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The Rise of Ukiyo-e – The Floating World
Ukiyo-e (‘pictures of the floating world’) is a branch of Japanese art which originated during the period of prosperity in Edo (1615-1868). Characteristic of this period, the prints are the collective work of an artist, an engraver, and a printer.
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Hokusai – Les artiste japonais les plus reconnus internationalement, un maître de l’art Ukiyo-e
Son style et ses sujets ont évolué aussi souvent que son nom, mais le talent d’Hokusai en tant qu’artiste est resté le même, et son influence dans des mouvements postérieurs tel que l’Art Nouveau et l’impressionnisme est incontestable.
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Hokusai – Japans international bekannteste Künstler, ein Meister der Ukiyo-e-Kunst
Der Stil und die Gegenstände in seiner Kunst entwickelten sich so oft weiter, wie er seinen Namen änderte. Aber Hokusais künstlerisches Talent blieb beständig, und er hatte eine einflussreiche Rolle auf spätere Kunstrichtungen wie den Jugendstil und den Impressionismus.
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Hokusai – Japan’s most internationally-renowned artist, a master of Ukiyo-e art
His style of art and subject evolved as many times as he changed his name, but Hokusai’s talent as an artist remained constant and his influential role in later art movements such as Art Nouveau and Impressionism remains eternal.
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„Urgrosspapa!?“, rief Maja. Katsushika Hokusai schwieg.
Früher war alles besser. Vor allem die Kinderserien. Auf Mila Superstar oder die Kickers lasse ich nichts kommen. Sie stammten aus Japan, das wusste ich, denn Sie hielten damit ja nicht eben hinter dem Berg. Mila zum Beispiel lachte wie die Sonne darüber. Mir hat aber nie jemand gesagt, dass Die Biene Maja ebenso aus Japan kam! Regisseur war, auf Betreiben progressiver Kräfte im ZDF (!!!), ein gewisser Hiroshi Saitō. Das beweist: Japan ist längst zum essentiellen Bestandteil westlicher Vorstellungswelten geworden. Das war nicht immer so. Genau genommen begann alles im 19. Jahrhundert. Und die Frage ist berechtigt: Hätte es die Biene Maja, unsere Biene Maja mit den Kulleraugen und…
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Looking Beyond the Portrait
Set sometime in the late 19th century, a woman in a colorful kimono gazes contemplatively out into the hazy distance. She stands with hips jutted out and hair pulled back into a loose bun, and I wonder, who is she? Why is she alone? Like most of the painted bijin-ga—a term that generalizes beautiful women—of the Miji period, we will likely never know much more about her or other East Asian women beyond their painted depictions. The truth behind her stoic gaze will go unanswered, which is ironic and almost sad, since these women were revered by poets, writers, and artists alike over several centuries. They served as the muse…
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Shunga: Traditional Japanese Pornography
Manga? Yes Anime? Yes Shunga? Ummmm… That’s one that not many people have heard of. Literally translated as “picture of spring”, it is an age-old Japanese erotic art form usually printed on woodblock. A sub genre of ukiyo-e, Shunga (春画) reached its pinnacle in the Edo Period from 1603 to 1867 and survived repeated government attempts at suppression. However, before they were shunned their widespread use and availability was commonplace and endeavoured to depict everyday life in the Edo. Carried around as lucky charms by Samurais and merchants as well as being offered to newly-wed’s as a type of sex education; shunga was accepted and used by everyone, regardless of…
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Hokusai et Hiroshige : une vague de paysages !
Katsushika Hokusaï (1760-1849) et Andô Hiroshige (1797-1858) se sont rendus célèbres grâce à leurs estampes qui ont conquis l’Orient et l’Occident. L’estampe – aussi appelée ukiyo-e et signifiant littéralement « images du monde flottant » – est une technique de gravure sur bois qui permet de produire des images bon marché et facilement diffusables. Si cette technique existe depuis le XIIIe siècle, c’est vers le milieu du XVIIe siècle que les premiers sujets profanes apparaissent. Que ça soit Hokusai ou Hiroshige, les deux artistes ont débuté en gravant des estampes sur les thèmes classiques de l’époque : geisha, acteurs, guerriers, sumo… Pourtant, nos deux maîtres vont très vite réinventer le genre de l’estampe en…
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Hokusai, Making Waves
When confronted with the name Katsushika Hokusai, the thoughts of both art enthusiasts and laymen alike tend to fall upon one seminal work: Great Wave, or Under the Wave off Kanagawa, as it ought to be known. This is particularly true of the reception of Hokusai in the western world. Indeed, since its mass production in the thousands, Hokusai´s wood-block print of a crashing behemoth has effected so great and permeating an influence that we have seen it infiltrate a spectrum of cultural nuances that are as broadly defined as cinema and animation – both in Japan and in the west; music and the arts – in works such as…
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The Pleasures of Shunga
Tea ceremonies, bullet trains arriving to the exact second, intricately dressed, immaculate geisha and the importance of keeping face: these common images of Japan conjure up the notion of a highly-controlled and conservative society. Graphic images of enormous penises and a woman being pleasured by an octopus are not, perhaps, what you might expect. And indeed for the last century and a half the explicit art of shunga, or ‘spring pictures’ has been taboo in Japan- yet this only came about once the country began to absorb Western cultural influences. Before the late-19th century, the Japanese did not share the dominant Western idea that fine art and pornography were very…
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