing the estate itself.

summer herbs
Where the heroes have disappeared
Like a dream.
(Matsuo Basho)

Utagawa Yoshikatsu
Takeda Shingen (series "Famous generals of our country")
Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Yamamoto Kansuke (Haruyuki) at the Battle of Kawanakajima (series "The Brave Commanders of Kai and Echigo Province - 24 Commanders of the Takeda Clan")

Takeda Sama-no-suke Nobushige (series "One Hundred Courageous Generals of the Battle of Kawanakajima in Shinano Province")

FUKEI-GA

Hokusai(1760 - 1849)
The outstanding woodcut master, according to his own diary confessions, did not create anything significant until the age of 70 and only later began to develop continuously. During his long life, he used at least 30 pseudonyms, significantly surpassing other authors in this respect. Now these pseudonyms are considered by researchers to periodize the stages of the master's work. In 1800, at the age of 41, he began to call himself Gakejin Hokusai - "Painting-obsessed Hokusai".
The artist turned to various genres of woodcuts: among them are portraits of actors, greeting cards "surimono", manga. But it was in the landscape genre "fukei-ga" that all the finds of the master were combined. The classical Far Eastern landscape ignored the real appearance of the object, trying to embody through natural forms philosophical ideas being, while in Hokusai it is always associated with a specific area, the topographical features of which are often specified with the help of inscriptions. He also for the first time combined in a harmonious unity the laws of perspective construction of space and the linear rhythm of ukiyo-e, landscape views and everyday motifs, actively integrating people's lives into a single universal order.

Hokusai created his most famous series of works in mature period creativity from 1823 to 1831. The series was such an unprecedented success that publisher Nishimura Yohachi soon announced plans to expand it to 100 prints. However, only 10 new works saw the light in 1831-32.
In the first 36 species sacred mountain Fuji is depicted from the Edo side, which is why these prints are called "omote Fuji" ("Fuji from the front"). Contrary to the established tradition, the original contours of the works are printed not in black, but in indigo blue, which enhances the contrast of cold and warm tones of the sky, water and mountain stone. The next 10 engravings are presented mainly from the western side, therefore they are called "ura Fuji" ("Fuji from the back").

Quietly, quietly crawl
Snail, down the slope of Fuji
Up to the very heights!
(Kobayashi Issa)

1. "The Great Wave off Kanagawa"

Hiroshige(1787 - 1858)
Ando Hiroshige is Hokusai's most successful follower. As a sign of respect for the work of the teacher, Hiroshige created after his death the eponymous series "36 Views of Mount Fuji". Hiroshige actively improved the techniques of woodcutting. Distinctive features of his engravings were the use of embossing and the method of gradation of color tones, "bokasi", to convey fog, twilight or forest behind a veil of rain.
Born and living most of his life in Edo, the master devoted almost a fifth of all the sheets he created to the views of his native city. last series The work was called "100 Known Views of Edo" and was completed by the master at a time when he had already retired from the world to a Buddhist monastery in 1856.
Hiroshige traveled extensively in Japan and created several sketchbooks with views of the provinces.

Series "53 Tokaido Stations"
Tokaido or "The Way east sea"- one of the main roads of Japan with a length of about 514 km connected the capital of the Edo shogunate with the imperial city of Kyoto and further with Osaka. None of the plots, with the exception of Fuji, was as popular as the image of this ancient tract. Hiroshige overcame it in 1832 as part of a solemn procession heading to Kyoto with gifts to the emperor.The series consists of 55 engravings, as views of Edo and Kyoto are added to 53 stations.

Portable hearth.
So, the heart of wanderings, and for you
There is no rest anywhere.
(Matsuo Basho)

15 station - Kambara

FUZOKU-GA
Fuzoku-ga ("pictures of manners and customs") in Western tradition called the household genre. Busy marinas, trade and craft areas were depicted at different times of the day in different seasons. Hiroshige dedicated the first 10 sheets of his series "36 Views of Fuji", as well as the later series "100 Famous Views of Edo" to the views of the eastern capital and its inhabitants.

With a crackle the silks are torn
At the Echigoya shop...
Summer time has come!
(Takarai Kikaku)

Hiroshige "Evening view of Saruwakacho" (series "100 famous views of Edo and its environs")

Hiroshige "Suruga District in Edo" (series "36 Views of Mount Fuji")

Hiroshige "Cherry Blossom in Asukayama in Edo" (series "36 Views of Mount Fuji")

Hiroshige "Winter view from Sukiyagashi in Edo" (series "36 views of Mount Fuji")

Urban landscapes in the drawings of ukiyo-e masters are emphatically realistic, however, often they contain motifs of mysticism and popular beliefs. For example, the image of fiery foxes, which, according to legend, wield magic and serve the Shinto goddess Inari, and also gather in a flock in new year's eve under the enoki tree.
Ando Hiroshige "Fox Lights" at the Iron Dressing Tree in Oji" (series "100 famous views of Edo and its environs")

There are also some humorous stories. Hiroshige even had a separate pseudonym for such sheets - "Hiroshige with a playful brush." The works of Hiroshige himself became the subject of irony of his own student Utagawa Hirokage. His series "Comic Views of Famous Places in Edo" is a direct reference to the famous teacher's series, with the only difference being that in it the city dwellers get into all sorts of embarrassing situations, which makes the viewer laugh.

