Selected from the Portland Art Museum’s permanent collection, this exhibition explores Japan’s journey with and through nature during the 19th century and into the modern age through the lens of landscape prints, revealing the at once reverential and playful spirit in which people held the trees, mountains, and rivers around them. Shown below are prints featuring Mount Fuji.
According to the museum:
“Mount Fuji has loomed large in the Japanese imagination throughout history and has long been a source of artistic inspiration for over 1,000 years. A majestic presence on the horizon of Edo, the world’s most populous city, Fuji took on even greater cultural significance from the seventeenth century onward. Woodblock prints designed for the citizens of Edo reflect the various ways people viewed the mountain, from revered divinity and symbol of immortality to fearsome volcano. These profound cultural associations, the product of a rich relationship between humanity and the natural world, continue to be reflected in modern prints where Fuji endures as a familiar if mysterious presence in Japanese life.”
Shown above is Fuji san—12, 1989, by Maki Haku (1924-2000). Color woodblock print with embossing on paper.
Shown above is Reflection in Lake Misaka, Kai Province from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, ca. 1831, by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). Color woodblock print on paper.
Shown above is Fine Wind, Clear Weather (Red Fuji) from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, ca. 1831, by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). Color woodblock print on paper.
Shown above is Under the Wave off Kanagawa (The Great Wave) from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, ca. 1831, by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). Color woodblock print on paper.
Shown above is Fukusenji Temple and Mount Fuji from the series Twenty-Five Views of Mount Fuji, 1931, by Jōkata Kaiseki (1882-1966). Color woodblock print on paper.
Shown above is New Year’s on the Lake and Mount Fuji from the series Twenty-Five Views of Mount Fuji, 1931, by Jōkata Kaiseki (1882-1966). Color woodblock print on paper.
Shown above is Shichirigahama Beach in Sagami Province from the series One Hundred Views of Famous Places in the Provinces, 1859, by Utagawa Hiroshige II (1826-1869). Color woodblock print on paper.
Shown above is Hiratsuka from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō, 1961, by Sekino Jun’ichirō (1914-1988). Color woodblock print on paper.
Shown above is Yoshiwara from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō, 1960, by Sekino Jun’ichirō (1914-1988). Color woodblock print on paper.
Shown above is Fuji from Gotenyama at Shinagawa on the Tōkaidō Road from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, ca. 1831, by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). Color woodblock print on paper.
Shown above is View of Fuji from the Senju Pleasure Quarter from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, ca. 1831, by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). Color woodblock print on paper.
Shown above is Nihonbashi Bridge in Edo from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, ca. 1831, by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). Color woodblock print on paper.
Shown above is Mitsui Shop at Surugachō in Edo from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, ca. 1831, by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). Color woodblock print on paper.
Shown above is Evening Glow over Mount Fuji from the album Ushijima Noriyuki Print Collection, Second Series, 1968, by Ishijima Noriyuki (1900-1997). Color woodblock print on paper.
Shown above is Mount Fuji from a series of harimaze prints in stone-rubbing style, 1830/1858, by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858). Woodblock print on paper.
Shown above is Hodogaya on the Tokaidō from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, ca. 1831, by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). Color woodblock print on paper.
Shown above is Fuji from Kanaya on the Tokaidō Road from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, ca. 1831, by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). Color woodblock print on paper.
More art museum exhibits
Japanese Landscape Prints: Bridges (museum tour)
Museums 101: Japanese Art (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: Japanese Folk Art (Photo Diary)
Museum 101: 18th Century Japanese Prints (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: "Cranes, Dragons and Teddy Bears" (Photo Diary)
Japanese Art: Noh, the Dance Drama of the Samurai (Photo Diary)
Samurai Masks (Photo Diary)
Samurai Horses (Photo Diary)