Paintings in the style of Ukiyo-e (Japanese painting). Ukiyo-e japanese print art

The founder of ukiyo-e is the Japanese painter and graphic artist Hisikawa Moronobu.

Initially, the engravings were black and white - only ink was used, from the beginning of the 18th century, some works were then painted by hand with a brush. In the 18th century, Suzuki Harunobu introduced the multicolor printing technique for making nishiki-e ("brocade pictures").

Ukiyo-e prints were affordable due to their mass production capability. They were intended mainly for city dwellers who could not afford to spend money on paintings. Ukiyo-e is characterized by paintings everyday life consonant with the urban literature of this period. The engravings depicted beautiful geishas ( bijin-ga), massive sumo wrestlers and popular kabuki theater actors ( yakusha-e). Later, landscape engraving became popular.

Story

The ukiyo-e style originated in the wake of urbanization in the late 16th century, which led to the emergence of a class of merchants and small artisans who began to write stories or novels and decorate them with drawings. Such collections were called echon(jap. 絵本 - picture book?). One example of such art is the 1608 edition of Ise-monogatari (The Tale of Ise) by Honami Koetsu. Such books made extensive use of ukiyo-e as illustrations. Later, engravings began to be printed as independent works - kakemono(jap. 掛け物 - a scroll with a picture or saying?) and posters for kabuki theatre.

Process of creation

Cut out printing plate

The creation of ukiyo-e required an artist, a carver and a printer. Ukiyo-e were made in the following way. The artist made a prototype of an engraving on thin paper with ink, the cutter glued this drawing face down on a board of cherry, pear or boxwood and cut out from it the areas on which the paper was white, thus obtaining the first printing form, but destroying the drawing itself. Then several black-and-white prints were made, on which the artist indicated the intended colors. The carver made the required number (sometimes more than thirty) of printing plates, each of which corresponded to one color or tone. The printer, having discussed the color scheme with the artist, applied paint of vegetable or mineral origin to the resulting set of forms and hand-printed an engraving on wet rice paper.

Notable artists

• Hisikawa Moronobu
• Torii Kiyonaga
• Kunitika
• Kunisida
• Toshusai Shyaraku
• Toyokuni

Notes

Links

• Pictures of the elusive world - ukiyo-e - article by Galina Shchedrina on the site Artgalery.ru

Literature

• A. Savelyeva world art. Masters of Japanese engraving. - "Crystal", 2007. - 208 p. - 10,000 copies. - ISBN 5-9603-0033-8
• M. V. Uspensky Japanese engraving. - St. Petersburg: "Aurora", "Amber Tale", 2004. - 64 p. - ("Library of Aurora"). - 5000 copies. - ISBN 5-7300-0699-3

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See what "Ukiyo-e" is in other dictionaries:

- (Japanese images of the everyday world) school of Japanese painting and woodcuts of the 17th-19th centuries. Inherited the traditions of genre painting of the 15th and 16th centuries. It is distinguished by democratic plots, consonant with the urban literature of the Edo period (early 17th 2nd half of the 19th centuries). ... ... Big encyclopedic Dictionary

Ukiyo-e- Ukiyo e UKIYO E (Japanese images of the everyday world), a school of Japanese painting and woodcuts (17th-19th centuries). Ukiye e is characterized by portraits of actors and beauties from the “fun districts”, scenes from everyday life, consonant with urban literature ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

- (Japanese images of the everyday world), a trend in Japanese painting and woodcuts of the 17th and 19th centuries, which reflected the democratic trends in art that arose in connection with the rapid development of urban life. Plots from the life of ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

- (Hishikawa Moronobu), Japanese artist, the most famous master of ukiyo-e (see UKIE E) of the early period. Son famous master decorative fabrics by Hisikawa Kichizaemon. After… … encyclopedic Dictionary

- (1753/1754 1806), Japanese master of color woodcuts and painter. A representative of the ukiyo e school. Portrait and genre exquisitely poetic female images created with the help of a smooth flowing line, the use of mica powder, giving the effect ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

- (1760 1849), Japanese painter and draftsman, master of colored woodcuts. Ukiyo-e representative In the main graphic works (series "36 views of Mount Fuji", 1823 29, "Journey through the waterfalls of various provinces", 1827 33), ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

- (Suzuki Harunobu) (1725?, Edo, now Tokyo on July 8, 1770, ibid.), Japanese artist, master of ukiyo e (see UKIIE E). Little is known about his life (as well as about the lives of most ukiyo-e masters), but his place in the history of Japanese art is clearly defined by his ... encyclopedic Dictionary

- (Japanese images of the everyday world), a school of Japanese painting and woodcuts (17th-19th centuries). Ukiye e is characterized by portraits of actors and beauties from cheerful neighborhoods, scenes from everyday life, consonant with urban literature of the beginning of 17 2nd ... ... Modern Encyclopedia

Fioletova Tatyana, student of grade 10, secondary school No. 32, Rybinsk

The relevance of the research topic is related to the study of the features of Japanese engraving. Perhaps this is one of the few works of art, seeing which in best museums world, it is impossible to be mistaken about the origin of which. You can admire Japanese engravings for hours, marveling at their elegance and perfection of lines, simplicity of composition and intricacy of detail.

Download:

Preview:

Municipal educational institution

secondary school No. 32 named after. Academician A.A. Ukhtomsky

ESSAY

on the topic

"Features of Japanese Ukiyo-e Printing

and its influence on European painting"

Completed

10th grade student

Violet Tatiana

scientific adviser

Shcherbak Elina Yurievna

Rybinsk

2012

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

1. Incomprehensible term Ukiyo-e. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .four

1.1. Origins of Ukiyo-e. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .four

1.2. The process of creating Ukiyo-e. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2. Genres of Ukiyo-e prints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

3. The influence of Ukiyo-e on European painting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

3.1. The influence of Ukiyo-e on the work of American artists and Western Europe. . . . . . . . . .10

3.2. Influence of Ukiyo-e on the work of Russian artists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Literature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Introduction

Relevance research topic is related to the study of the features of Japanese engraving. Perhaps this is one of the few works of art, seeing whichin the best museums in the world, it is impossible to be mistaken about the origin of which. You can admire Japanese engravings for hours, marveling at their elegance and perfection of lines, simplicity of composition and intricacy of detail.

The history of Japan goes back over 8,000 years. Due to its remoteness from the rest of the world, its own civilization was formed in it, different from others. Traditional japanese painting, like all Japanese culture, is unique.

Emerging in the 17th century among the growing strength of the third estate, less constrained by canons than painting, engraving was the most widespread and accessible form of art for the townspeople. The themes for Ukiyo-e prints were often plots genre stories Ukiyo-zoshi, Kabuki plays, classical and modern poetry.

Engravings are created by great artists who have brought this art to almost perfection. Masters such as Utagawa Toyoharu, Katsushika Hokusai and many others were able to capture the most beautiful moments of this fleeting world on their creations.

