As an island nation, Japan and its people have always had a close relationship with the sea. This is reflected in the rich and diverse artistic tradition of ukiyo-e, which translates as “pictures of the floating world.” The artform flourished in Japan from the 17th to the 19th century.
At its peak, ukiyo-e was a popular genre of woodblock prints and paintings that depicted scenes of everyday life, entertainment, and beauty in the urban centers of Edo (now Tokyo) and other cities. Among the many subjects that ukiyo-e artists explored, sailing imagery was a common theme. It conveyed the sense of adventure, travel, and harmony with nature that characterized Japanese maritime culture.
One of the most celebrated masters of ukiyo-e was Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858). He is widely regarded as the last great artist of the genre. Hiroshige specialized in landscape prints, and he created several series that featured views of the sea and ships. Hiroshige’s prints captured scenes of the changing seasons, weather, and time of day in a variety of natural settings. His use of perspective, color, and composition heavily inspired many Western artists, including Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet.
Hiroshige was not the only ukiyo-e artist who created Japanese sailing prints. He was part of a long tradition that dated back to the early pioneers of the genre who produced monochrome and limited-color prints of ships and harbors. Later artists introduced full-color printing. They also expanded the range of nautical subjects, including scenes of whale hunting, fishing, and naval battles.
Japanese sailing print process
The process of creating ukiyo-e prints was complex and collaborative. It involved the division of labor between a publisher, a designer, a carver, and a printer. The publisher was the entrepreneur who commissioned and financed the prints. He had final say on the design and quality. The designer, or artist, drew the original image on paper and signed the finished print. The carver placed the paper on a wood block (favoring cherry for its fine, dense grain) and meticulously carved out the negative spaces. Color prints required one block for each color. The printer applied ink or pigment to the blocks. He or she then laid down the paper on each block in succession, precisely aligning the print on each new block by registration marks. In this way the blocks could be used over and over again to create multiple copies of the original artwork.
This collective effort led to mass production that made ukiyo-e prints popular and affordable forms of art for the urban masses, who decorated their homes with them or collected them as souvenirs.
Ukiye-o prints also served as sources of information and inspiration. They depicted places and events that the viewers might not have seen or experienced themselves. Sailing imagery, in particular, offered a glimpse into the vast and varied world of the sea, which was both familiar and exotic to the Japanese people. Through the eyes and hands of the ukiyo-e artists, the sea became a floating world of beauty, wonder, and adventure.
