Ukiyo-e

Ukiyo-e, which translates “pictures of the floating world,” is a Japanese artistic genre that flourished between the 17th and 19th centuries. Mostly formed as woodblock prints, Ukiyo-e art catered to the period’s growing urban merchant class, which, although economically well-off, was at the bottom of the social hierarchy defined by Tokugawa military government. This class was separated in Japan’s cities creating busy, commerce-centric areas full of pleasure (be it entertainment or sexual) for sale. Ukiyo-e prints of courtesans, kabuki actors, sumo wrestlers, and erotica sold well to these merchants and artists found a new opportunity to portray the daily life around them. Ukiyo-e’s large, flat shapes, limited shading, and unapologetic lines greatly influenced Western art movements that sought detachment from academic European sensibility. Impressionists, Post-Impressionists, and Art Nouveau artists all cited Ukiyo-e prints as influential to their practice.