Framed 19th Century Japanese Ukiyo-e Woodblock Print. Depicts a beauty surrounded by flowers, presenting an unrolled scroll to the viewer. Two kanji in upper middle, faded and illegible. A signature kanji with red seal below at bottom left, difficult to read but possibly from a pupil of Hasegawa Sadanobu (1809-1879). 

Condition: Somewhat faded. Commensurate with age. 

Overall Size: 17 x 13 1/2 in. 

Sight Size: 10 x 8 in. 

Ukiyo-e, meaning “pictures of the floating world,” refers to a style of Japanese woodblock prints that flourished during the Edo period (1603-1868) and beyond. These prints depicted everyday life, particularly in the urban pleasure districts of major cities like Edo (modern-day Tokyo). They were first known for their vibrant colors, bold linework, and depictions of actors, geishas, courtesans, and scenes of urban life. Its artists produced primarily woodblock prints and paintings, and they remain some of the most important records of kabuki actors (the subgenre yakusha-e), sumo wrestlers, scenes from history, and folk tales, often meticulously captured in both extremely realistic and highly stylized forms. In particular, the late-developing Yokohama-e subgenre depicted non-East Asian foreigners, and led to both a more open-minded approach towards visitors from the West, at first, and later a heightened xenophobia as the style shifted more towards caricature. Ukiyo-e became the best-selling format in Japanese art history, and was appreciated by every Japanese class and walk of life, with some of the most popular genres being travel scenes, landscapes, flora and fauna (the kachō-ga subgenre), and erotica (shunga). Collectors prized portraits by masters such as Torii Kiyonaga, Utamaro, and Sharaku that were created in the late 18th Century. The 19th Century saw the creation of Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa, one of the most well-known works of Japanese art, and Hiroshige’s The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō. Following the deaths of these two masters, and against the technological and social modernization that followed the Meiji Restoration of 1868, ukiyo-e production went into steep decline. However, in the 20th Century there was a revival in Japanese printmaking: the shin-hanga (“new prints”) genre capitalized on Western interest in prints of traditional Japanese scenes, and the sōsaku-hanga (“creative prints”) movement promoted individualist works designed, carved, and printed by a single artist, rather than the traditional assembly-line approach of the past. Prints since the late 20th Century have continued in an individualist vein, often made with techniques and themes imported from the West. Ukiyo-e was central to forming the Western world’s perception of Japan and their art in the late 19th Century, particularly the landscapes of Hokusai and Hiroshige. From the 1870s onward, Japonisme became a prominent trend and had a strong influence on the early French Impressionists such as Edgar Degas, Édouard Manet and Claude Monet, as well as influencing Post-Impressionists such as Vincent van Gogh, and Art Nouveau artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

Somewhat faded. Commensurate with age.