Acquaintance with Japanese art turned out to be fruitful for European and Russian artists, not only on the way to creating a new plastic language, but also served to enrich the visual experience of the masters, revealed to them the existence of a different type creative fantasy, the possibility of fundamentally new points of view on the familiar and everyday.

Purpose of the study:description of the features of Japanese Ukiyo-e prints.

Research objectives:

1. Explore the origin of the term Ukiyo-e.
2. Identify the genres of Japanese Ukiyo-e prints.
3. Determine the influence of Ukiyo-e on European painting

Practical significance.The results of the study can be used in the lessons on art and world artistic culture.

1. The obscure term Ukiyo-e

1.1. Origin of Ukiyo-e

Ukiyo-e is one of the most popular styles of Japanese fine art from the Edo period. It appeared in the first half of the 17th century, in the second half of the 19th century. fell into disrepair. The heyday of Ukiyo-e is considered to be the 18th century. Ukiyo-e is usually understood as popular and widespread during the Edo period. genre works- painting and, in particular, engraving. The term Ukiyo, borrowed from Buddhist philosophy, literally means "the world of sorrow" - this is the name of the world of samsara, the world of transient illusions, where a person's lot is sorrow, suffering, illness and death. This world, from the point of view of traditionally thinking Japanese, is as illusory and transient as a dream, and its inhabitants are no more real than creatures from the world of dreams. In the 17th century, ideas about the variability and illusory nature of this world, being somewhat rethought, gave rise to a special kind of aesthetics: the impermanence of being was perceived not only and not so much as a source of suffering, but rather as an appeal to the pleasures that this impermanence bestows. The world of transient pleasures also began to be called ukiyo, only it was written down with a different hieroglyph with the same sound, literally meaning “floating”, “floating by”. Ukiyo-e means "pictures of the floating world". There is another shade of meaning: artists who worked in the ukiyo-e style. were familiar with the principles of Western art and often used in their works knowledge of the laws of perspective, which was atypical for traditional Japanese yamato-e painting (“ japanese painting”) or kara-e (“Chinese painting”). Therefore, for Japanese viewers accustomed to flat images, the world in Ukiyo-e pictures was perceived as voluminous, “floating up” on the surface of the sheet or, conversely, “sinking” in its depths.

The Ukiyo-e style was born in the wake of the urbanization of the end16th century, which led to the emergence of a class of merchants and small artisans who began to write stories or novels and decorate them with drawings. Such collections were called ekhon (“book of pictures”). One example of such art is the 1608 edition of "Ise Monogatari"(The Tale of Ise")Honami Koetsu. These books made extensive use of Ukiyo-e as illustrations. Later, engravings began to be printed as independent works - kakemono (a scroll with a picture or saying) and posters for the theaterkabuki.

In the middle XVIII centurydeveloped a technology for obtaining multi-color prints, which were callednishiki-e("brocade pictures", also known as edo-e). AfterMeiji revolutionin 1868 and the opening of the borders, the achievements of Western civilization were brought to Japan.

Ukiyo-e is gradually falling out of fashion, being replacedphotography. At the same time, Ukiyo-e prints became very popular in WesternEurope and America, art historians are beginning to massively buy them. It should also be noted that in Tokugawa Japan, Ukiyo-e has long been considered a "low" genre; so a huge amount of work was lost.

1.2. The process of creating a Ukiyo-e print

The process of creating Ukiyo-e prints involved an artist, a carver and a printer. An important role was played by the publisher, who studied the demand and determined the circulation. Often it was he who set the theme of the engraving and influenced the nature of the publication.

The engraving process was as follows. The artist did contour drawing prototype of an ink engraving on thin, transparent paper. The cutter, pasting the design face-down on a board of cherry, pear or boxwood, cut out from it areas on which the paper was white, thus obtaining the first printing plate, but destroying the design itself. Then several black-and-white prints were made, on which the artist indicated the intended colors. The carver made the required number (sometimes more than thirty) of printing plates, each of which corresponded to one color or tone. The printer, having discussed the color scheme with the artist, applied paint of vegetable or mineral origin and hand-printed an engraving on wet rice paper.

The collective method of work of the artist, carver and printer, the narrow specialization of the masters, the workshop organization of the process determined the originality of Japanese woodcuts.

2. Genres of Ukiyo-e prints

Bijin-ga - the general name for paintings and drawings depicting female beauty in traditional artJapan, for example - in printing from wooden boards of the artistic directionukiyo-e, which was a kind of precursor to photography. The designation "bijinga" can thus also be used for contemporary art media representing classic look beautiful Japanese woman, usually dressed inkimono.

Almost all ukiyo-e masters created paintings in the bijinga genre, which was one of the central themes of this trend in Japanese art. Among the artists who created bijinga, we should mention such masters of form and innovators in Japanese painting asHisikawa Moronobu, Kitagawa Utamaro, Suzuki Harunobu, Toyohara Chikanobu, Torii Kiyonaga , Nishikawa Sukenobu, Ito Shinsui.

Yakusha-e - (Japanese - the image of the actors), a genre of Japanese prints of the ukiyo-e direction, reflecting the life of the actors of the Kabuki theater. Appeared in con. 12th century as the design of a poster, poster, theater program. Early works yakusha-e (late 12th - mid-13th century), made in the technique of woodcuts with bright tinting of prints, created a heroic image of an actor performing dramatic roles. They attracted by the breathtaking swiftness of the action and the luxury of theatrical clothes (engravings by Torii Kiyonobu with the figure of an actor facing the audience, as if flying in a dance, juggling weapons). In the 2nd half of the 13th century, lyrical scenes, portraits of actors in the process of work, in an artistic dressing room appear in yakusha-e engravings. The highest stage in the development of the yakusha-e genre is the work of Chosyusai Syaraku (late 13th - early 19th century). He created a gallery of portraits in which the actor appears as a suffering, hating, hungry man, burned by passions. In the works of the XIX century. the craving for decoration increases, the interest in inner world characters.

Japanese theatrical engraving in the process of its development became a valuable and independent art, which flourished in the 17th - 19th centuries.

Katyo-e ( JapaneseKatyo-e, or katyo-ga "paintings about flowers and birds") - a subgenre of Japanese printsUkiyo-e, leading its origin from the traditional genre of Chinese painting, dedicated to the same subject. There were masters who specialized exclusively in this genre, although major masters ukiyo-e, for example,Hiroshigealso occasionally used.

Ohara Koson is one of the most famous artists in the kacho-e genre of the twentieth century.

Fukei-ga - landscape engraving, which became widespread in the first half of the 19th century.The heyday of the landscape genre in Japanese classical woodcuts is associated with the names of two great artists - Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) and Ando (Utagawa) Hiroshige (1797-1858).

There are many wonderful places and magnificent landscapes in Japan. But Mount Fuji, the symbol of the Land of the Rising Sun, has gained worldwide fame. The Japanese admire Fujiyama and consider it a national shrine.

