Japanese paintings hold a majestic charm which was to inspire this website. Subtle colours help to capture scenes across Japan, often covering the natural landscape of the country and the hidden gems which can be found there. Japanese artists were involved in several different print processes which helped to distinguish their work from other nations. […]
Ukiyo-e was a period in Japanese art history which brought about a number of different genres and varied over time as new exponents joined. One of the highlights in its oeuvre would be the proliferation of woodblock prints. Japan had a very traditional culture throughout the 17th to 19th century and this would sometimes impact […]
In the Edo period in which the artist produced much of his work Nakahara was the point at which pilgrims would leave the Tokaido Highway – stepping onto the Oyama Road en route to the sacred Mount Oyama. Paying homage to a rock at the mountain’s summit called Qyama Sekison to seek crop yielding rains, […]
The Fuji from Gotenyama at Shinagawa on the Tokaido is a view of Mount Fuji from the Tokaido Highway. The print is one of a series of woodblock prints called Thirty Six Views of Mount Fuji. Despite its name, the series however has 46 blocks, since ten were added at a later date to the […]
The Japanese artist and printmaker, Katsushika Hokusai, painted Kirifuri Waterfall at Kurokami Mountain in Shimotsuke during 1832. This waterfall painting was created during the Edo era between 1760–1849. Katsushika Hokusai was an influential and leading artist during his artistic lifetime in Japan. He was born and raised in Edo, which today we know as Tokyo. […]
The mention of the Volcano Mount Fuji in the art history of Japan was very popular due to its cultural and religious significance. Katsushika Hokusai himself had a huge obsession with this mountain based on the tradition that the mountain was a secret to immortality. Hokusai, therefore, came up with the Ukiyo series that had […]
Japanese art has it’s own unique style and quirkiness, covering many different movements from the last few centuries. This website concentrates mostly on the 17th to 19th centuries, from which our preferred Japanese art comes. That said, in recent years there has also been great work from newer modern art movements and these will be […]
Shunga is a form of Japanese art, more precisely erotic art. The literal translation of the term Shunga is picture of spring. The word spring was often used to refer to sex. A Shunga picture usually takes the form of a woodblock print. Like most Japanese artists Hokusai produced a number of Shunga albums during […]
At first glance, Hokusai’s Orange Orchids seems to be quite rudimentary -one might even say primitive – when compared to the rest of the often highly detailed works that form Hokusai’s canon. That it is such a departure from the rest of his work, however, is precisely what makes Orange Orchids such a meritorious and […]
A master during his own lifetime, Hokusai’s paintings peaked during the last 30 years of his life with a selection of his most famous artwork included in this section. The Great Wave of Kanagawa continues to spearhead the artist’s reputation, but there is so much more to see in this extensive career. Katsushika Hokusai produced portraits and […]