Ukiyoe art works

UkiyoeExh

There is an exciting exhibition in town: Ukiyoe Spectacular – Japanese Woodblock Prints from the 1800s

Over one hundred woodblock prints from a private collection in Japan are on display at the West Vancouver Museum and at the Nikkei National Museum in Burnaby. There are works by such masters as Kuniyoshi, Yosifuji and Hiroshige and more, with images of supernatural and epic myths, samurai, historical and theatrical events and even humour. Read more and view the slide shows at each museum’s site.

Ukiyo-e means “pictures of floating world”, referring to the lifestyles of the period, as well as becoming the name for the method of woodblock printing. This art came to influence European artists in the late 19th century and even today’s popular manga art in Japan.

We visited the West Vancouver Museum’s installation a while ago and found all the work quite fascinating and absorbing to view the amazing workmanship and fine details. Some amusing work even made me think of ‘Where’s Waldo?’, heh. We hope to visit the Nikkei Museum soon to see more.

More reading: about Ukiyo-e in Wikipedia, and about
a demonstration of this technique as adapted to contemporary work.

February 17, 2014 in Art Exhibitions, Printmaking by Marja-Leena