Fujiyama is magnificent in all seasons, it changes its colors depending on the weather. Whenever you see this active volcano, it will evoke special feelings in you, not only for its beauty, but also for its grandeur.

Japanese legend says that the gods created "Mount Fuji" in one night. The land was taken near Kyoto, on the site where the largest natural lake Biwa in Japan then arose. These events took place in 286 BC.

The Japanese see beauty in everything. Mount Fuji, covered with snow, arouses sacred awe and admiration among the inhabitants of Japan. The volcano has a classic conical shape and impresses with its perfection. Against the background of the blue sky, the slightly truncated and symmetrical slopes of Fujiyama loom. All this brings peace to the soul, speaks of the orderliness of the universe and harmony in nature.

Mount Fuji is 3776 meters. The mountain rises above the surrounding area and attracts the eyes of all Japan. Is Fuji and one of the shrines ancient religion Japan - Shinto. The Japanese traditionally adhere to the faith of their ancestors and therefore pilgrimages to the mountain are very popular with them. The Japanese believe that at least once in a lifetime everyone should climb a mountain.

Musya-e - historical-heroic genre; the image of the samurai, famous in the history of Japan, scenes of battles. The traditional genre of ukiyo-e.

3. Influence of Ukiyo-e on European painting

It is noteworthy that foreigners helped the Japanese themselves to look at Ukiyo-e as full-fledged works of art.After the opening of Japan in 1855 to the outside world, Japanese goods and works of art are brought to Europe in large quantities and quickly find connoisseurs in it. During the World Exhibition in London and the World Exhibition in Paris, Japanese color engraving and various handicrafts: porcelain, kimonos, screens, lacquerware.

AT late XIX in. many Art Nouveau designers looked to the East, especially Japan, for inspiration. After 200 years of isolation, Japan has opened its doors to the West, and Japanese crafts - from ceramics and metalwork to architecture, painting and graphics - have had a huge impact on Western collectors. At the world exhibition in Paris in 1867, Japanese art and culture were presented to the Western audience in all their diversity. French critic Philippe Burty described a new style influenced by Japanese art, which he called Japonism.

Japonism (from the French Japonisme) is a direction towards European art XIX century, formed under the influence of the Japanese color woodcut Ukiyo-e and artistic crafts. The motives, technique and color presentation in Japanese art were reflected in the work of Impressionist artists. Japonism also had a significant influence on Art Nouveau and Cubism.

The main features of Japaneseism are natural themes (animals, insects, plants), two-dimensional intricate patterns on surfaces, simple colors.

Western interest in Japanese decorative and applied arts, especially to Japanese prints, was fueled by art shops, museum exhibitions, international fairs and, of course, numerous discussions in the press. With a growing focus on woodcuts, porcelain, and other art from Japan, there was a growing number of natural motifs in European craftsmanship, including animals, insects, and plants. The intricate, two-dimensional patterns inherent in woodcuts by Japanese artists such as Hiroshige impressed many Western designers of the time. Their influence can also be seen in the sinuous lines and natural Art Nouveau motifs.

3.1. The influence of Ukiyo-e on the work of American artists and

Western Europe

Americans James Whistler and Mary Cassatt were attracted by the restraint of line and bright color spots of Ukiyo-e prints and paintings.

The first among European artists, J. Whistler experienced a passion for the art of Japan. In colored Japanese woodcuts, he was attracted by the unexpectedness and sharpness of the compositional solution, the expressiveness of angles, and joyful colors. He seeks to convey his passion for the exotic East in his works “Princess of the Porcelain Country”, “Caprice in Purple and Gold. Golden Screen", "Village".

Mary Cassatt's experimentation with a variety of methods often led to unexpected results. For example, drawing inspiration from a Japanese master engraver, in 1891 Mary Cassatt produced a series of ten Japanese-style color etchings, which are exhibited at the Durand-Ruel Gallery, including "Washing Woman" and "Visit".

The graphic style of children's book illustrator Walter Crane reflected his interest in the art of Japanese printmaking, with its linearity and localized color scheme. The grace of clear black contours and gentle color combinations, according to the artist, absolutely corresponded to the peculiarities of children's perception. W. Crane tried to understand what exactly attracts children in illustrations and in art in general. He believed that children prefer to see precise lines, well-defined shapes and figures, and bright, saturated colors. The artist was of the opinion that children do not pay much attention to chiaroscuro and the three-dimensional display of objects. With his illustrations, he sought to amaze and in every possible way encourage the imagination of children, using bright colors and clear drawings.

It is known that many post-impressionists drew inspiration from Japanese prints. Starting with copying to early period creativity, and ending with constant echoes and reminiscences in the most famous works. An example of this is Van Gogh's "Portrait of Papa Tanga" and engravings by Hiroshige.

Ando Hiroshige is an outstanding Japanese graphic artist, the largest representative of the Ukiyo-e trend, a master of color woodcuts, who developed a new type of chamber landscape imbued with a subtle lyrical feeling for Japanese art. Many of his techniques were later adopted by the European Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, and also anticipated avant-garde photography of the 20th century. To convey space, Hiroshige often depicted a sharply protruding detail in the foreground, while gently interpreting distant plans; He also used linear perspective. Hiroshige's landscapes, marked by an exquisite lyricism of imagery, usually include images of people immersed in their daily activities.

The compositional and coloristic techniques used by Hiroshige in this series had a huge impact on artists such as E. Degas, Van Gogh, James Tissot.

In the work of Vincent van Gogh, the influence of Japanese graphics is enormous. In their three paintings Van Gogh copies Japanese color prints, or reproduces them in oil painting. These works demonstrate the artist's desire to penetrate the mysteries of Japanese art. On the basis of Japanese pen engraving, Van Gogh, having studied the 15-volume manga (collection of sketches) by Hokusai, developed his rhythmic "dot-dash" structure of painting, which he then transferred to oil painting.

However, even before Van Gogh, the Impressionists were looking for the necessary means of depiction in Japanese color prints. They adopted various forms of composition, for example, a free-standing image, as if "cropped" by the frame of the picture of the object; a figure standing in the foreground of the canvas; asymmetric construction of the picture; extremely deep diagonals; "barring" of the picture with the help of trees. Hokusai's series of color graphics were the model for the serial works of Paul Cezanne and Claude Monet.

