Ukiyo-e

Description

The art of ukiyo-e (the floating world) originated in the city of Edo (1603 1867, now Tokyo), when the political and military power of Japan was in the hands of the shoguns. Comprising six essays, six plate sections and over 600 illustrations this beautiful book provides a perfect introduction to the art of this period. The paintings, scrolls and prints reproduced here demonstrate not only the new urban pleasures of the theatre, restaurants, teahouses and geisha, but also Japan s love of nature and tradition. Professor Calza s accessible style provides a fascinating yet scholarly study of such masters as Hokusai, Hiroshige and Utamaro.

Gian Carlo Calza is Professor of East Asian Art History and Director of the International Hokusai Research Centre at the University of Venice. A distinguished authority on Japanese art, he has published many books and articles on Ukiyo-e art and artists, including Phaidon's 2003 monograph on Hokusai.

"There are stunningly beautiful pictures of actors and courtesans, prostitutes, landscapes and flowers... Degas borrowed from them, Van Gogh copied them, and almost every important European artist was influenced by them."-The Sunday Times