Viewing Japanese Prints
John Fiorillo gives the full course on printmaking, dyes, repairs, and more, plus
artist backgrounds, and includes modern prints as well.
Collection of Japanese Art Materials
Pigments, painting techniques, supports, glues and bindings, etc.
Virtual Museum of Japanese Art:
Ukiyo-e
Prints are divided into seven categories: landscapes, manners and customs, historical
pictures, pictures of beauties, actor prints, sumo prints, and flowers and birds. Representative
prints of each type are shown, with a brief background discussion. An eighth category discusses
the work of eight masters of the woodblock print.
Ukiyo-e: The Pictures of the Floating
World
Probably the most comprehensive ukiyo-e site around. Hans Olaf Johansson has a
small gallery, a very comprehensive link list, and a message board.
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Search this imagebase by period, artist name, or keyword.
Hokusai
Site originally focused on HokusaiÙs manga, or sketchbooks, containing drawings
of Monsters and Ghosts, Life in Edo, and Nature. Warning: They have “improved” their site
by replacing it with VERY slow-loading Flash 8.
The World of Sumo Nishikie
The site’s in Japanese, but click on anything that looks like a link. Features
a magnificent collection of prints of sumo matches, referees, and wrestlers in and out of the
ring.
Actor Prints from the
Theatre Museum
Waseda UniversityÙs collection of actor prints and scenes from plays. An
English-language version is in the works; for now, the site is Japanese-only.
A Real
Japanese Print!
Detailed close-up look at a print by Buncho
Sinister Designs:
Yoshitoshi
Psychological biography of the Meiji-era artist Yoshitoshi and a representative
collection of prints, with very good explanations.
Japanese Prints and the World of
Go
Go through the ages, as depicted in woodblock prints
David Bull’s Surimono Albums
A modern artist creates lovely new prints from old masterpieces
Tatuharu’s World
Another contemporary artist, Tatuharu is a modern-day Hiroshige who creates
traditional-style landscapes using computer graphics
Rolf M. Degener Gallery
Dealer in ukiyoe with a wonderful site. Some of the prints come with
accompanying articles.
Ronin Gallery
Supposedly the largest collection of Japanese art in the US. Search by period,
subject matter, or individual artist.
Stuart Jackson Gallery
One of the best online collections of Meiji-era prints
Hanga Gallery
This gallery specializes in shin-hanga, modern prints
Kiyochika
Japanese-language site containing a collection of prints by an artist who bridged the
transition between traditional printmaking and modern techniques.
List of Ukiyo-e and Related
Terms
Glossary of the terminology of woodblock prints, including the names of sizes, inks,
tools and techniques.
Books About Prints and Printmaking:
Kobayashi, Tadashi, tr. Mark A. Harbison. Ukiyo-e: An Introduction to Japanese Woodblock Prints, Kodansha International, 1992. ISBN 4-7700-1657-3
van Rappart-Boon, Charlotte, Willem van Gulik, and Keiko van Bremen-Ito. Catalogue of the Van Gogh Museum’s Collection of Japanese Prints. Waanders Publishers, 1991.
French, Cal. Through Closed Doors: Western Influence on Japanese Art 1639-1853. Meadow Brook Art Gallery, 1991.
Mostow, Joshua S., Norman Bryson, and Maribeth Graybill, eds. Gender and Power in the Japanese Visual Field. University of Hawaii Press, 2003. ISBN 0-8248-2572-1