YAKUSYA-E

The word "kabuki" is made up of three characters "song", "dance" and "skill", this is one of the types of traditional theater in Japan, which is a complex synthesis of singing, music, dance and drama.
Unlike the aristocratic NO theater, kabuki is considered an art for the townspeople and common people. The theater, in which all female roles are performed exclusively by men, was created by a woman. The founder of kabuki is the legendary temple dancer Izumo no Okuni, who first began to show ritual dances to the accompaniment of musical instruments outside the sanctuary. In 1629, the government of the third shogunate of Iemitsu banned all performances involving women as undermining the moral foundations of society.
In kabuki, all elements, starting with the make-up of actors, costumes, ending with poses, carry a great semantic load. The play is much longer than European productions: individual performances can last all day! The scenery of productions often changes in the middle of the act: they are changed by workers dressed in black suits, which means they are "invisible".
Kabuki has a close relationship with the traditional puppet theater bunraku. Dolls are made in the size of 1/2 and 2/3 human height and are controlled by three operators. Almost all parts of the doll's body are very mobile, including the head, in which the eyes blink and move, the eyebrows and lips move, the tongue sticks out. Two of the most famous Japanese theater plays, The 47 Loyal Ronin and Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Branches, were originally written for bunraku and only then adapted for kabuki theater.

Utagawa Kunisada
Kabuki theater scenes

Again, not about everything at once, but specifically about engravings ukiyo-e. beautiful word, but what does it mean? We respect special sites. For example, encyclopedia of Japan from, A to Z
- and find out that:

woodcut technique, or printing from wooden boards, appeared in Japan in the Heian period (794−1185) along with the advent of Buddhism. Beginning of the 17th century characterized by the appearance of illustrated woodcut books, published in mass editions. In these editions, text and illustrations were printed in black.

The first easel engravings were also black and white, then they began to be slightly tinted by hand with cinnabar (tan-e), later the engravings were tinted with dark red paint (beni-e) or shaded with black dense paint, which created the effect of black lacquer coating (urushi- e).

The first prints using red color (benizuri-e) appeared in the middle of the 18th century. Gradually, the number of boards for color printing increased, and in 1765 the first multi-color engravings appeared, which were called “brocade paintings” (nishiki-e).

Ukiyo-e(which literally translated from Japanese means “pictures of the mortal world”) absorbed philosophical contemplation and emotional fullness of admiring the fullness of mortal existence.

In technical terms, the art of ukiyo-e is a complex process that requires the highest professionalism at all stages of performance. Final result work depended not only on the skill of the artists who drew sketches, but also on the virtuoso skill of engravers and printers. To create a multi-color image, it was necessary to engrave from two to three to eight boards. Printing was done by hand, which made it possible to create a picturesque effect of halftones. Boards were painted by hand, polished, blown with gold or silver powder.

Japanese engraving has become synonymous with sophistication and good taste. At the end of the 19th century, ukiyo-e prints gained popularity all over the world, they were collected by Whistler, Manet, Degas, Goncourt, Zola. In St. Petersburg, the first exhibition of ukiyo-e prints was held in 1898. Rich collections of such prints exist in the State Hermitage and the Kunstkamera.

The word "ukiyo" in ancient times denoted one of the Buddhist categories and could be translated as "mortal changeable world." At the end of the seventeenth century Ukiyo began to denote the world of earthly joys and pleasures. Ukiyo-e are pictures of the everyday life of the urban class of the Edo period.

Emerged in the 17th century. in the environment of the third estate, which was gaining strength, less constrained by canons than painting, engraving was the most widespread and accessible form of art for the townspeople. Themes for ukiyo-e prints were often plots genre stories ukiyo-zoshi, kabuki plays, classical and contemporary poetry.
An artist, a carver and a printer participated in the process of creating an ukiyo-e print. An important role was played by the publisher, who studied the demand and determined the circulation. Often it was he who set the theme of the engraving and influenced the nature of the publication.

The engraving process was as follows. Artist did contour drawing ink on thin, translucent paper. Engraver, having pasted the drawing with the front side on a board of cherry, pear or boxwood, he cut out the first printing plate. Then several black-and-white prints were made, on which the artist indicated the intended colors. Cutter produced the required number (sometimes more than thirty) printing plates, each of which corresponded to one color or tone. Printer by talking with artist colors, applied paint of vegetable or mineral origin and hand-printed an engraving on wet rice paper.

The collective method of work of the artist, carver and printer, the narrow specialization of the masters, the workshop organization of the process determined the originality of Japanese woodcuts.

