One of the most celebrated artists in the history of the Japanese print is Suzuki Harunobu (1725?-1770). The Portland Art Museum recently had display of his work.
According to the museum display:
“A painter and print designer, his subject matter was the urban entertainments of the city of Edo, or what was known in his day as ukiyo-e, “pictures of the floating world.” Harunobu’s depictions of youthful beauties—women and men—often conveyed amusing subtexts, but it was the vivid color of his prints that drove his rapid ascent to prominence at a critical moment in Japanese printmaking.”
Harunobu dominated the world of Japanese printmaking from 1765 until his death in 1770 and during this time he is estimated to have produced as many as 800 distinct print designs.
According to the display:
“The stylish scenes of everyday life, young lovers, and famous beauties portrayed in Harunobu’s prints illustrate the latest fashions of the day. The new technology of full-color printing made it possible, for the first time, to depict elaborately dyed and woven textile patterns. Even seemingly simply kimono might be embellished with blind-embossing, a printing effect that gives a rich, three-dimensional texture. Period viewers would have been intimately familiar with the fashions depicted in ukiyo-e and been able to decipher in clothing and hairstyles social codes about their wearers.”
Museums 101
Museums 101 is a series of photo tours of museum exhibits. More photo tours of art exhibits:
Museums 101: Japanese Art (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: Iranian Art (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: Rodin's Women (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: Auguste Rodin in the Portland Art Museum (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: Rodin's Late Drawings (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: Rodin at Maryhill (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: Interpretive Sculpture (Photo Diary)