Special Autumn Exhibition Ukiyo-e Masterworks from the Koishikawa/Matsui Collection
Exhibit Period
First Half: Friday, September 16 - Sunday, October 16
Second Half: Friday, October 21 - Sunday, November 18
Exhibit Times
9:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
(last admissions at 4:30 p.m.)
Organized by
Nakagawa-machi Bato Hiroshige Museum of Art
Museum closed
Mondays (open when Monday is a national holiday), the day following national holidays
Admission Fee
Adults: 700 (630) yen High School, College Students: 400 (360) yen * Fees in parentheses are group rates for 20 or more visitors * Free admission for elementary and junior high school students, and preschoolers * Half price for visitors with a physical disability certificate, and half price for one accompanying caregiver
Overview
Once ukiyo-e began to be accepted by the masses in the Genroku years (1688-1704), mainstream ukiyo-e transitions from hand-painted works to black line prints called sumizuri-e printed from a single block. Through tan-e (sumizuri-e colored with orange-red coloring), beni-e (sumizuri-e colored with red coloring) and benizuri-e (beni-e with additional colors such as green) refinements are incorporated, and in 1765 the nishiki-e brocade printing technique was invented. From here on out, the focus of ukiyo-e shifts to nishiki-e, and the division of labor between the printing house and artist, the engraver and the printer is established. The Tenmei and Kansei eras (1781-89) were the golden age of the nishiki-e print, in the Bunka and Bunsei eras (1804-30) ukiyo-e reached its maturity and the expansion of the two major schools of art - the Utagawa and Katsushika schools - followed, and beginning in the Meiji era, with the influx of Western culture, ukiyo-e met its demise. The history of ukiyo-e repeatedly saw the birth and decline of various schools of art, with figure prints, actors prints, famous places prints and a variety of other categories of works making their appearance.
We are able to undertake the presentation of this exhibition with the kind assistance of the Koishikawa/Matsui Collection. We have selected works which will enable you to experience the history of ukiyo-e, and hope you will thoroughly enjoy seeing the transition in the works from the sumizuri-e of ukiyo-e’s earliest stages to the arrival of nishiki-e.
Museum Talk
First Half: Saturday, September 17, from 1:30 p.m.
Second Half: Saturday, October 22, from 1:30 p.m.
Presented by a Bato Hiroshige Museum curator
Lecture
Related Lecture
First Half: Sunday, September 18, from 1:30 p.m.
Second Half: Sunday, October 30, from 1:30 p.m.
Presented by Shindo Shigeru, executive director, International Ukiyo-e society