The founder of the direction is considered Moronobu Hisikawa, Kitibe (about 1618 - about 1694; according to other sources 1625 - about 1694, 1638-1714), Japanese painter and chart. Lived in Edo. More major representatives ukiyo-e were Katsushika Hokusai, who is also known as the founder of the landscape genre in Japanese printmaking, Ando Hiroshige(1797−1858) is one of the largest Japanese graphic artists.
Hiroshige was born in Edo in the family of a petty samurai Ando Ganemon. Thanks to early learning hieroglyphic writing Tokutaro (the first child's name of the artist) was also well versed in the properties of paper, brush and ink - the main materials of oriental painting.

The first painting "Mount Fuji in the snow", which has survived to this day (Suntory Museum, Tokyo), was painted by the artist at the age of ten. He was fourteen years old when he became a student Toyohiro, founder of the school Utagawa. At the core early works Hiroshige - real events, scenes peeped on the streets.

The second stage of creativity was marked by the appearance of landscape engravings. Hiroshige depicts the first series, Eight Views of Omi, published in 1825, dedicated to the beauty of Lake Biwa, located in the province of Omi, without leaving Edo. The next series "Ten Views of the Eastern Capital", released two years later, is dedicated to hometown artist - Edo.

Then the artist completely focuses his attention on landscapes and series of the katyoga (“flowers and birds”) genre. One of the most famous is the sheet "Sparrows over a snow-covered camellia" from a series of 25 engravings.

In August 1832, the artist traveled the entire eastern seaside road - Tokaido. The result of the trip was a large series of landscape engravings, Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road, released by him, which marked the beginning of the flowering of his work.
The next period of creativity Hiroshige largely different from the previous one. He often changes his place of residence, makes repeated, rather long trips around the country, but at the same time does not create large landscape series at all. He devotes most of his time to illustrating books of satirical poetry.

IN last decade throughout his life, the artist does not part with his favorite themes of Tokaido and Edo landscapes, depicting them on separate engravings, fans, and in books. Hiroshige creates the Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series. In the same years, the artist turns to the image of bizarre rocks, caves, waterfalls, gorges and crossings through them. Hiroshige gave his last series of landscapes, consisting of three triptychs, the old poetic title "Snow, Moon, Flowers". During the last three years of Hiroshige's life, engravings of his largest series, One Hundred Views of Edo, gradually came out.

landscapes Hiroshige along with works Hokusai made an engraving ukiyo-e leading art form of the first half of the nineteenth century.

Many works by Hiroshige and Hokusai and others different authors You can check it out on the Ukiyoe Japanese Prints website But be careful, there are 9 art galleries with 500 each. You can stay for a long time!

The emergence and development of ukiyo-e

One of the most famous types Japanese art is a print called ukiyo-e (浮世絵). Literally, "ukiyo-e" is translated as "floating world", which refers us to Buddhist philosophy, in which the word "ukiyo" meant "mortal world". But with the advent of "fun neighborhoods" (brothels) in the Edo era, the concept was rethought and began to mean "the world of fleeting phenomena." The word "ukiyo-e" was first mentioned by the writer Asai Ryoi in 1661.

The ukiyo-e style refers to woodcuts, printed graphics on wood, or prints on paper. The creator of ukiyo-e is the painter and graphic artist Hisikawa Moronobu (菱川 師宣).

The predecessors of ukiyo-e were ehon (絵本) - collections of stories with accompanying pictures. Then the prints gained independence and were used as posters for kabuki theater productions or scrolls with sayings kakemono (掛け物) placed in niches of tokonoma (床の間), a kind of home shrines.

Ukiyo-e paintings originally originated in the late 17th century. The first engravings were black and white, as ink was used to create them, and from the 18th century, pictures became colored, as masters began to paint them with cinnabar by hand, using a brush. Then came the technique of polychrome printing, called nishiki-e (錦絵) - "brocade pictures".

The engravings were very cheap, since the technique was quite simple and allowed to produce large "circulations", and were intended for wide sections, mainly the urban population. And only when the Europeans began to massively buy paintings, the Japanese realized the full value of these works, and they had to buy paintings produced by their own country from foreigners. Due to the fact that a print could create more than one hundred identical paintings, you can see the same work in several parts of the globe, and all of them will be genuine.

Since the main consumers of the paintings were the townspeople, the plots reflected the typical lifestyle of a Japanese city: lovely ladies, daily everyday situations, sumo wrestlers, kabuki theater actors, stories of legends. Later, landscapes and military themes began to be depicted. Accordingly, ukiyo-e paintings are not only works of art, but also important historical sources, from which we can learn a lot about life in the Edo period.

The engravings were meant to be admired in a horizontal position, so they were not hung on the wall, except as an emono. Because of this, some works have their own "secret". For example, the hero's kimono could be with a pattern that could only be seen when the picture lay horizontally or when looking at it from below if it hung on the wall.

Execution technique

Three people were required to create a Japanese print: an artist, a carver, and a printer. The quality and beauty of the work depended on everyone three masters. The first one applied the prototype of the picture on transparent paper with ink, the carver pasted it on a wooden plank of cherry, pear or boxwood and cut out the areas that remained white. It was the first printed form, and the drawing was actually destroyed. Then several prints were made with different colors (each color or tone has its own form), and the printer, having discussed the color scheme with the artist in advance, applied paint to a set of forms and printed an engraving on rice paper.

