Hokusai Repro
Posted in Prints on 10/11/2009 01:51 am by admin |
 XL FRAMED HOKUSAI Farmers Bridge Repro Canvas Art PRINT $283.98 Time Remaining: 13d 8h 5m Buy It Now for only: $283.98 |
 XL HOKUSAI Tearoom at Yoshida Painting Repro ASIAN ART $255.58 Time Remaining: 4h 57m Buy It Now for only: $255.58 |
 XL HOKUSAI Great Wave at Kanagawa Repro FRAMED Wall Art $255.58 Time Remaining: 1d 4h 53m Buy It Now for only: $255.58 |
 XL FRAMED HOKUSAI Morning Glories Repro CANVAS WALL ART $255.58 Time Remaining: 2d 4h 48m Buy It Now for only: $255.58 |
 FRAMED Hokusai Great Wave at Kanagawa Repro CANVAS ART $207.98 Time Remaining: 19d 6h 36m Buy It Now for only: $207.98 |
 4 FT HOKUSAI GREAT WAVE STRETCHED CANVAS Art Repro $199.99 Time Remaining: 13d 20h 15m Buy It Now for only: $199.99 |
 HOKUSAI The Great Wave Kanagawa Repro FRAMED CANVAS ART $191.98 Time Remaining: 14d 9h 26m Buy It Now for only: $191.98 |
 FRAMED HOKUSAI Great Wave at Kanagawa Repro CANVAS ART $168.28 Time Remaining: 1d 9h 30m Buy It Now for only: $168.28 |
 FRAMED HOKUSAI Great Wave at Kanagawa Art Repro CANVAS $130.98 Time Remaining: 26d 9h 26m Buy It Now for only: $130.98 |
 KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI Okiku The Plate Specter Repro CANVAS $120.98 Time Remaining: 4d 14h Buy It Now for only: $120.98 |
 HOKUSAI Great Wave at Kanagawa Art Repro FRAMED CANVAS $115.98 Time Remaining: 5d 16h 43m Buy It Now for only: $115.98 |
 HOKUSAI Tametomo and the Demons Art Repro FRAMED CANVAS $115.98 Time Remaining: 9d 12h 22m Buy It Now for only: $115.98 |
 HOKUSAI The Great Wave at Kanagawa Canvas Repro ARTWORK $52.99 Time Remaining: 1d 15h 17m Buy It Now for only: $52.99 |
 FRAMED Hokusai Great Wave at Kanagawa Repro CANVAS ART $39.98 Time Remaining: 9d 5h 57m Buy It Now for only: $39.98 |
| We did not find any matches for your request. |
One famous art genre is the Japanese Woodblock prints, known as ukiyo-e, which literally means "pictures of the floating world." It is an art genre that originated in the 1600s and became popular among the ordinary citizens of Japan because the relative ease of reproduction meant that these prints were affordable to the general populace. The subject matter of these Japanese woodblock prints was mainly scenes and people of the entertainment and pleasure quarters in Edo (now Tokyo), namely the theaters and brothels. Indeed, ukiyo-e was used as posters advertising the geisha women, courtesans and kabuki actors who work in those establishments.
In the late 1700s, ukiyo-e woodblock prints branched out to include landscape prints. Two contemporaries who were prominent in this period are Katsushika Hokusai and Ando Hiroshige, though the latter was 37 years the former's junior. Both of them were famous for their landscape prints, although both of them also painted more "traditional" themes of women and actors. At first glance, the works of these two masters may look very similar in style and subject matter, which includes scenes from Edo and Mt. Fuji. Unless one is familiar with their work, it can be hard to tell them apart and see the differences that become more apparent upon close inspection. Furthermore, works by both of these masters influenced a few big name European artists: Hokusai's works influenced Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Hermann Obrist while Hiroshige clearly had an influence on Vincent Van Gogh and Ivan Bilibin. Both men also inspired and influenced a whole new art movement -- Jugendstil in Germany and Mir Iskusstva in Russia, respectively.
The differences between these two artistic geniuses lie in their backgrounds, which probably had an effect on their styles and approaches to their art. Hokusai was from an obscure parentage while Hiroshige was born to a low-ranking samurai, a servant to the shogun and whose job was to protect Edo castle from a fire. Hokusai would then take on nearly 100 different names throughout his career and move from one place to another, thus causing people to perceive him as crazy or unstable. Hiroshige, on the other hand, inherited his father's job as a bureaucrat at the age of 13, but turned to art a year later. Perhaps owing to this difference in their backgrounds, Hokusai appeared to be more dramatic in his prints, painting with sharp, forceful lines and a range of colors, which is a complex technique in woodblock printing, as they require a series of woodblocks. Hiroshige, however, emphasized more on the mood, atmosphere and ambience, which can make his paintings appear more subtle and passive. One other difference may be in their choice of subject matter. Hokusai is a Buddhist of the Nichiren sect with Mt. Fuji considered a sacred site and his beliefs and spirituality are reflected in one of his most famous work, titled "One hundred views of Mt. Fuji" with Mt. Fuji being the central theme. Hiroshige painted Mt. Fuji as well, but it is only as a part of a scene captured along the way during his travel from Edo to Kyoto along the Tokaido road, which led to the paintings of one of his most famous work, "Fifty-three stations of Tokaido". In this sense, one can say that Hokusai's approach to his work is spiritual while Hiroshige's is realistic.
With this understanding of the different styles of these two Japanese woodblock artists, hopefully their work can be enjoyed and appreciated even more.
Find out more about the beautiful art of Ukiyo-e and check out artworks by other prominent Japanese woodblock artists in the Edo and Meiji era at http://hubpages.com/hub/Buy-Japanese-art-Ukiyoe-woodblock-prints-online
The author holds a MA in Asian Studies from the UK and is a proud SAHM to a bilingual preschool-aged daughter. Her interests are broad and varied, but her current passions include parenting, early childhood education and development, culture and languages, and traveling. She is currently working on creating a website that will be about lifestyle and world culture. It should be up and running soon, so stay tuned.