Scheduled Exhibition The Collaboration of Ukiyo-e

Exhibit Period

February 10(Thursday) - March 13 (Sunday), 2005

Exhibit Times

9:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
(last admissions at 4:30 p.m.)

Museum closed

Mondays, and the day following a holiday (except when this falls on a Saturday or Sunday)

Admission Fee

Adults: 500yen High School, College Students: 300yen Elementary, Junior High School Students: 100yen (Discounts are available for groups of 20 or more, the handicapped and the elderly)

Overview

Sales of ukiyo-e, which was created for the enjoyment of the masses, were swayed left and right by such areas as interest in the picture, innovations in the subject material, prominence of the artist and strength of the planning. Whether or not a work would be a hit depended on a publisher’s and artist’s abilities. They strove to ascertain what it was the age was looking for, and then to produce an original work that could be offered for sale.
On the other hand, there existed works called collaborative art where a series or a single work of art depended on several artists working together. From the publisher’s point of view, collaborative art---created by ukiyo-e artists who normally would be rivals---secure more income; from the buyer’s perspective, they appealed as a means to enjoy the artwork of several artists at once. In that way, the end of the Edo Period deserves special mention for being a time when the Utagawa School---with Hiroshige, Kunisada (Toyokuni III), Kuniyoshi---won popularity, and aggressively produced collaborative works.
On this occasion, we introduce this phase of collaborative works of ukiyo-e, focusing on the end of the Edo Period when Hiroshige was active. Please enjoy the special feeling in these collaborative drawings, which combine several strengths of the day’s popular artists’ works in one.

Museum Talk

Presented by one of our curators
Saturday, February 12, 2005; Saturday, Feburary 26, 2005;
Saturday, March 5, 2005; all talks begin at 1:30 p.m.