Main genres

Bijin-ga(美人が) - the image of beauties. As the name implies, the main subject of the image of this genre were beautiful women. Most often, on the engravings one could see the inhabitants of the cheerful quarter of Yoshiwara: geisha, courtesans and simply famous beautiful women. The typical beauty of those times had an oval face, a curved neck and a small mouth. The subjects in which the beauties appeared were everyday: tea ceremony, toilet, walks, games. In this genre, the okubi-e (お首絵) style arose - "big heads", where the close-up girl's head.

Masters: Suzuki Harunobu, Torii Kiyonaga, Kitagawa Utamaro.

Yakusha-e(役者絵) - portraits of popular theater actors. The artist had to adhere to certain strict rules in the image: for example, slanting eyes, gathered in a heap, denoted anger; if the hero bit his handkerchief, then this showed unbridled passion, and hairiness referred to savagery and animal unbridledness. Yakusha-e engravings have interesting feature: A purple spot can be seen on the heads of the heroes. In fact, this spot denoted a cap, symbolizing a highly shaved forehead, like all men in Edo, which was worn on the head by actors portraying women (and, as you know, in kabuki all roles, including women, were portrayed by men).

Masters: Torii Kiyonobu, Katsukawa Shunsho, Toshusai Syaraku, Utagawa Toyokuni.

Shunga(春画 "spring pictures") - erotic engravings.

At the word "ukiyo-e" in Japanese, first of all, the image of a painting in the genre of shunga pops up in the head, and then all the others. Shunga is a genre that depicts very explicit intimate scenes with exaggerated anatomical details, shocking Europeans brought up in strict Christian customs. But the shock was replaced by popularity - there could never be such images in the West, and foreigners bought them very actively.

Japan has been watching the adventurous adventures of contemporary art for a century now. However, before the country began to open up to foreigners, any creative spirit seems to have left the art of painting, which turned into a handicraft. Only in a few masterpieces of painting something living and human was preserved.

Even then, there was a decline in the narrative edifying "genre" painting, known as ukiyo-e- "image of the mortal world"; this current popular art found its expression both in painting and in graphics. This genre sought to preserve the traditions of purely Japanese painting ( yamato-e) and soon began to supplant the aristocratic painting of the Tosa school, which was supported by the court, as well as the "Chinese style" painting of the Kano school, which enjoyed the patronage of the samurai. Ukiyo-e painting was done on thin, porous paper or on silk, usually coarser than that of classical painting, which made it possible to create a certain relief of the surface with the help of paints. The latter constituted the essence of the pictorial search, both in terms of perspective effects and in terms of volume. The line showed the flexibility of the brush and gave the silhouettes a natural and lively character. Ukiyo-e seems to have its origins in the Kano school in Kyoto: it was she who introduced fashion in late XVI century mural screens, where scenes of everyday life and holidays in Kyoto were played out. Works of Iwas Matabei (1578–1650), inspired by genre painting, create the second component of this school. The beginning of ukiyo-e painting is marked by the activity of four artists of the Kano school. Two of them never turned to prints: Miyagawa Chosun (1683–1753) and Nishikawa Sukenobu (1671–1751), who worked primarily as an illustrator. His refined and evolving style manifested itself initially in the portrait (beauty) genre. Two other artists, Hisikawa Moronobu (1618–1694) and Okumura Masanobu (1686–1764), are, as we shall see, chiefly known as the creators of drawings for prints.

In the eyes of the Japanese of the 19th century, engraving was not a significant art. It was in France that ukiyo-e prints gained incredible popularity after Felix Braquemont showed Edgar Degas the work of Hokusai in 1856. In 1868, Manet, under the influence of Japanese painting, painted a portrait of Emile Zola; in 1876, Monet painted girls in kimono on a decorative panel; Van Gogh, finally, was extremely passionate about this hitherto unknown art and used Japanese models.

Engraving (hanga), which allows you to replicate the work on the basis of the first sheet, is a "means mass media”, and its development since the middle of the 17th century exactly coincides with the development of cities, where a new form of civilization was born. Of course, the method itself had Chinese origin and has been known for a long time: in Shosoin there is a tablet carved in the 7th century, which was intended to apply a pattern to the fabric. In 764, Empress Koken (749-759) ordered wood and copper boards to be carved in order to reproduce prayers and Buddhist images. She donated these carved boards to the temples of Nara. This effective method continued to be used, but only for religious purposes. The nobles for whom the art was made could pay well enough for painters and scroll illustrators; at the same time, they appreciated the quality of materials to the same extent as creativity, and despised the cheapness of engraving. The situation changed when merchants and artisans became wealthy and formed a middle class, too poor to buy expensive art, but wealthy enough to have a craving for some luxury. It was they who formed in their own interests a real art market. It was then that the Edo artist Hisikawa Moronobu (1618–1694) came up with an original idea - to reproduce drawings with the help of engravings, the plots of which were taken from life itself, which was inherent in the traditional manner of Japanese art ( yamato-e). He sketched his drawings in the famous Yoshiwara pleasure quarter - images of expensive geishas, ​​entertainment companies far from virtue, actors of the nascent kabuki theater - cut with wire on planks of soft wood. The townspeople liked these pictures, these genre scenes began to be called ukiyo-e ryu, Buddhist concept of "mortal world" ( ukiyo-e) was then often used in relation to houses of rendezvous and entertainment; so, the image of the mortal world - ukiyo-e. There were more plots, artists began to reproduce flowers, birds, and any decorative motifs that customers liked. If Moronobu, despite his influence, did not have direct students, then the situation was different with his follower Torii Kiyonobu (1664-1729), whose school, which specialized in depicting actors and young beauties, still flourishes today.

