Category: Ukiyo-e
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A Brief History of the Onna Musha, the Female Samurai
What comes to mind when you hear the word samurai? Men wielding katanas? Ironclad Japanese warriors about to strike a blow? Or perhaps a robed samurai on the verge of self-sacrifice. What about a kimono-wrapped lady on the verge of kicking ass? While most women in feudal Japan were expected to adhere to traditional roles,…
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Hasui Kawase & His Stand-Out Perspective
Within the vastness of the floating world, one perspective stands out for its distinctiveness: that of Hasui Kawase. Born in 1883, he became a prominent figure in the shin hanga movement. Shin hanga prints are essentially modernized ukiyo-e, characterized by a more Westernized influence in terms of pigments used and artistic perspective. Some of Hasui…
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Ohno Bafuku’s Creative Nature Prints
Ohno Bafuku (1888-1972) was a Japanese shin-hanga painter best known for his inspired naturely art works or sosaku-hanga (“creative prints”). Though nature is a frequent theme in Japanese art, Bafuku expresses an intensity and perspective that feels alternative to his era. One need only see Mebaru (20th. CE; above) to appreciate its conceptual beauty. The…
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Itō Shinsui: Master of Bijin-ga
Itō Shinsui is an expert in beautiful women — or at least in painting them. An icon of the Shin-hanga (modern ukiyo-e) movement, Shinsui specifically excelled at bijin-ga: portraits of beautiful women. What makes Shinsui’s prints so special? Women are certainly not a new topic in the art world, and definitely not in ukiyo-e. From…