Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Riddles of Ukiyo-E: Women and Men in Japanese Prints

The Riddles of Ukiyo-E: Women and Men in Japanese Prints

Uhlenbeck, Chris
Dwinger, Jim

Hardcover

Individual ArtistsJapanese ArtPrintmaking

Currently unavailable to order

ISBN10: 9493039900
ISBN13: 9789493039902
Publisher: Ludion
Published: May 31 2023
Pages: 224
Weight: 3.71
Height: 1.15 Width: 9.57 Depth: 11.73
Language: English
  • This book sheds light on the often mysterious iconography in Japanese prints
  • Lavishly illustrated with over 130 prints of women and men, from the heyday of Japanese printmaking
  • A passionate introduction to the intriguing art of Ukiyo-e

Women and men - strong, proud, tragic or beautiful - from the heyday (1765-1865) of Japanese printmaking are this book's subject. It seeks to dig below the surface of the prints to describe the often subtle iconography employed in these masterful creations by the most famous artists of their time. It begins with Suzuki Harunobu's subdued and introverted scenes of women seated on verandas. The book then moves on to the spectacular 'big face' (okubi-e) portraits of prostitutes and Kabuki actors by artists like Kitagawa Utamaro, Toshusai Sharaku and Utagawa Kunimasa. Frail 'streetwalkers', forced by circumstance into the lowest ranks of prostitution, are transformed into elegant beauties, obscuring their tragic existence. The spectacle of heroes from Japan's rich mythological and pseudo-historical past crowd the printed sheet. Stern-faced actors drawn by the confident hands of Utagawa Toyokuni and his pupil Kunisada demonstrate the economy of line and powerful expression of the woodblock medium. Each print is explored in the finest detail in order to explain the riddles of Ukiyo-e: the intriguing and captivating mode of visual expression that would have such a profound influence on Western art.

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