The first engravings were presented to the public in the form of separate sheets and booklets, which in the era of Moronobu were made by folding double sheets of paper. Japanese printmaking required the cooperation of three artists or craftsmen: an artist, an engraver, a printer. The first prints were made in black and white ( sumi-e or sumi zuri-e) combination; red lead was sometimes used ( tang-e); but since 1720, thanks to some improvements, various and rich shades were used: purple red ( beni-e) replaced red lead, also used yellow, purple and green color, they began to add glue to Chinese ink (this innovation was due to Okumara Masanobu (1686–1764), which made it possible to give greater depth and volume to the black color delimiting the image. The shiny surface resembled varnishes ( urushi-e).

The first engravings, the colors of which were set with a brush directly on the board, tried to carefully imitate the picture. Everything has changed since 1743, when the practice bene zuri-e, which used Chinese woodcut techniques, gave ukiyo-e independence of style and texture. Now obtained by rolling and successive impressions made possible by the technique of marking, engraving has achieved in twenty years such a luxury of color that it has been compared to brocade ( nishiki-e): ten primary colors made it possible to achieve rich shades and midtones. The work of the famous Suzuki Harunobu (1725–1770 ), who immortalized the fragile appeal of beauties bijin) of its era, became the peak of this cheerful art of printmaking, the subject - memories of pleasant hours spent in pleasant company. Katsukawa Shunso (1726–1792 ) and Ippitsusai Buncho (1725–1794 ), imitating the technique of Harunobu, working in the same direction (butai ogi) created in 1770 a genre that soon became very popular - portraits of actors ( nigao-e). New changes were made later by Kitagawa Utamaro (1753–1806 ): he, abandoning the classical full-length portrait, attached exceptional importance to the image of the face. His discovery was immediately borrowed by Chosusai Sharaku (worked in 1794-1795) and used to depict male theater actors. Although the art of portrait engravers then reached its zenith, it gradually began to disappear. As for ukiyo-e, the genre as a whole was destined to experience a new rise. Fashion for him again spread, to a large extent this was facilitated by novels. They were supposed to be illustrated, so there is an interest in finding new subjects. Any phenomena could become a plot for engraving, so that in Japan, of course, they could agree with the thought of Sebastian Mercier. At the same time, he noted with annoyance in his "Paris Pictures": "... in our days there is a ridiculous abuse of engraving" (cited by: Adémar J. Original engraving of the 18th century). However, among this so quickly turned out to be banal production, two bright spots appear: the landscapes of Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) and Ando Hiroshige (1797-1858). The merit of Hokusai should be attributed to the fact that he managed to free the engraving from the image of the narrow streets of the city and its inhabitants, opening up much wider horizons. Inspiration came to him (curiously) in 1798 at the sight of a landscape engraved on copper by a Dutch artist. "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji" and then "Fifty-three Stations of Tokaido" (1833) by Hiroshige represent the pinnacle of Japanese printmaking. Courage and nervousness of lines, measured frenzy of colors, always coordinated with the colorful contrasts of nature, they sang thousands of views of the sea and fogs, the softness of the countryside and the geometric correctness of the beauty of Mount Fuji. This style, soon perfected, suffocated and lost its sharpness as quickly as it blossomed. WITH mid-nineteenth centuries, too large print runs from one board, a general decline in taste and quality made engraving a simple "oleography". Paradoxically, but exactly these mediocre and mannered works that accidentally found their way to the West had a huge impact on impressionism and all modern art.

The history of copper engraving, which glorified Hokusai's talent, is older. Copper engravings were infrequently used during the Nara era for the needs of the Buddhist faith, and then disappeared altogether until the 16th century. Christian missionaries who during this period preached the gospel doctrine in Japan brought with them a relatively large number of boards on pious subjects, as did Buddhist preachers in the 8th century. In 1590, a press was brought from Europe, allowing Kyushu missionaries to print from boards and teach engraving techniques. Western-style printmaking was swept away in the same storm that hit Christianity, and attention was drawn to it only towards the end of the Edo period, at a time when interest in the "Dutch" sciences began to appear again. Siba Kokan (1738–1818) learned the aquaforte technique from the Dutch, which he successfully applied. It was then that a new trend was born, and since then the fashion has demanded that the covers of books translated from other languages ​​be decorated with etchings; the style of these prints (just return) was largely inspired by the work of Hokusai.