The most characteristic technique, taken from Japanese prints and directly from the Hiroshige series “One Hundred famous views Edo", consists in unexpected sections of objects and figures of the foreground. This gives fragmentation to the whole picture. It was applied French artists all directions. It is known that Vincent van Gogh copied the prints "Plum Garden in Kameido" and "Downpour at the Bridge in Ohashi" from the "One Hundred Views of Edo" series, studying the compositional techniques and structure of Japanese prints. Emphasizing the origins of borrowing, Van Gogh frames his compositions with Japanese characters copied from sheets of other Hiroshige series. He creates works in which he uses techniques typical of Japanese engraving: a high point of view, a clear division into two planes, an apparent randomness of compositional construction, and fragmentation. In the use of motifs of irises, plum blossoms, chrysanthemums, waterfalls by European artists of the late 19th - early 20th centuries, in linearity, as well as in a number of other image techniques, one can find direct analogies with Japanese engraving, with the works of Hiroshige. The graphic language of Hiroshige is unique - it is dynamic and lyrical at the same time. Composition, line, color, rhythm of engravings are in harmony. Knowledge and possession various techniques assumed the need for the same possession and skill on the part of the printer and carver. In this regard, it should be noted that Japanese color engraving was created by a special method, which was fundamentally different from European technology.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec brilliantly rethought the style of woodcut and created his own style, free from Western notions of perspective and composition.

Graphic artists, including Toulouse-Lautrec, were especially fond of Ukiyo-e, which Christopher Dresser also studied during his travels in Japan, where he went to purchase goods for the London Liberty store. This shop opened in 1875 and sold textiles, jewelry and art imported from the East, particularly from Japan. The store also ordered Japanese-style household items from Western designers. Since the 1860s Dresser had a deep interest in Japanese art and made great efforts to popularize it, both in the UK and in the USA. The fascination of the West with Japanese art and design was expressed in the development of the Japanese style, which became an important trend in Western art. It, in turn, also influenced Japanese artists and audiences.

3.2. The influence of Japanese engraving on the work of Russian artists

Influence of the Japanese cultural tradition on the culture of Russia in the late XIX - early XX centuries. is a vivid example of the dialogue of cultures, when a “different” culture is creatively processed, refracted through the prism of its own cultural tradition and leads to the enrichment of the latter, gives impetus to its further fruitful development.

"Japanisms" in Russian art of the late 19th - early 20th centuries. can be represented in the work of Y. Dobuzhinsky by the engravings "Bypass Canal in St. Petersburg", I. Bilibin, V. Borisov-Musatov and P. Kuznetsov. Signs of "Japanism" in the European version can also be found in the works of K. Somov, E. Lansere, L. Bakst, M. Vrubel. Passion for Japanese painting served as an impetus for the study of the Japanese theatrical tradition for the innovator of the Russian theater V.E. Meyerhold. To capture the attention of the audience, to express the grotesque, he used the principles of the Japanese Noh theater.

The nature of the Japanese influence in this area can be represented in the form of stylization, when artists turned to the creative techniques of the Japanese in depicting reality. In this case, borrowings are reduced to the techniques of depicting the sky, waves, highlighting the contours of the picture, and the decorative qualities of Japanese engraving. Among the motifs of Japanese origin, the theme of water played a more significant role than all others. The image of water, waves was associated with the idea of ​​growth, development, transition from one state to another, that is, with the idea of ​​continuity. Numerous variations of the wave in the engravings of Hokusai and Hiroshige captivated the imagination of artists. The wave not only appeared in a “natural” form by I. Bilibin, but also became the most important part of the ornamental constructions, which was reflected in the rhythmic organization of the space of the Ryabushinsky mansion in Moscow, architect Shekhtel.

The influence of Japanese engraving on Russian graphics of this period is especially strong. This can be seen in the illustrations of the artist Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin.

AND I. Bilibin developed a system of graphic techniques that made it possible to combine illustrations and design in one style, subordinating them to the plane book page. Characteristic features of the Bilibino style: the beauty of the patterned pattern, the exquisite decorativeness of color combinations, the subtle visual embodiment of the world. The artist strove for an ensemble solution. He emphasized the plane of the book page with a contour line, lack of lighting, coloristic unity, a conditional division of space into plans and a combination of different points of view in the composition.

One of the significant works of I. Bilibin were illustrations for "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" by A. S. Pushkin. Various sources of stylization are visible between the sheets of the series. The illustration depicting Saltan looking into the room is reminiscent of winter landscapes by I.Ya. Bilibina from nature. The scenes of the reception of guests, the feast are full of Russian ornamental motifs. A leaf with a barrel floating on the sea resembles the famous “Wave” by Hokusai.

In the illustrations, the composition, as a rule, unfolds parallel to the plane of the sheet. Large figures appear in stately frozen poses. The conditional division of space into plans and the combination of different points of view in one composition make it possible to maintain flatness. Lighting completely disappears, the color becomes more conventional, the unpainted surface of the paper acquires an important role, the method of designating the contour line becomes more complicated, a strict system of strokes and points is formed.

The process of performing a graphic drawing by an artist resembled the work of an engraver. Having sketched a sketch on paper, he refined the composition in all details on tracing paper, and then transferred it to whatman paper. After that, with a kolinsky brush with a cut end, likening it to a cutter, he ran along pencil drawing a clear wire outline in ink. In the mature period of creativity, I. Bilibin abandoned the use of a pen, which he sometimes resorted to in early illustrations. For the impeccable firmness of the line, the comrades jokingly nicknamed him "Ivan - a firm hand."

The work of Viktor Borisov-Musatov was successful experience independent and fruitful interpretation of new pictorial quests of European and Russian art. The artist is comparable to the Japanese masters by the organic correspondence of all the elements of the composition of his paintings to each other, the figures and the natural background, the outfits of the heroines. Silent, immersed in dreams, and almost motionless figures of women in the painting "Emerald Necklace" are reminiscent of the Impressionists and at the same time the images of the Japanese artist Utamaro. The faces of the women in V. Musatov's "Emerald Necklace" are similar to each other, as are the faces of the beauties of Utamaro. The content of his works is determined not by the depth of individual human images, but by their relationships in figurative system paintings.

Of particular importance were the picturesque discoveries of V. Borisov-Musatov for Pavel Kuznetsov. The work of Pavel Varfolomeevich Kuznetsov "Still life with Japanese engraving" is the discovery of Japanese art. In still life, Kuznetsov reveals the essence of not only personal experience perception of Japanese art, but also the history of its discovery by a whole generation of Russian artists. For Kuznetsov, "Still Life" and Utamaro's engraving are both the subject of the image and the subject of pictorial interpretation. Kuznetsov did not attempt to reproduce the techniques and methods of work in "Still Life with Japanese Engraving" Japanese masters used by many of his contemporaries. Not copying Utamaro's engravings, but trying to penetrate his art from the inside, Kuznetsov gives a pictorial interpretation of a graphic work. We can say that the work of two Russian artists V.E. Borisov-Musatov and P. Kuznetsov, was also devoted to the search for new ways of expressiveness of the means of art. The work of Japanese masters influenced the artistic methods and techniques of these artists, in the depiction of a person inextricably linked with nature.

A vivid example of the peculiar "Japanism" of Georgy Bogdanovich Yakulov is the general design and poster of the Pittoresk cafe (1917). The main hall of the cafe, and general composition, and the design details resemble an old Japanese theater. This is easy to verify by looking at a late 15th-century Japanese engraving that depicts the interior of a theatre.

