Ukiyo-E Canvas Prints
Ukiyo-E turns the “floating world” of Edo-period Japan into crisp contours, flat color and wonderfully decisive weather. Actors strike poses, courtesans command the frame, travelers trudge beneath enormous skies, and waves behave as if auditioning for the lead role. Made famous through woodblock printing, the movement joined artists, carvers and printers in a remarkably collaborative process. Its bold cropping and rhythmic lines later startled European artists, who borrowed the shock with varying degrees of politeness. In canvas prints, these lucid compositions retain their visual snap: a whole drama can hinge on a sleeve, a bridge or one particularly opinionated cloud.