So the engraving popular genre, originally leaning toward anecdotes, represented one of the last upsurges (even if it turned out to be short) of Japanese art, before it began to be sharply opposed to Western works, messengers of a different mentality, using different methods and different materials.

Engraving is only an insignificant form of expression and, cut off from its Far Eastern roots, becomes incomprehensible. Its quality is based primarily on the quality of the line, engraving does not allow awkwardness and error. This feature turns out to be quite exceptional for all the art of countries using hieroglyphs: the brush is skillfully dipped in ink and, in accordance with what effect the artist wants to achieve, moves rhythmically, softly and powerfully, but it can neither stop nor return. Unless creativity is completely left to chance, the artist or calligrapher must have a very accurate mental picture of the goal he is striving for, and have sufficient practical skill so that his hand obeys the commands of the spirit. Success was possible only thanks to constant learning from childhood, continuous experience gained over a long time, and the fact that a person disinterestedly, without dreaming of fame, reproduced countless examples - those presented in notebooks intended for learning from models created by artists or simply found in nature itself and the surrounding world.

Paintings in the Ukiyo-e style ( japanese painting)

History of ukiyo-e

early stage

It refers to the period from the Great Fire of the Meireke years to the Horeki era. Ukiyo-e in its early stages was mainly original drawings and one-color woodcuts (sumizuri-e).

After the middle of the 17th century, the person who made original drawings for woodcuts was called "hanshita-eshi" (professional draftsman), then came Moronobu Ishikawa, who drew illustrations for picture books and ukiyo-zoshi ( popular stories everyday life of the Edo period). The famous "Mikaeri Bijin zu" ("Painting of a Beauty Looking Back"), his most significant work, is an original drawing.

The book "Koshoku ichidai otoko" ("Life loving man”) Saikaku (published in 1682) describes that ukiyo-e was drawn on a folding fan with 12 ribs, and this is the most old literature, in which you can find the word "ukiyo-e".

When the era of Torii Kiyonobu began, a type of sumizuri-e appeared, painted with a brush and ink. For such engravings, red pigments were mainly used, with a yellowish-brown tint (red earth) they were called "tan-e", and with a touch of beni (blush) they were called "beni-e". In addition, sumizuri-e with several colors added to beni-e were called benizuri-e. Since that time, Torii's ukiyo-e school has been closely associated with kabuki (traditional theater with male actors) and is used on kabuki billboards even today.

middle stage

It refers to the period from 1765, when nishiki-e (printing) was born, until around 1806.

In 1765, egoyomi (image calendars) became fashionable, especially among haiku poets, and egoyomi exchange evenings began to be organized. To meet demand, Harunobu Suzuki and others developed "azuma-nishiki" printed in multiple colors, and ukiyo-e culture came into full bloom. As for the factors allowing multi-color printing, it was pointed out that "kento" (registration marks) were introduced to mark points for overprinting, and thick, high-quality Japanese paper appeared that could withstand multi-color printing. Papers made from kozo (paper broussonette) were used, such as etizen-hosogami (heavy Japanese paper of excellent quality from the province of Echizen), iyo-masagami, nisami-utigami, etc. In addition, an important role was played economic development, since a division of labor was introduced for complex processes between shitaeshi (ukiyo-e artists), horishi (engravers) and surishi (printers).

After Harunobu Suzuki's death, the bijinga's imagery began to change from androgynous, doll-like to realistic.

During the An'ei era of Shigemasa, Kitao was popular for its bijinga. Realistic delineation was also added to yakusha-e, and Shunsho Katsukawa painted boring nigao-e (portraits).

In addition, Utamaro Kitagawa Utamaro appeared, who painted many okubi-e (bust portraits), which were a type of bijinga with a subtle, graceful, and pleasing manner.

In 1790, the "Aratame-in" approval system was established and various restrictions were placed on prints.

In 1795, a hanmoto (publisher) named Juzaburō Tsutai, whose assets were confiscated for his violation of the ban, presented the Toshūsai to Shyaraku as a measure of revival. Although he gained public attention with his uniquely exaggerated yakusha-e, his popularity created a bad impression due to the over-exaggeration of features, and he was defeated by Toyokuni Utagawa's "Yakusha butai no sugatae" ("Images of Actors on Stage") series, which was extremely popular.

Subsequently, the largest school of esi ukiyo-e artists, the Utagawa school, consisting of students of Toyokuni, began to emerge.

late stage

It refers to the period from 1807 to about 1858.

After the death of Utamaro Kitagawa, the mainstream of bijing turned to sensual, sexual beauty and attractiveness such as Keisai Eisen portrayed.

Hokusai Katsushika, one of Shunsho Katsukawa's students, drew "Fugaku sanju rokkei" ("Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji") against the backdrop of the flourishing of travel, which led to the printing of "Tokaido Gojusan-tsugi" ("Fifty-three Stations of Tokaido") by Hiroshige Utagawa . Thanks to these two artists, meiso-e (landscape drawing) in the ukiyo-e genre was developed.