On the poster is given in growth female figure of European appearance and in European clothes, surrounded on the right and left by an inscription with the name, address and date of opening of the cafe. Let's compare the poster with an engraving by a Japanese artist of the 15th century. Suzuki Harunobu Geisha. It is difficult to say whether he knew about the existence of this engraving, which is so reminiscent of his poster - and the setting of the figure, and the inscriptions, as if hanging in the air. But this does not indicate copying or styling. It is about the similarity of artistic thinking. Yakulov himself said that he was closer to the eastern - symbolic system than the European - realistic.Russian artists were faced with the task of preserving all the richness of Russian culture acquired over the centuries, and at the same time regaining the immediacy of perception and, on this basis, achieving a new aesthetic perfection.

Conclusion

Based on the research materials, it can be noted:

1. The term Ukiyo, borrowed from Buddhist philosophy, literally means "world of sorrow". The world of transient pleasures also began to be called ukiyo, literally meaning "floating", "floating by". Ukiyo-e means "pictures of the floating world".
2. A feature of the engraving is the difference in genres: the image of female beauty, a reflection of the life of the actors of the Kabuki theater, paintings about flowers and birds,landscapes, historical and heroic events. Another feature aretwo-dimensional complex patterns on surfaces, simple colors, the idea of ​​harmony between heaven, earth and man, in comprehending the worldview and the sad charm of the passing life.
3. The nature of the Japanese influence can be represented as two main methods of using the Japanese artistic tradition:

1) a stylization technique, when artists turned to the creative techniques of the Japanese in depicting reality. In these cases, borrowings are reduced to the techniques of depicting the sky, waves, highlighting the contours of the picture, and the decorative qualities of Japanese engraving. The technique of stylization was clearly manifested in the work of Russian artists I. Bilibin, A. Ostroumova-Lebedeva, M. Cassatt, Y. Dobuzhinsky, U. Crane.

2) the use of Japanese motifs as part of their own creativity when an artist transforms Japanese culture in relation to their tasks, they interpret the language of Japanese art, weaving it into the fabric of their own artistic method in the works of V. Borisov-Musatov, P. Kuznetsov, V. Van Gogh.

Absorbing the Western stylization of the East, the artists on its basis sought and created their own image of the East - an image based on a person's ability to see the world directly. Acquaintance with Japanese art turned out to be fruitful for European and Russian artists, not only on the way to creating a new plastic language, but also served to enrich the visual experience of the masters, opened up to them the existence of a different type of creative fantasy, the possibility of fundamentally new points of view on the familiar and everyday.

Comparison of Western and Russian masters with Japanese graphics gives us every reason to talk about the free dialogue of different cultures, about contact with the spiritual culture of Japan in the 20th century, which significantly enriched cultural fund, which influenced the range of his interests.

Literature

1. Ukiyoe-Gallery [Electronic resource] // Fine Japanese Woodblock Prints. -http://www.ukiyoe-gallery.com/index.htm

Japanese woodcuts became widespread in Edo (Tokyo). During the 17th - 19th centuries, Edo was the main residence of the shoguns, scientists, writers and artists were attracted here, which provided the city with a powerful economic and cultural upsurge. In 1868, after the overthrow of the shogunate and the restoration of imperial power, the capital of Japan was moved from Kyoto to Edo. Here the direction of fine arts was born, which is denoted by the term "ukiyo-e" (translated from Japanese - "pictures of the changing world"). This concept was borrowed from the philosophy of Zen Buddhism, for which it is important to realize the frailty of human existence in comparison with Eternity. Therefore, in the Zen school, the comprehension of life "here and now" came to the fore. Admiring the fleeting moments of the present has become an integral part of Japanese aesthetics and one of the ways of natural closeness to nature and meditation in the spirit of Zen Buddhism.

"... To live only the moment given to you, enjoy, admiring the moon, cherry blossoms, autumn maple leaves, sing songs, drink wine and have fun, not caring at all about the poverty that defiantly looks into our faces, thoughtlessly surrender to the flow, like a pumpkin, passionlessly drawn by the current of the river. This is what we call ukiyo-e..." (Asai Ryoi, 17th century writer)

The art of ukiyo-e was associated with the poetry of tanka and haiku (haiku), which also sought to convey the moment of the present in an extremely simple form and at the same time contain all space and the whole world.

In a flower cup
A bumblebee naps. Don't touch him
Sparrow friend!

Colored prints of ukiyo-e were more affordable than pictorial scrolls in terms of cost and were purchased by various segments of the urban population to decorate their homes. With the advent of cameras, the phenomenon of ukiyo-e began to disappear, as photography became a more perfect way of capturing the moment.

In Japanese woodcuts, there was a division into genres:
KATYO-GA - images of flowers and birds
FUKEI-GA - natural scenery and city views
BIJIN-GA - images of beautiful people
YAKUSYA-E - portraits popular actors kabuki theater
MUSYA-E - images of famous samurai
SHUN-GA ("spring pictures") - erotic engravings

KATE-GA
Almost all types of garden flowers came to Japan from China, including the chrysanthemum (Kiku in Japanese - "flower of the sun"), which soon became the country's national flower. The names of shades of Japanese chrysanthemums were poetic in nature: "morning dawn", "evening sunset", "northern downpour", "foggy morning", "lion's mane", "blaze of the sword".
In 1496, a book was published in Kyoto with a botanical description of more than 10 varieties of chrysanthemums, which differed sharply from each other in flower shape and color. There was no color printing at that time, so the shades of varieties were described in words. With the advent of color engraving, multi-volume collection albums began to appear, in which not a descriptive, but an artistic and pictorial aspect came to the fore.
In the 18th century, the Maruyama-Shijo school of Japanese classical naturalistic painting was founded in Kyoto on the "street of artists" Shijo. Its founder, the artist Maruyama Okyo, combined the naturalism, chiaroscuro and perspective of the western school with traditional oriental image techniques.

One of the students of Maruyama-Shijo became Kono Bayrei- the famous master of kacho-ga. He created a huge number of easel engravings, several books and albums. A special place in his work is occupied by the "Album of Birds and Flowers" (1883), in which the artist depicts birds and flowers at certain times of the year. Engravings were published both as separate editions and combined in blocks: spring-summer, autumn-winter. The engraving album "One Hundred Birds" went through three editions in 1891, 1892 and 1896. The album One Hundred Flowering Plants was first published posthumously in 1901.

BIJIN-GA
With the development of the large urban centers of Edo and Osaka, scenes with traditional holidays and entertainment of the townspeople appear on scrolls and screens. The central characters of these paintings are young metropolitan fashionistas and dandies in catchy outfits. Portraits of courtesans, which served as an advertisement for the "fun" quarter of Yoshiwara, became widespread. Despite the advertising nature, bijin-ga were rarely allowed to assess the true appearance of a particular beauty. Rather, it was a collective portrait, reflecting fashion trends in costume, makeup and hair.

