Ukiyo-e of the Bakumatsu — Woodblock Prints That Mirrored a Turbulent Age
Ukiyo-e, beloved by the common people of Edo, continued to be produced in abundance through the Bakumatsu. Against a backdrop of upheaval, artists extended their brushes to new subjects and brought the colorful world of nishiki-e into full bloom.
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Nishiki-e, the people's pictures
Ukiyo-e were a familiar art the common people could pick up — prints (nishiki-e) made by overlaying many carved woodblocks in full color. Actors, beauties, landscapes, and tales: subjects that caught people's interest became works one after another.
In the Bakumatsu the lineage of artists known as the Utagawa school greatly prospered. Utagawa Hiroshige, famed for his landscapes, and Utagawa Kuniyoshi, popular for his warrior prints and striking compositions, were among the distinctive artists who vied with one another.
The rise of Yokohama-e
The opening of Yokohama gave ukiyo-e a new subject. Works depicting foreigners, Western buildings, and unfamiliar goods, called Yokohama-e, won popularity.
As if answering people's curiosity about foreign customs, artists vividly rendered the bustle of the open port. Yokohama-e are also a valuable record of how Japanese of the time saw the West.
Subjects that mirror the age
The upheaval of the Bakumatsu cast a shadow over the subjects themselves. Many nishiki-e reflected the unsettled mood — warrior prints that laid the affairs of the day over historical battles, works that satirized the state of the world.
As the Restoration drew near, artists such as Tsukioka Yoshitoshi appeared who depicted bloody scenes intensely. Not only a serene world of beauty, but the very tension of the age, seeped onto the picture surface.
Ukiyo-e as record
In a Bakumatsu where photography had not yet fully spread, ukiyo-e also served as a medium that conveyed events and customs widely.
The colorful nishiki-e are not merely beautiful pictures. Inscribed in them are the gaze and the feelings of the people who lived through a turbulent age. The ukiyo-e of the Bakumatsu are testimony of their time, read through pictures.
The culture of the same age is explored across Bakumatsu Culture.
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