In the yakusha-e genre, Kunisada Utagawa, as the successor of his teacher Toyokuni Utagawa, drew strong yakusha-e.

In kusazoshi, musha-e began to be drawn by Kuniyoshi Utagawa and others, along with the popularity of fantasy tales.

At that time, Kuniyoshi Utagawa's "Suikoden" ("Water Shore") series gained popularity, and the "Suikoden boom" took place.

Edo sunako saisenki, published in 1853, described "Toyokuni Nigao (nigao-e), Kuniyoshi Musha (musha-e), and Hiroshige Meisho (meiso-e)."

final stage

It refers to the period from 1859 to about 1912. Yokohama-e (Yokohama ukiyo-e) became fashionable among people who were inspired by the kurofune ("black ships" of Commodore Matthew Perry) and became interested in Western cultures. After the Meiji restoration, kaika-e (enlightenment paintings) depicting a rare western architecture and railways, replaced yokohama-e.

While in Japan, which was destroyed by the Meiji Restoration, grotesque things appeared in kabuki and other entertainment performances, Yoshiiku Ochiai and Yoshitoshi Tsukioka, who were students of Kuniyoshi Utagawa, painted "Eimei nijuhachishuku", which depicted bloody scenes and were called muzan -e, as well as illustrations for articles in nishikie-shimbun.

Yoshitoshi Tsukioka, with his exquisite sketch-based drawings, created not only muzan-e, but also many rekishiga (historical paintings) and fuzokuga, and came to be called "the last ukiyo-e artist". Because he strongly encouraged his students to explore other genres of visual arts, many students achieved greatness as illustrators and Japanese style painters, such as Kiyokata Kaburaki; thus, the ukiyo-e tradition passed into other genres.

In addition, some artists of the Kano school began to draw ukiyo-e, including Kyosai Kawatabe.

Kiyoshika Kobayashi created new landscape drawings called kosenga that did not use profile lines.

Yshifuji Utagawa used ukiyo-e on omocha-e, now called newspaper supplements, and due to the popularity of the idea, played an active role as an esi artist specializing in otocha-e. He was even called "Omocha Yoshifuji".

Ukiyo-e gradually decreased, losing popularity in newspapers, photographs, new technologies such as lithography, etc. Ukiyo-e artists showed their ingenuity regarding photographs, mostly in vain, and were forced to become illustrators, etc. History The ukiyo-e that lasted from the Edo period almost ended with the last print being senso-e depicting the Sino-Japanese War.

From the Taishō period to the Showa period, Hasui Kawase and others set out to revive ukiyo-e with new woodcuts, and also left behind many works that used ukiyo-e multicolor printing technology.

Themes and types of ukiyo-e

Ukiyo-e depicts the everyday life of common people

Ukiyo-e originally appeared as paintings depicting the customs and mores of everyday life "ukiyo". Landscapes, portraits of kabuki actors, sumo wrestlers and yujo (prostitutes) were depicted. Many fall under the category of modern comics and contain caricature elements. Traditional themes, which were supposed to be the material for Chinese painting and yamato-e paintings, were sometimes converted for ukiyo-e.

As for shung ( erotic art) depicting love scenes, then they were painted by the most famous esi artists. Shunga was often sold in package deals. Since their selling prices were high, a lot of money was spent on creation and complex production methods were used. While having an element of mockery (ridicule) of actual sex culture, they were not necessarily sensational, and it was noted that they should not be considered only as pornography.

Types of ukiyo-e

Bijinga: Drawings depicting young women.

Kanban-muzume (poster girls) and yujo, which were popular at the time, were depicted.

Yakushae: Drawings of popular kabuki actors, etc.

Some of them looked like clichés and some served as tirasi (leaflets).

Caricature: Comically drawn pictures.

Toba-e included. There were humorous scenes and personifications. They kept the caricature elements in check, but consistently emphasized the entertaining aspect.

Tobae: Cartoons depicting human characters with long arms and legs. They came from the name of Toba Sojo (leading figure). comics on early stage sometimes referred to in this way.

Comics: Etehon (artist's guide).

Drawings depicting the entire universe. They were different from modern comics. Manga by Hokusai (sketches by Hokusai) were good example.

Shunga: Drawings depicting sex scenes and other sensual things.

There were small prints with sex toys and personalized genitals, etc. They were so common in the countryside that nishiki-e actually meant shunga. They could be part of the dowry.

Meishoe: Drawings depicting famous landscapes.

Drawings were allowed to the common people of the period, who could not travel freely to see the coveted famous sights. They have also been used as travel brochures.

Mushae: Drawings depicting the famous samurai, appearing in legends, fantasy tales and stories.

They came into vogue, especially with the boom in fantasy stories. Bakufu (Japanese feudal government, headed by the shogun) forbade the depiction of Nobunaga Oda and warriors after him.

Rekishiga: Drawings depicting famous historical scenes.

After the Meiji Restoration there were works depicting the last emperors in order to promote the legitimacy of the imperial family.

Omochae: Drawings for children.

