Tag: art

Japanese Mythology · Pop Culture and Japan

The Last Ukiyo-e Painter & The Fight For Preservation

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This is a chapter from my book Japanese Fighting Heroes: Warriors, Samurai and Ronins. Pick up a copy here.

I love art. Walking around galleries and observing paintings is not only a therapeutic exercise, it’s an opportunity to soak up a piece of the artist’s story. Art is a window into the mind of the person who created it and their essence is left behind in the subject matter.

Japan has no shortage of wonderful art and Japanese ukiyo-e is my favourite genre for the distinctive style and beauty that goes into making it. Translating to pictures of the floating world, ukiyo-e are woodblock paintings and scenes that depict the pleasure districts, geisha, actors, wrestlers and decadence of the Edo period.

This style of art flourished for hundreds of years until it faded with the hero of this chapter: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi. Considered to be the last of the great masters, Yoshitoshi kept ukiyo-e alive for as long as he could against an invasion of Western technology and disciplines like photography and lithography. Before we visit the end of ukiyo-e, we must go back to the start.

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Guest Posts

Guest Post: Hirst, Hockney, Ballard-Wyllie And The Timeless Charms Of Cherry Blossom

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By Eddie Saint-Jean

Two superstar artists, one aspiring contemporary artist divided on visual language but united by a shared appreciation of Japan’s national flower. The art world has suddenly gone all cherry blossom. And why not? Damien Hirst has gone from pickling sharks, and Swarovski crystal-studded skulls to painting blossoming flowers.

And not to be outdone, David Hockney’s cherry blossom efforts have also been in the news as he swaps paint for an iPad to capture the blossoming magic of spring at his Normandy retreat. London artist Denise Ballard-Wyllie claims she was there first, painting them since she was a child and this passion was rechannelled during a residency at Myddleton House Gardens in Enfield painting cherry blossoms and capturing the super-charged content of nature.

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Poetry

Akogare

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The day I started drawing

I wanted to be like Hiroshige

who painted poetry in colours

carved landscapes from pigment

willed animals to exist by the force of his technique

I imagined what it must’ve been like

for him to travel 300 miles on the Tokaido Road

an artistic pilgrimage, chasing seasons

guided by the force of his vision

There’s only one Hiroshige

The same as there’s only one me

And that’s enough

Book Reviews

Ukiyo-E: The Art Of The Japanese Print Review: A Beautiful Book Filled With Exceptional Art And History

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Ukiyo-e The Art Of The Japanese Print book.

When it comes to Japanese art, ukiyo-e (pictures of the floating world) are arguably the best representation. Often produced as woodblock prints, ukiyo-e have captured the imagination of people all over the world, providing a romanticised version of Japan that’s connected to ‘The Floating World’ of pleasure palaces, geisha, samurai and kabuki actors during the Edo period.

Frederick Harris’ Ukiyo-E: The Art Of The Japanese Print may well be the definitive version of Japanese woodblock prints. Filled with beautiful artwork and commentary on the greatest Japanese artists of all time, the book is a must-read for anyone who’s interested in art history and Japanese culture.

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