Japanese Art Research Paper

 A Japanese print is a type of Japanese illustration applied to paper from carved wooden blocks. The most famous Japanese impressions were produced from the early sixteenth to the late eighteenth hundreds. Those prints were famous for their brilliant designs, bold colors, and technical quality. Most of the Japanese prints featured scenes from everyday life or from the theater and other spectacular forms of entertainment. The Japanese referred to these fleeting moments of life and elusive amusements as the "floating world." Art appreciators in Japan called the prints ukiyo-e, which stood for “pictures of the floating world.”

  The earliest impressions were created in black and white, though the artists sometimes resorted to other colors

Many people became interested in the pictures themselves, and so publishers began to produce the illustrations separately from the books. The publishers commissioned the artists and hired the carvers and printers. The printmaking flourished in Japan during the Tokugawa period of the nation's history, which lasted from 1603 to 1867. During this period, a middle class arose and prospered in Japan's cities. The people of the middle class were the chief buyers of Japanese prints, which served as inexpensive substitutes for paintings. Japan had little contact with other countries during the Tokugawa period. Thus, the then Japanese print artists were not influenced by any Western art styles. These artists followed Japanese art stylistics that had developed itself over

This technique involved carving wood blocks with guide marks, so that printers could place paper in the same position on successive blocks. Harunobu, an artist of the mid-1700’s, helped popularize color prints. His prints featured doll-like human figures and peaceful settings. They were noted for their beautiful colors and delicate lines.

 Utamaro Kitagawa and Sharaku were among the greatest print artists of the late 1700’s. Utamaro Kitagawa was especially known for his portraits of beautiful women. Sharaku specialized in portraits of kabuki actors. Kabuki is known as a form of Japanese drama that developed in the 1600’s. His portraits have exaggerated features typical of caricatures. During the 1800’s, a new type of landscape prints became popular in Japan. Hokusai and Hiroshige designed magnificent landscape prints. These artists created many series of prints that featured a particular scene in nature under a variety of weather