Visit to York Art Gallery - Exhibition “Pictures of the Floating World: Japanese Ukiyo-e Prints”

 

York Art Gallery: Exhibition “Pictures of the Floating World: Japanese Ukiyo-e Prints”

Overview

“Ukiyo-e translates as “pictures of the floating world” and refers to the transitory nature of life. Works by prominent Ukiyo-e artists, such as Utagawa Hiroshige, highlight the significant impact of Japanese art on the western world during the 18^th and 19^th century. Interspersed in between the prints are selected paintings from the galleries main collection, the curator seeking out works which have a Japanese influence. The key topics are well explained and  the prints hung in low light to preserve their fragile colours.

Landscape

The current review concentrates on the landscape aspect of the exhibition. The scenes depicted – tea houses, rice fields, harbours, waterfalls, and mountains, conjure up a unique sense of place.

Hiroshige’s  Asakusa Rice-Fields and Torinomachi Festival (below) illustrates the use of strong line both to frame the composition and within the image. It is noticeable that, unlike in western art, no attempt has been made by the artist to replicate the texture of the cat’s fur, or even to add shading to the animal. Mount Fugi features in the background and is treated in a similar way. A small number of bright colours, blue, orange/peach, and green, bring life to the image.

 

Utagawa Hiroshige(1797-1858) Asakusa Rice-Fields and Torinomachi Festival, from the series ”One Hundred Famous Views of Edo”, Part 4:Winter

1857 Woodblock print

Alfred Aaron Wolmark, Hampstead Old Power Station, 1911-18, oil on canvas

Exploring how Western artists were inspired by Japanese use of line and colour, the gallery displayed Wolmark’s Hampstead Old Power Station (above). Wolmark became influenced by the colour palette and style of the Post-Impressionists, who in turn, had adopted principles from Japanese art. We can see Wolmark’s daring use of blue, green and pink and how he transforms the power station into flattened forms, with little shading or use of perspective.

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) Kozuke Province: Evening View of Takanawa, from the series “Famous Places in the Eastern Capital” c. 1853 Woodblock print

Horoshige was inspired by the celebrated artist Hokusai, but Hiroshige’s style is more “poetic” and employs subtle colour gradation, as can be seen in Kozuke Province: Evening View of Takanawa (above). Hiroshige’s subjects were not typical of early ukiyo-e, such as kabuki actors and courtesans, and he came to specialise in landscapes. The Eastern Capital (Edo, modern day Tokyo) was one of his favourite sites that he returned to time and again.

In the late 19^th century, it became popular for western artists to adopt the subject matter of Japanese art. Prints of Mount Fugi, and other mountains in Japan, were particularly well liked, and artists flocked to the Bay of Naples, drawn by the striking power of Mount Vesuvius. George Frederick Watts’ painting The Bay of Naples bears similarities to landscapes by Hiroshige which depict popular seasonal sights. These include the view across Lake Biwa,  (see Descending Geese at Katata below) and Mount Haruna under Snow (below). Hiroshige specialised in sensitive depictions of mist, rain, snow, and moon light to convey nature and the changing seasons. We see nature’s elements and drama playing out in Watt’s painting.

 

George Frederick Watts, Bay of Naples, c. 1885-91, oil on canvas

Utagawa Hiroshige(1797-1858) Descending Geese at Katata, from the series “Eight Views of Omi”

1834-35 Woodblock print

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) Kozuke Province: Mount Haruna under Snow, from the series “Famous Places in the sixty-odd Provinces”

1853 Woodblock print

Conclusions

The exhibition told the story of Japanese Ukiyo-Prints and the history of the period through a collection of prints with diverse subject matter. Although I have focused my review on landscape, there is much for everyone, including Japanese lifestyle, portraits, animals, and birds. The gallery broadened the scope of the exhibition by exploring links with western art, some features of which I have described above. The exhibition was a good introduction into aspects of Japanese composition, colour, tone, and line which will be interesting to explore in my own painting practice. 

NOTES

The visit was a good example of how to exhibit images in low lighting and the effect was very dramatic. The curator made good connections with the work of British artists, which added another dimension to the exhibition. My reflections on the Japanese use of perspective, line, colour and tone made me think about their use in my own practice. I can connect with the way the prints make use of flat surfaces and line. However, I think their use of colour and tone was less helpful. There is little use of tone, and although the palette works for the prints, I think that they are too “stark” for my estuary/river paintings and for my landscape work generally. I find that Wolmark’s Hampstead Old Power Station, for instance, is too pink/blue and the greens of Watt’s Bay of Naples too “garish”. I am aiming for a more subtle palette of soft browns and greens to reflect the local landscape. However, the strong feelings of place which the works engendered, and their compositional elements are very relevant to my practice and my thinking about broadening my horizons.

I think that the most important feature I can build on is the Japanese use of space and flat surfaces. I already leave areas of blank canvas, and this exhibition reinforced the impact empty spaces can have. As I build up my ideas the spaces can be used to fill voids. The viewer can rest and gaze, and introduce their own thoughts into the gaps, or be guided by my ideas, such as a piece of poetry or a video/sound recording which has inspired the work.