The art of Ukiyo-E

Narao Rapids - by Ando Hiroshige

Ukiyo-e (浮世絵, lit. "pictures of the floating world"?) (Japanese pronunciation: [ukijo.e] or [ukijoꜜe]) is a genre of Japanese
woodblock prints (or woodcuts) and paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries, featuring motifs of landscapes, tales from history, the theatre, and pleasure quarters.Usually the word ukiyo is literally translated as "floating world" in
English, referring to a conception of an evanescent world,impermanent, fleeting beauty and a realm of entertainments (kabuki,
courtesans, geisha) divorced from the responsibilities of the mundane,everyday world; "pictures of the floating world", i.e. ukiyo-e, are considered a genre unto themselves.
I spent quite a few hours researching for that giant wave poster Id seen the other day in a second hand book store at charring cross.And I learnt about a new form of art- called Ukiyo-e.Literally translated as 'pictures of the floating world', this japanese art form refers to woodblock prints and paintings produced between the 17th and 20th centuries.
The concept of a evanescent world, impermanent, fleeting beauty and the realm of entertainments (geisha, kabuki, etc) divorces from the responsibilities of the mundane everyday world - found a warm corner in my heart.I can only imagine such dis-attachment while staring at the beauty of the giant waves.

When I was hunting for this particular picture, called the Navaro Rapids, I had chanced across Katsushika's 'Great Wave' and unknowingly identified them to belong to the same genre.Interestingly, Ando was greatly influenced by Katsushika and the 36 views of Mt. Fuji. He went onto

Hiroshige's The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō  and One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (1856–1858) greatly influenced Monet, Van Gogh.Infact, Van Gogh copied two of the One Hundred Famous Views of Edo .

 

left: Hiroshige, "The Plum Garden in Kameido" , right:Van Gogh, "Flowering Plum Tree"                       
                           

 

The great wave of Kanagwa

What makes a great artist? Its a million dollar question.Should we consider popularity?Well art can be popular for all sorts of reasons....Last I heard Bryan Adam has decided to buy a fancy DSLR and go over to his other famous friends houses and shoot some stuff.And thats apparently popular.Ronnie Woods art being converted to t shirts and hand bags and even apna sallu has picked up a brush once in a while. How about style- Picasso and Monet rose to fame with the radical difference they brought into the art world with the subject they focussed on, the strokes they showed the world that the 'old masters' wouldnt have dared to .
Without going into a detailed essay on art, Id say I would want to define a great artist as someone who can mesmerise you with his/her art.
If thats a blank page with a series of squares a.k.a. joseph albers or Van Goghs colourful canvasses , whatever works for you.And if that mesmerized group is restricted to a eccentric bunch of 20 people, so be it.Why should that make an artist with 20 followers any less than one with 20 million . I know, a lot of us will say ' well I can drop a ink drop on a white page and does that become art'.Well if you truely have even one mesmerized follower- and you really have to be honest about this- if there is even one person who feels like staring at you art work and is moved by it - that does make you an artist.
What would be interesting,is if that only one person, happens to be you !
I have a soft spot for illustrations.Theres something about clean black lines filled with smooth colours, a 3d world reduced to a simplistic layout. I guess years of Marvel Comics addition would have done that to my brain. Chanced upon a poster the other day , by Katsushika Hokusai and truely felt mesmerised.It was just a giant wave that had almost created a whirlpool which seemed like had been drawn in an illustration style. And yet I could stare at it long enough to realise I really really liked it.My eyes wanted to trace every line on that wave .Sadly , when I came back home, I couldnt locate that poster anywhere on the net.Maybe I havent searched well enough.
Hokusai started painting at the age of 6 and was known by at least 30 names during his lifetime. Although the use of multiple names was a common practice of Japanese artists of the time, the numbers of names he used far exceeds that of any other major Japanese artist. Hokusai's name changes are so frequent, and so often related to changes in his artistic production and style, that they are useful for breaking his life up into periods
He painted a 36 panel series , of views around Mt Fuji. Here is one of the more well known ones from that series - The great wave of Kanagwa.