Tighten a narrow belt.
From the eyes of a young beauty
Seems cold.
The recognized master of the genre is considered Kitagawa Utamaro.The female image in his works was subjected to enhanced typification. The ideal of female beauty in the works of the master is the elongated oval of the face and proportions of the body, the traditional high hairstyle, eyes outlined with a minimum number of strokes, thin lines of the lips and a straight nose. At the same time, for the image of one detail, Utamaro could use several dozen boards! Thanks to the constant search for the master, the ukiyo-e palette has been enriched with many nuanced tones. So, for example, the artist first began to mix gold and silver powder to achieve the effect of flickering background.

The engraving depicts three beauties of Edo - Nanbaya O-Kita, Takashima O-Hisa and Tomimoto Toyohina. O-Kita worked as a waitress in a tea house located in front of the Zuishinmon gate in Asakusa, Toyohina was a geisha in Yoshiwara. Takashima O-Hisa (picture on the right) came from a wealthy family, she was the daughter of the owner of several tea houses in the Ryogoku Yagenbori area. In the book Mizuchaya Hyakunin Issho (1793), which compared one hundred girls from tea houses, O-Kita was in 16th place, and O-Hisa in 17th place.

Flower arranging competition between Takashima O-Hisa and O-Kita

The ideal of female beauty created by Utamaro inspired both contemporaries and younger artists. Among the followers of the master it is worth mentioning Eisho Chokasai. The most significant series of his engravings - "Competition of the beauties of cheerful quarters" - demonstrates the gradual complication of the genre: the development multi-figured compositions and filling portraits with numerous details.

Utagawa Kunisada

Toyohara Kunitika, a student of Utagawa Kunisada, depicts courtesans of the highest rank, whose distinctive skill was to create an impression of luxury and impregnability. Tayu (as they were called in Osaka and Kyoto) and oiran (in Edo) made very complex hairstyles with a lot of jewelry, wore a kimono in three or more layers with a long train and a huge decorative bow in front. In Kunitika's works, the composition becomes complex and multi-layered, like the robes and hairstyles of geishas, ​​pierced by dozens of hairpins - "kanzashi".
"Three Famous Courtesans"

MUSYA-E
For many millennia, the history of Japan is a history of irreconcilable inter-clan wars and power struggles between shoguns. According to the legendary "Records of Ancient Affairs" (708) and "Annals of Japan" (720), the emperors are the direct descendants of the sun goddess Amaterasu. The dynasty was not interrupted from the 6th century BC until the current reigning emperor Akihito. From the 12th century family coat of arms("mon") is a 16-leaf chrysanthemum.
To maintain power, the imperial family entered into alliances with other major clans. As a result, in 1192, Minamoto Yoritomo became the first military ruler of the country - the shogun. The title appeared as an abbreviation for the temporary rank of sei-taishogun ("commander-in-chief"). Unlike the emperor, his figure was not sacred, but he became the actual head of the government - the bakufu.
Samurai ("bushi") are not just warriors, but officials, as well as bodyguards and servants of their overlord. The "golden age" for the samurai came in the Edo era, when they received many privileges. And it was allowed to carry two swords, a large and a small one, while the rest could only carry one small sword. Tokugawa Ieyasu called the sword the "soul" of the samurai. It was a family heirloom and sacred item.
Each samurai developed fortitude through the practice of Zen Buddhism, guided by a set of ethical rules and norms of behavior in society and at home - Bushido or the "Way of the Warrior".
In 1868, the power of the emperor was restored. A rapid modernization of the country began along the lines of England and the USA; in 1873, the samurai troops were disbanded. In 1876, a law was passed prohibiting the carrying of swords and abolishing the estate itself.

summer herbs
Where the heroes have disappeared
Like a dream.
(Matsuo Basho)

Utagawa Yoshikatsu
Takeda Shingen (series "Famous generals of our country")
Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Yamamoto Kansuke (Haruyuki) at the Battle of Kawanakajima (series "The Brave Commanders of Kai and Echigo Province - 24 Commanders of the Takeda Clan")

Takeda Sama-no-suke Nobushige (series "One Hundred Courageous Generals of the Battle of Kawanakajima in Shinano Province")

FUKEI-GA

Hokusai(1760 - 1849)
The outstanding woodcut master, according to his own diary confessions, did not create anything significant until the age of 70 and only later began to develop continuously. During his long life, he used at least 30 pseudonyms, significantly surpassing other authors in this respect. Now these pseudonyms are considered by researchers to periodize the stages of the master's work. In 1800, at the age of 41, he began to call himself Gakejin Hokusai - "Painting-obsessed Hokusai".
The artist turned to various genres of woodcuts: among them are portraits of actors, greeting cards "surimono", manga. But it was in the landscape genre "fukei-ga" that all the finds of the master were combined. The classical Far Eastern landscape ignored the real appearance of the object, striving to embody the philosophical ideas of being through natural forms, while in Hokusai it is always associated with a specific area, the topographic features of which are often specified with the help of inscriptions. He also for the first time combined in a harmonious unity the laws of perspective construction of space and the linear rhythm of ukiyo-e, landscape views and everyday motifs, actively integrating people's lives into a single universal order.

Hokusai created his most famous series of works during his mature period from 1823 to 1831. The series was such an unprecedented success that publisher Nishimura Yohachi soon announced plans to expand it to 100 prints. However, only 10 new works saw the light in 1831-32.
In the first 36 views, the sacred Mount Fuji is depicted from the side of Edo, therefore these engravings are called "omote Fuji" ("Fuji from the front side"). Contrary to the established tradition, the original contours of the works are printed not in black, but in indigo blue, which enhances the contrast of cold and warm tones of the sky, water and mountain stone. The following 10 engravings are presented mainly from the western side, therefore they are called "ura Fuji" ("Fuji from the back").

Quietly, quietly crawl
Snail, down the slope of Fuji
Up to the very heights!
(Kobayashi Issa)

1. "The Great Wave Off Kanagawa"

Hiroshige(1787 - 1858)
Ando Hiroshige is Hokusai's most successful follower. As a sign of respect for the work of the teacher, Hiroshige created after his death the eponymous series "36 Views of Mount Fuji". Hiroshige actively improved the techniques of woodcutting. Distinctive features of his engravings were the use of embossing and the method of gradation of color tones, "bokasi", to convey fog, twilight or forest behind a veil of rain.
Born and living most of his life in Edo, the master devoted almost a fifth of all the sheets he created to the views of his native city. the last series The work was called "100 Known Views of Edo" and was completed by the master at a time when he had already retired from the world to a Buddhist monastery in 1856.
Hiroshige traveled extensively in Japan and created several sketchbooks with views of the provinces.