These included pieces to be pasted onto sugoroku (Japanese backgammon) and menko (Japanese-style weaving), miniatures of popular ukiyo-e, fashionable paper dolls, pieces called zukushi-e under which many ghosts, warriors, and etc. Many ideas have been adopted for use in children's toys.

Mitate-e: Parodies of classical works.

Sumou-e (Sumoue): Drawings depicting sumo. Among them were stereotypical drawings representing sumo wrestlers at the time.

Harimadze-e: Works in which several images were printed on one sheet of paper.

Blue-e: The woodcut was published as a result of the death of a celebrity.

Some of them were for famous esi artists.

Kodomo-e: Drawings depicting children during the game.

Nagasaki-e: Drawings depicting foreign cultures seen in Nagasaki. Yokohama-e: Drawings filled with the exotic atmosphere of Yokohama.

Namazu-e: Drawings that appeared after the Great Ansei earthquakes.

According to popular superstition, namaz (som) brings earthquakes.

Noso-e: Amulet to ward off smallpox.

Uchiwa-e: Drawings that were glued to the fans.

Ukiyo-e woodcut production method

People who painted ukiyo-e were called ukiyo-e artists or eshi artists (edakumi [artist]). The people who carved the designs of the ukiyo-e artists on the wooden blocks were the horishi (choko [carvers]), and the people who painted the wooden blocks and printed were the surishi (printers). Although the process of creating ukiyo-e was a collaborative effort, usually only the names of the eshi artists were remembered. At least four parties were required, including an additional party as a buyer.

"Kento" (modern registration marks [print]) were attached to check paper position and prevent color shifting in multi-color printing. Some have speculated that they were invented by a wholesaler for the publication of Kichiemon Uemura in 1744, but others have claimed that they were used by a surishi named Kinroku in 1765. It is also said that they were invented by Gennai Hiraga, who was related to Harunobu Suzuki. Phrases such as "Kento wo tsukeru" (select as target), "Kento chigai" (inaccurate), "Kentou hazure" (off-registration), which are used even today, come from this "Kento".

Ukiyo-e influence

Recognition and influence of ukiyo-e in the world

In the Meiji era or later, ukiyo-e received little attention in Japan, and many of the works were taken out of the country. Consequently, there has been no legitimate, systematic, and academic research on ukiyo-e as a work of fine art, and opinions based on various sources of knowledge have been partly and constantly repeated only by individual collectors and researchers.

Moreover, as usual, fakes of many well-known works were created, including Harunobu Suzuki, Utamaro Kitagawa and others that have been common since the Edo period.

On the other hand, in Western countries, ukiyo-e was discovered and highly appreciated by the great masters of the Impressionist school, whose work was influenced by ukiyo-e, even reproductions of them were created in oil paintings. There appear to be at least 200,000 or more ukiyo-e items in storage at 20 or more of the most prestigious Western museums; in addition, various individuals own private collections, thus indicating that ukiyo-e is the only foreign art form that is collected in such large quantities. Many museums hold more than 10,000 ukiyo-e items, such as the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston - 50,000 items, the State Museum of Fine Arts. A. S. Pushkin with 30,000 items, etc.

Ukiyo-e is the world's only brightly colored woodcut; there is no such genre in Western visual arts that is considered to contribute to its high appreciation. Among the many scattered ukiyo-e, there were a large number of works with relatively simple designs, including Utamaro, and ukiyo-e with richly colored (catchy) complex drawings were surprisingly few.

Since ukiyo-e is sold domestically in chain stores of those that have spread abroad, it is hoped that ukiyo-e will be seen as rare in the future. artistic work in the world so that this high appreciation of this art form is not limited to the West.

It is also valuable that ukiyo-e is the only material in the world that depicts different lives. ordinary people during the medieval period.

According to documents from the Meiji period, there were about 2,000 eshi artists before this time, assuming that unknown artists were included. Since 100 to 200 works were printed at the time, there was a huge amount of ukiyo-e in the cities, and unlike any other place in the world, high-quality artwork was very popular among ordinary people.

Influence from abroad

Along with the influence of ukiyo-e on Japaneseism in Western countries, it also received influence from abroad. Synthetic pigment Prussian blue ("bero" from Berlin), which comes from Germany, producing bright color and was used by Hokusai Katsushika et al. Western perspective and shading techniques were also adopted.

Impact on foreign countries

In 1865, the French artist Braquemont showed his friends Hokusai's Manga, which was on the wrapping paper of pottery, and it ended up having a great influence on the Impressionists. This caused a situation in Europe where ukiyo-e works were sold at high prices, which were unimaginable in Japan at the time, since in Japan itself ukiyo-e was the entertainment of ordinary people, and used and damaged works were sold at prices so low, that they were used as packaging material for sea cargo.

Ukiyo-e even influenced classical music, as Claude Debussy was inspired by Kanagawa oki nami ura (The Great Wave off Kanagawa) Hokusai and wrote "La Mer" ("The Sea") (the engraving was used on the cover of the orchestral score published in 1905, and there is a photograph in which the engraving can be identified as an ornament in a study).

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