Facts about Japanese Ukiyo-e Printmaking

1. 06

   Affordable mass production made ukiyo-e prints accessible to common townspeople during the Edo period, distinguishing them from expensive hand-painted works owned only by the elite.

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2. 05

   Prussian blue, a synthetic pigment imported from Europe, gave ukiyo-e prints their distinctive vivid blue tones starting in the early 19th century.

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3. 04

   Hiroshige Utagawa's ukiyo-e series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, completed in the 1850s, directly influenced Western Impressionist painters including Vincent van Gogh.

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4. 03

   Ukiyo-e prints depicted the 'floating world' of urban pleasure districts, kabuki actors, and sumo wrestlers, reflecting Edo period popular culture rather than aristocratic subjects.

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5. 02

   Katsushika Hokusai's ukiyo-e series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, produced in the early 1830s, includes the iconic wave print now known worldwide as The Great Wave.

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6. 01

   The woodblock printing technique used in ukiyo-e required separate carved blocks for each color, with skilled artisans aligning each impression using registration marks called kento.

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