Series "53 Tokaido Stations"
Tokaido or the "Way of the Eastern Sea" - one of the main roads of Japan with a length of about 514 km connected the capital of the Edo shogunate with the imperial city of Kyoto and further with Osaka. None of the subjects, with the exception of Fuji, was as popular as the image of this ancient tract. Hiroshige overcame it in 1832 as part of a solemn procession heading to Kyoto with gifts to the emperor. The series consists of 55 engravings, as views of Edo and Kyoto have been added to 53 stations.

Portable hearth.
So, the heart of wanderings, and for you
There is no rest anywhere.
(Matsuo Basho)

15 station - Kambara

FUZOKU-GA
Fuzoku-ga ("pictures of manners and customs") in the Western tradition is called everyday genre. Busy marinas, trade and craft areas were depicted at different times of the day in different seasons. Hiroshige dedicated the first 10 sheets of his series "36 Views of Fuji", as well as the later series "100 Famous Views of Edo" to the views of the eastern capital and its inhabitants.

With a crackle the silks are torn
At the Echigoya shop...
Summer time has come!
(Takarai Kikaku)

Hiroshige "Evening view of Saruwakacho" (series "100 famous views of Edo and its environs")

Hiroshige "Suruga District in Edo" (series "36 Views of Mount Fuji")

Hiroshige "Cherry Blossom in Asukayama in Edo" (series "36 Views of Mount Fuji")

Hiroshige "Winter view from Sukiyagashi in Edo" (series "36 views of Mount Fuji")

Urban landscapes in the drawings of ukiyo-e masters are emphatically realistic, but often they contain motifs of mysticism and folk beliefs. For example, the image of fiery foxes, which, according to legend, wield magic and serve the Shinto goddess Inari, and also gather in a flock in new year's eve under the enoki tree.
Ando Hiroshige "Fox Lights" at the Iron Dressing Tree in Oji" (series "100 famous views of Edo and its environs")

There are also some humorous stories. Hiroshige even had a separate pseudonym for such sheets - "Hiroshige with a playful brush." The works of Hiroshige himself became the subject of irony of his own student Utagawa Hirokage. His series "Comic Views of Famous Places in Edo" is a direct reference to the teacher's famous series, with the only difference being that in it the city dwellers get into all sorts of embarrassing situations, which makes the viewer laugh.

YAKUSYA-E

The word "kabuki" consists of three hieroglyphs "song", "dance" and "skill", this is one of the types traditional theater Japan, which is a complex synthesis of singing, music, dance and drama.
Unlike the aristocratic NO theater, kabuki is considered an art for the townspeople and common people. The theater where everything female roles performed exclusively by men, was created by a woman. The founder of kabuki is the legendary temple dancer Izumo no Okuni, who first began to show ritual dances to the accompaniment of musical instruments outside the sanctuary. In 1629, the government of the third shogunate of Iemitsu banned all performances involving women as undermining the moral foundations of society.
In kabuki, all elements, starting with the make-up of actors, costumes, ending with poses, carry a great semantic load. The play is much longer than European productions: individual performances can last all day! The scenery of productions often changes in the middle of the act: they are changed by workers dressed in black suits, which means they are "invisible".
Kabuki has a close relationship with the traditional puppet theater bunraku. Dolls are made in the size of 1/2 and 2/3 human height and are controlled by three operators. Almost all parts of the doll's body are very mobile, including the head, in which the eyes blink and move, the eyebrows and lips move, the tongue sticks out. The two most famous plays Japanese theater - "47 faithful ronin" and "Yoshitsune and a thousand branches of sakura" - were originally written for bunraku and only then adapted for kabuki theater.

Utagawa Kunisada
Kabuki theater scenes

The emergence and development of ukiyo-e

One of the most famous types of Japanese art is printmaking, called ukiyo-e (浮世絵). Literally, "ukiyo-e" is translated as "floating world", which refers us to Buddhist philosophy, in which the word "ukiyo" meant "mortal world". But with the advent of "fun neighborhoods" (brothels) in the Edo era, the concept was rethought and began to mean "the world of fleeting phenomena." The word "ukiyo-e" was first mentioned by the writer Asai Ryoi in 1661.

The ukiyo-e style refers to woodcuts, printed graphics on wood, or prints on paper. The creator of ukiyo-e is the painter and graphic artist Hisikawa Moronobu (菱川 師宣).

The predecessors of ukiyo-e were ehon (絵本) - collections of stories with accompanying pictures. Then the prints gained independence and were used as posters for kabuki theater performances or scrolls with sayings kakemono (掛け物) placed in niches of tokonoma (床の間), a kind of home shrines.

Ukiyo-e paintings originally originated in the late 17th century. The first engravings were black and white, as ink was used to create them, and from the 18th century, pictures became colored, as masters began to paint them with cinnabar by hand, using a brush. Then came the technique of polychrome printing, called nishiki-e (錦絵) - "brocade pictures".

The engravings were very cheap, since the technique was quite simple and allowed to produce large "circulations", and were intended for wide sections, mainly the urban population. And only when the Europeans began to massively buy paintings, the Japanese realized the full value of these works, and they had to buy paintings produced by their own country from foreigners. Due to the fact that the print could create more than one hundred identical paintings, you can see the same work at several points the globe and they will all be authentic.

Since the main consumers of the paintings were the townspeople, the plots reflected the typical lifestyle of a Japanese city: beautiful ladies, everyday situations, sumo wrestlers, kabuki theater actors, plots of legends. Later, landscapes and military themes began to be depicted. Accordingly, ukiyo-e paintings are not only works of art, but also important historical sources, from which we can learn a lot about life in the Edo period.

The engravings were meant to be admired in a horizontal position, so they were not hung on the wall, except as an emono. Because of this, some works have their own "secret". For example, the hero's kimono could be with a pattern that could only be seen when the picture lay horizontally or when looking at it from below if it hung on the wall.

Execution technique

Three people were required to create a Japanese print: an artist, a carver, and a printer. The quality and beauty of the work depended on everyone three masters. The first one applied the prototype of the picture with ink on transparent paper, the carver pasted it on a wooden plank of cherry, pear or boxwood and cut out the areas that remained white. It was the first printed form, and the drawing was actually destroyed. Then several prints were made with different colors (each color or tone has its own form), and the printer, having discussed the color scheme with the artist in advance, applied paint to a set of forms and printed an engraving on rice paper.

Main genres

Bijin-ga(美人が) - the image of beauties. As the name implies, the main subject of the image of this genre were beautiful women. Most often, on the engravings one could see the inhabitants of the cheerful quarter of Yoshiwara: geishas, ​​courtesans and simply famous beautiful women. The typical beauty of those times had an oval face, a curved neck and a small mouth. The subjects in which the beauties appeared were everyday: tea ceremony, toilet, walks, games. In this genre, the okubi-e (お首絵) style arose - "big heads", where the close-up girl's head.

Masters: Suzuki Harunobu, Torii Kiyonaga, Kitagawa Utamaro.

