The Masters of Ukioye; A Complete Historical Description of Japanese Paintings and Color Prints of the Genre School

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1896 edition. Excerpt: ... CATALOGUE. i. Iwasa Matahei About 1630. Painting on a screen of two panels. A lady with musical instrument and pupil. The Ukioye is a school of Japanese painting and print designing, which for the last three centuries has been the special organ of expression for the common people. Its artists, sprung mostly from the ranks of the people, confined their subjects to the occupations and recreations of their class. Every change of fashion in the gay life of the capital at Yedo was faithfully followed in their drawings; and thus the Ukioye, unlike the hieratic and idealistic schools of earlier days, has the charm of being a complete mirror of Japanese life. At first confined to painting, it soon spread with the discovery of block printing into book illustration; and still later into the elaborate single sheet print which could be used on the wall for a cheap picture. When these prints, at first colored by hand, became embellished with flat tints printed from wooden blocks, the most splendid results of the school were reached. The founder of this school was Iwasa Matahei. Previous to his day, the end of the sixteenth century, Japanese art and civilization were dominated by Chinese ideals, as were the nations of mediaeval Europe by classic tradition. But the overthrow of the Ashikaga court, and the rise to power of upstarts like Hideyoshi, brought Japanese life and character again into the field of interest. It is true that scenes of native court life and of earlier dynastic wars had been occasionally painted by the court artists of the Kano and Tosa schools; but with Matahei began the painting of contemporary life, or genre; and his are the first of the long and full series we possess of scenes in the life of Japanese women of the middle and...