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What Influence Did Japan and the West Have on Each Other in the Wonderful World of Art During the Edo Period and Beyond?

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What Influence Did Japan and the West Have on Each Other in the Wonderful World of Art During the Edo Period and Beyond? What influence did Japan and the West have on each other in the wonderful world of art during the Edo Period and beyond? By Alex Thompson The relationship between Japan and countries of the West contains all the elements of true romance. The intrigue, the mystery, the love and lust, and what’s a good romance without suspicion and an execution of some sort? The Ukiyo-e art movement was a major part of the Edo Period in Japan, and was composed of many great woodblock masters. From the first great master of black and white prints, to the last leading artist in landscape, this period of art had a great influence on the Western world. Westerners, especially those in Europe, also inspired ukiyo-e artists and acted as a source of intrigue to the isolated nation of Japan. The rapport between these two cultures had its shortcomings, however it blossomed into a symbiotic relationship in the end. Ukiyo-e, meaning “pictures of the floating world,” depicts the glamorous lifestyle of Japanese townspeople during the pleasure-filled Edo Period (also known as the Tokugawa Period.) This was a lengthy period of peace and prosperity in Edo (present day Tokyo) that lasted between 1603 and 1868. During this stable period, the Japanese were ruled by the Tokugawa shogun, which were established by the almighty Tokugawa leyasu. Foreign trade was encouraged, although leyasu was rather apprehensive when dealing with outsiders. Due to his suspicion of foreigners, trading ports were limited, as were the types of commodities that they were allowed to handle. Issues with Christian daimyo trading goods with Europeans led to an order to forswear their faith in the year 1612. The situation escalated in 1629 with the execution of thousands more Christians. In 1635, Japan closed it’s doors to the world and became an isolated country. The Sakoku Edict, or “Closed Country Edict of 1635” outlawed any Japanese from crossing it’s borders, whether it was in or out of the country (Edo Period.) Authorized Dutch and Chinese traders were the only groups that Japan continued foreign trade with (Meggs 2012.) During this time of national seclusion, Japan started to study the ways of the Westerners, in such areas as natural and mechanical sciences, as well as in art and languages, among other subjects. These studies were known as rangaku, which has the literal translation of “Dutch Studies.” (Edo Period.) During this time of affluence, there was an emerging middle class who was ready to spend their Tokugawa coinage. They earned this excess money by providing the samurai with items that they so desired. This newfound wealth enabled this rising middle class to become patrons of Ukiyo-e woodblock prints They also enjoyed spending time and money in Edo’s red light district, Yoshiwara. This popular pastime was often depicted in Ukiyo-e works (Ukiyo-e.) Other common subjects of this time were beautiful female entertainers, called Geisha, as well as courtesans, and Kabuki actors. The Kabuki actors were part of the Kabuki theatre, which produced popular melodramas. The audiences were wild for these performers and gave some of them superstar status, giving artists an obvious choice for the subject of their prints. Scenes of nature and landscape, as well as scenes from everyday life, were also a favorite for artists to portray. Ukiyo-e began with the son of a textile craftsman, Hishikawa Moronobu, who lived from 1618 until 1694. Due to the undeveloped techniques of the time, all of Moronobu’s woodblock prints were done in black and white, and then later coloured by hand, if the commissioner desired (Mannering, Douglas.) He produced over 100 illustrated books, although it’s hard to know for sure because most of his work went unsigned (Hishikawa Moronobu.) “Young man with Two Courtesans” displays a scene from daily life and captures the essence of Moronobu’s work. “His style, one of controlled, powerful brushstrokes and solid, dynamic figures provided the groundwork for ukiyo-e masters of the following two centuries”(New World Encyclopedia.) He also has some more graphic works of sensual scenes, most likely inspired by the “floating world” lifestyle. Without Moronobu, who knows what would have become of the ukiyo-e art form? Young man with two Courtesans by Hishikawa Moronobu, 1682. Okumura Masanobu (1686-1764) was one of the most influential artists to master the Ukiyo-e print. As the techniques of this art form were still in a primitive state, Masanobu was among the first artists to create a number of them. He is said to be one of the first Ukiyo-e artists to use two-colour printing methods (Mannering, Douglas.) It is also mentioned that he may be the first artist to produce