Title

Ukiyo-e : Japanese prints of the floating world [from the Ronald and Catherine Berndt Collection].

Author

Stanton, John

Details

Crawley, WA : University of Western Australia, Berndt Museum, 2014

Publication date

2014

Physical description

pages: 88; illustrations: colour plates; format: 30 cm.

ISBN

9781876793487

Type

Exhibition catalogue

Language

English

Country of context

Australia

Abstract

Catalogue of an exhibition of Ukiyo-e : Japanese prints of the floating world from the Ronald and Catherine Berndt Collection, held at the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, Perth, 8 February - 28 June 2014.

The techniques of Japanese woodblock printing, moku hanga, is identified most closely with the genre of art Ukiyo-e, commonly translated as 'pictures of the floating world'.

This was adopted from the Chinese book printing techniques during the Edo period (1603 - 1867) and developed into a distinctive art form, using water-based inks to provide a wide range of vivid colours possessing extraordinary transparency.

Despite early seventeenth century experiments with the use of movable wooden type to produce books, craftsmen preferred engraved woodblocks for book production of small cheap art prints for a mass market. Now known as Saga books, after the town in which they were created, these classic tales became particularly well known. Ronald and Catherine Berndt collected many such Ukiyo-e together.

Drawn not only from the classical sagas of Japan, the Ukiyo-e depicted a contemporary world of people in their landscape and their society.

[Gallery exhibition publicity]