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Ukiyo-e - Images from the Floating World

Japan, Edo Period (1600s to 1867)


Ukiyo-e (pronounced oo-kee-oh-ay) was a popular form of printed art in Japan during the Edo period, inexpensive and usually depicting scenes from everyday life.

Ukiyo translates as "the floating world" - an ironic wordplay on the Buddhist name for the earthly plane, "the sorrowful world". Ukiyo was the name given to the lifestyle in Japan's urban centers of this period - the fashions, the entertainments, and the pleasures of the flesh. Ukiyo-e is the art documenting this era.

Ukiyo-e is especially known for its exceptional woodblock prints. After Japan opened trade with the West after 1867, these prints became very well-known and influential in Europea, especially in France. Japonisme influenced such artists as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh, Whistler and the graphic artists known as Les Nabis.

The founder of the Ukiyo-e school was the 17th-century artist Hishikawa Moronobu. Among the many famous artists who followed were Ando Hiroshige, Hokusai Katsukika, Kitagawa Utamaro and Toshusai Sharaku.

        

 
 
Chronological Listing of Ukiyo-e Artists
 
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Hishikawa Moronobu 1618-1694 Japanese Printmaker/Painter
 
Kiyonobu 1664-1729 Japanese Printmaker
 
Sukenobu 1671-1751 Japanese Printmaker
 
Sugimura Jihei 1681-1703 Japanese Printmaker
 
Okumura Masanobu 1686-1764 Japanese Printmaker
 
Torii Kiyomasu 1697-1722 Japanese Printmaker
 
Nishimura Shigenaga 1697-1756 Japanese Printmaker
 
Kaigetsudo Anchi 1700-1716 Japanese Printmaker
 
Kaigetsudo Dohan 1710-1720 Japanese Printmaker
 
Harunobu 1724-1770 Japanese Printmaker
 
Katsukawa Shunso 1726-1792 Japanese Printmaker
 
Hasegawa Mitsunobu 1730-1760 Japanese Printmaker
 
Torii Kiyomitsu 1735-1785 Japanese Printmaker
 
Utagawa Toyoharu 1735-1814 Japanese Printmaker
 
Shigemasa 1739-1820 Japanese Printmaker
 
Suzuki Harushige 1747-1818 Japanese Printmaker
 
Kabukido Enkyo 1749-1803 Japanese Printmaker
 
Kiyonaga 1752-1815 Japanese Printmaker
 
Kitagawa Utamaro 1754-1806 Japanese Printmaker
 
Chobunsai Eishi 1756-1829 Japanese Printmaker
 
Torii Kiyotsune 1757-1780 Japanese Printmaker
 
Hokusai Katsushika 1760-1849 Japanese Printmaker
 
Katsukawa Shun'ei 1762-1819 Japanese Printmaker
 
Katsukawa Shunsen 1762-1830 Japanese Printmaker
 
Koryusai 1764-1788 Japanese Printmaker
 
Kitao Masayoshi 1764-1824 Japanese Printmaker
 
Toyokuni 1769-1825 Japanese Printmaker
 
Toshusai Sharaku 1770-1825 Japanese Printmaker
 
Kunimasa 1773-1810 Japanese Printmaker
 
Utagawa Toyokuni II 1777-1835 Japanese Printmaker
 
Totoya Hokkei 1780-1850 Japanese Printmaker
 
Shuncho 1780-1795 Japanese Printmaker
 
Katsukawa Shunzan 1782-1798 Japanese Printmaker
 
Utagawa Kunisada 1786-1864 Japanese Printmaker
 
Kikugawa Eizan 1787-1867 Japanese Printmaker
 
Eishosai Choki 1789-1795 Japanese Printmaker
 
Chokosai Eisho 1790-1799 Japanese Printmaker
 
Ichirakutei Eisui 1790-1823 Japanese Printmaker
 
Keisai Eisen 1790-1848 Japanese Printmaker
 
Choensai Eishin 1795-1810 Japanese Printmaker
 
Hanbei Shokosai 1795-1809 Japanese Printmaker
 
Ando Hiroshige 1797-1858 Japanese Printmaker
 
Utagawa Kuniyoshi 1797-1861 Japanese Printmaker
 
Yurakusai Nagahide 1799-1842 Japanese Printmaker
 
Bunro 1800-1804 Japanese Printmaker
 
Hirosada 1810-1864 Japanese Printmaker
 
Utagawa Kunihiro 1815-1843 Japanese Printmaker
 
Soseki 1822-1877 Japanese Printmaker
 
Ichieisai Yoshitsuya I 1822-1866 Japanese Printmaker
 
Yanagawa Shigenobu II 1824-1860 Japanese Printmaker
 
Hiroshige II 1826-1869 Japanese Printmaker
 
Hokuei 1827-1837 Japanese Printmaker
 
Yoshifuji 1828-1887 Japanese Printmaker
 
Kunimasu 1834-1852 Japanese Printmaker
 
Kunichika 1835-1900 Japanese Printmaker
 
Rakkaken Yoshiyuki 1835-1879 Japanese Printmaker
 
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 1839-1892 Japanese Printmaker
 
Nakai Yoshitaki 1841-1899 Japanese Printmaker
 
Fusatane 1849-1870 Japanese Printmaker
 
Kunikazu 1849-1867 Japanese Printmaker
 
Utagawa Yoshitora 1850-1880 Japanese Printmaker
 
Enjaku 1857-1865 Japanese Printmaker
 
Adachi Ginko 1874-1897 Japanese Printmaker
 
Hashiguchi Goyo 1880-1921 Japanese Printmaker
 

 
 
 




 
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