Yakusha-e(役者絵) - portraits of popular theater actors. The artist had to adhere to certain strict rules in the image: for example, slanting eyes, gathered in a heap, denoted anger; if the hero bit his handkerchief, then this showed unbridled passion, and hairiness referred to savagery and animal unbridledness. Yakusha-e engravings have interesting feature: A purple spot can be seen on the heads of the heroes. In fact, this spot denoted a cap, symbolizing a highly shaved forehead, like all Edo men, which was put on the head by actors portraying women (and, as you know, in kabuki all roles, including women, were portrayed by men).

Masters: Torii Kiyonobu, Katsukawa Shunsho, Toshusai Syaraku, Utagawa Toyokuni.

Shunga(春画 "spring pictures") - erotic engravings.

At the word "ukiyo-e" in Japanese, first of all, the image of a painting in the genre of shunga pops up in the head, and then all the others. Shunga is a genre that depicts very explicit intimate scenes with exaggerated anatomical details, shocking Europeans brought up in strict Christian customs. But the shock was replaced by popularity - there could never be such images in the West, and foreigners bought them very actively.

Again, not about everything at once, but specifically about engravings ukiyo-e. Nice word, but what does it mean? We respect special sites. For example, encyclopedia of Japan from, A to Z
- and find out that:

woodcut technique, or printing from wooden boards, appeared in Japan in the Heian period (794−1185) along with the advent of Buddhism. Beginning of the 17th century characterized by the appearance of illustrated woodcut books, published in mass editions. In these editions, text and illustrations were printed in black.

The first easel engravings were also black and white, then they began to be slightly tinted by hand with cinnabar (tan-e), later the engravings were tinted with dark red paint (beni-e) or shaded with black dense paint, which created the effect of black lacquer coating (urushi- e).

The first prints using red color (benizuri-e) appeared in the middle of the 18th century. Gradually, the number of boards for color printing increased, and in 1765 the first multi-color engravings appeared, which were called “brocade paintings” (nishiki-e).

Ukiyo-e(which literally translated from Japanese means “pictures of the mortal world”) absorbed philosophical contemplation and emotional fullness of admiring the fullness of mortal existence.

In technical terms, the art of ukiyo-e is a complex process that requires the highest professionalism at all stages of performance. The final result of the work depended not only on the skill of the artists who drew the sketches, but also on the virtuosity of the engravers and printers. To create a multi-color image, it was necessary to engrave from two to three to eight boards. Printing was done by hand, which made it possible to create a picturesque effect of halftones. Boards were painted by hand, polished, blown with gold or silver powder.

Japanese engraving has become synonymous with sophistication and good taste. At the end of the 19th century, ukiyo-e prints gained popularity all over the world, they were collected by Whistler, Manet, Degas, Goncourt, Zola. In St. Petersburg, the first exhibition of ukiyo-e prints was held in 1898. Rich collections of such prints exist in the State Hermitage and the Kunstkamera.

The word "ukiyo" in ancient times denoted one of the Buddhist categories and could be translated as "mortal changeable world." At the end of the XVII century. Ukiyo began to denote the world of earthly joys and pleasures. Ukiyo-e - paintings Everyday life urban class of the Edo period.

Emerged in the 17th century. in the environment of the third estate, which was gaining strength, less constrained by canons than painting, engraving was the most widespread and accessible form of art for the townspeople. Themes for ukiyo-e prints were often plots of ukiyo-zoshi genre stories, kabuki theater plays, classical and modern poetry.
An artist, a carver and a printer participated in the process of creating an ukiyo-e print. An important role was played by the publisher, who studied the demand and determined the circulation. Often it was he who set the theme of the engraving and influenced the nature of the publication.

The engraving process was as follows. Painter made a contour drawing in ink on thin, transparent paper. Engraver, having pasted the drawing with the front side on a board of cherry, pear or boxwood, he cut out the first printing plate. Then several black-and-white prints were made, on which the artist indicated the intended colors. Cutter produced the required number (sometimes more than thirty) printing plates, each of which corresponded to one color or tone. Printer by talking with artist colors, applied paint of vegetable or mineral origin and hand-printed an engraving on wet rice paper.

The collective method of work of the artist, carver and printer, the narrow specialization of the masters, the workshop organization of the process determined the originality of Japanese woodcuts.

The founder of the direction is considered Moronobu Hisikawa, Kitibe (circa 1618 - around 1694; according to other sources 1625 - around 1694, 1638−1714), Japanese painter and graphic artist. Lived in Edo. Another major representatives of ukiyo-e were Katsushika Hokusai, who is also known as the founder of the landscape genre in Japanese printmaking, Ando Hiroshige(1797−1858) is one of the largest Japanese graphic artists.
Hiroshige was born in Edo in the family of a petty samurai Ando Ganemon. Thanks to the early training in hieroglyphic writing Tokutaro (the first baby name artist) was also well versed in the properties of paper, brush and ink - the main materials of oriental painting.

The first painting "Mount Fuji in the snow", which has survived to this day (Suntory Museum, Tokyo), was painted by the artist at the age of ten. He was fourteen years old when he became a student Toyohiro, founder of the school Utagawa. At the heart of Hiroshige's early work is real events, scenes peeped on the streets.

The second stage of creativity was marked by the appearance of landscape engravings. Hiroshige depicts the first series, Eight Views of Omi, published in 1825, dedicated to the beauty of Lake Biwa, located in the province of Omi, without leaving Edo. The next series "Ten Views of the Eastern Capital", released two years later, is dedicated to hometown artist - Edo.

Then the artist completely focuses his attention on landscapes and series of the katyoga (“flowers and birds”) genre. One of the most famous is the sheet "Sparrows over a snow-covered camellia" from a series of 25 engravings.

In August 1832, the artist walked the entire eastern seaside road - Tokaido. The result of the trip was a large series of landscape engravings, Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road, released by him, which marked the beginning of the flowering of his work.
The next period of creativity Hiroshige largely different from the previous one. He often changes his place of residence, makes repeated, rather long trips around the country, but at the same time does not create large landscape series at all. Most time he devotes to illustrating books with satirical verses.

In the last decade of his life, the artist did not part with his favorite themes of Tokaido and Edo landscapes, depicting them on separate engravings, fans, and in books. Hiroshige creates the Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series. In the same years, the artist turns to the image of bizarre rocks, caves, waterfalls, gorges and crossings through them. Hiroshige gave his last series of landscapes, consisting of three triptychs, the old poetic title "Snow, Moon, Flowers". During the last three years of Hiroshige's life, engravings of his largest series, One Hundred Views of Edo, gradually came out.

landscapes Hiroshige along with works Hokusai made an engraving ukiyo-e leading art form of the first half of the nineteenth century.

Many works by Hiroshige and Hokusai, as well as various other authors, can be viewed on the Ukiyoe Japanese Prints website. But be careful - there are 9 galleries of paintings with 500 each. You can stay for a long time!