pillar prints, which are woodblock prints with certain dimensions- 70 cm long and 12 cm wide (Pillar Prints.) His innovations had a great impact on the future of this period of art. Unfortunately, Masanobu died before the introduction of polychromatic prints, but produced beautiful work regardless of the limited technologies.A print that possesses flowing and whirling lines, similar to those found in the Western Art Nouveau style (which Ukiyo-e prints were to influence more than a decade later) is one titled “A Courtesan,” c. 1715. A Courtesan by Okumura Masanobu, c. 1715 Topaz by Alphonse Mucha, 1900 The life of Suzuki Harunobu is somewhat of a mystery, however it is estimated that he was born around the year 1725 and died in 1770 (Suzuki Harunobu.) Harunobu is considered by many to have been the greatest print master of them all. He was the first to introduce woodblock prints in full colour in the year 1765. These prints were known as nishiki-e, and were achieved by using several different blocks (Meggs, 2012.) Harunobu fused delightful patterns with a strong sense of human expression. As if this great innovator hadn’t done enough for the Ukiyo-e art scene already, he also went on to create a new way of depicting females in his work; these figures were slender and small- headed, graceful and fragile (Mannering, Douglas.) He had an unfairly short life, although still managed to produce over 1000 prints, including his fair share of erotic prints, also known as shunga (Suzuki Harunobu.) Kitagawa Utamaro was another great master of this era. His contemporaries agreed that he was unparalleled in portraying beautiful women, or bijin-ga. He studied nature and human intimacy very closely, which inspired works of flowers, birds, and willowy women. He didn’t follow the tradition of portraying the stereotypical “beautiful” woman, rather, he expressed them in a more realistic way, based off of his observations (Meggs, 2012.) His work became popular in Europe, especially so in France, around the mid-nineteenth century. It was a great inspiration to European Impressionists due, in particular, to his attention to light and shade, as well as his use of partial views (Utamaro.) By this time in the Edo period, Japanese artists were starting to be influenced by European artistic styles. They were intrigued by the mysteriousness and originality of these styles because it gave them an insight into a foreign and forbidden land. Japanese artists, such as Hokusai and Hiroshige, incorporated these newfound styles and techniques into their work to produce dazzling landscape ukiyo-e prints, which were very well received by the public. A few of the more apparent elements of European influence that can be seen in these prints are: the employment of a horizontal picture plane, the application of one and two point perspective, and the use of a colour called “berlin blue” (Narov, Danielle.) One of the most distinguished Ukiyo-e artists was Katsushika Hokusai, who lived from 1760 until 1849. He produced an impressive amount of prints during his creative career, estimated to be about thirty-five thousand works! Hokusai’s work spanned the gamut of ukiyo-e subjects: album prints; genre scenes; historical events; illustrations for novels;..nature studies of flowers, birds, shells, and fish; paintings on silk; sketchbooks; and privately commissioned prints for special occasions, called surimono” (Meggs, 2012,) but his most outstanding work include depictions of alluring landscapes. Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji is a wonderful example of Hokusai’s talent. The Breaking Wave off Kanagawa is one of Hokusai’s most recognizable works. It depicts a mighty off- shore wave about to crash directly onto a group of unfortunate fishing boats, with the peaceful peak of Mount Fuji off in the distance (Hokusai.) The Breaking Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, 1826–33. One of the last great masters of the period was Ando Hiroshige (1797-1858.) It is apparent that this ukiyo-e artist was heavily influenced by the work of Hokusai, in particular, his Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji. One can see this influence in Hiroshige’s series: Fifty-Three Stages of Tokaido. Western artists closely studied Hiroshige’s ingenious compositions (Meggs, 2012.) His work had a significant influence on Western art in the late nineteenth century and became a leading factor of Japonism. The death of these last great masters, Hokusai and Hiroshige, is considered the beginning of an end in the ukiyo-e movement. The production of woodblock prints declined, as did the quality. Traditional artists became increasingly rare, and by the 1890’s, the pure ukiyo-e art form was at its end. Maiko Beach in Harima Province by Hiroshige, 1854. Apart from the approved Dutch traders, who continued contact with Japan throughout the Edo period, many Westerners had overlooked Japanese art (Edo Period.) In the mid eighteenth century, Matthew C.
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