Books about Ukiyo e from Amazon.com

This unique book by tattoo artist Takahiro Kitamura (Horitaka, a pupil of Horiyoshi III) discusses the art of the Japanese tattoo in the context of Ukiyo-e, concentrating on the parallel histories of the woodblock print and the tattoo. Through high quality illustrations it shows that the Japanese tattoo is highly reliant on and linked to the woodblock print and that it deserves a position among the other art forms. A range of typical ukiyo-e motifs in the Japanese tattoo are discussed and illustrated by the original Japanese prints, and sketches, drawings and tattoos by tattoo master Horiyoshi III. The book ends with a special essay by Don Ed Hardy..
Price: $33.29 [Notify me when price goes down.]

In this impressive study, Gian Carlo Calza examines images of the floating world (ukiyo-e) found in paintings, screens, illustrated books and, above all, the numerous woodblock prints that nineteenth-century French artists were to find so influential. Through six essays and six catalogue sections this book provides a fascinating and thorough introduction to the very best works of this period. The essays supply detailed background information on the history, techniques and development of ukiyo-e and the plate section has been arranged to reflect the six great themes of the floating world - theatre, tradition, nature, landscape, town life and feminine beauty - developed by the artists to satisfy the demands and tastes of their customers. Within each section, works have been arranged in chronological order and according to the various schools. These remarkable images illustrate the tastes, habits and passions of the people of Edo: fashionable scenes set in the nightless city of Yoshiwara, festive excursions to admire cherry blossoms or maple leaves, parties in sailing boats and firework displays. A great number are, in fact, precious posters promoting kabuki actors and performances. Almost as theatrical, courtesans and geisha were also an important part of life and art in Edo, and ukiyo-e artists interpreted them as the ultimate symbol of female beauty and elegance. In addition to illustrating feminine beauty, almost all the artists of the floating world created erotic works (shunga), since their popularity provided an important part of the artists' income. Included here are many great masterpieces, such as Utamaro's exquisite Pillow Book. Ultimately, the art of the floating world not only met the tastes and passions of the new urban classes, but also continued many classical themes from Japanese art and literature. This most elegant publication presents a comprehensive survey of ukiyo-e artists and their works, providing a fascinating resource for scholars and general readers alike..
Price: $25.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Japanese woodblock prints, or ukiyo-e, occupy a singular position in the lexicon of world art. They enthralled such Western artists as Whistler, Manet, Degas, and van Gogh, and gave rise to a wave of "japonisme" in the salons of Paris, London, and New York that left a lasting impression.
As the successor to previous aristocratic traditions, the ukiyo-e print represents the last flowering of traditional pictorial art before Japan entered the modern era. These "pictures of the floating world" reflected the world of the townspeople of Edo (Tokyo), focusing on the popular entertainments of the day, landscapes of favored scenic spots, and portraits of well-known geisha, kabuki actors, and sumo stars.
The present volume delves into the history of these unique artistic endeavors, tracing their development from the lavish works commissioned by aristocratic patrons in the sixteenth century to their peak in popularity among the rising merchant class of the flourishing future capital. As the story of the genre's blossoming unfolds, Mr. Kobayashi's illuminating commentary on all its varied aspects-styles, artists, engravers, printers, and the demands of an insatiable but fickle public-captures the essence of the art and provides a fascinating glimpse into the culture of old Japan. With the large color plates and numerous detailed close-ups accompanying the text, Ukiyo-e: An Introduction is essential reading for anyone interested in exploring the exotic world of the Japanese print..
Price: $14.31 [Notify me when price goes down.]

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Price: $2.12 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Hokusai is perhaps the Asian artist best known in the West. His influence has extended from the Impressionists to later modern art and even to commercial design. A few of his works are so frequently reproduced that they are almost as familiar as the face of the Mona Lisa. Yet the "Great Wave" and the "Red Fuji" from the Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji represent only a tiny action of Hokusai's output. The pages of the Sketches, with their teeming humanity and their boundless interest in the details of everyday life, give only a small idea of his true scope. Hokusai's life was characterized by a prodigious energy and productivity that continued to the end of his ninth decade; his output comprises a correspondingly broad variety of genres and styles. Despite this, it is still not sufficiently realized just how great is the range, and how many masterpieces it includes.
The bold compositions and the grasp of essentials seen in the Thirty-six Views find their counterpart in the masterly monochromes of the One Hundred views of Mt. Fuji. Against the daring simplifications of these works may be set the elaborate refinement and delicacy seen in many of the surimono prints and books of illustrated verse. The brilliant coloring and decorative qualities of Hokusai's brush paintings of beautiful women and legendary subjects are rivalled by the unsurpassed skill in ink drawing found in the best of his book illustrations, some of which are masterpieces in their own right.
Even the flower-and-bird series and the albums of sketches from life, which might seem to represent essentially minor genres, provide at their best a sense of color and inventiveness of composition that rival those of Hokusai's landscapes. On the oilier hand, the interest in human beings and in genre subjects is not confined to the Sketches and some of the Thirty-six Views, but is apparent again and again in the art manuals, the book illustrations, and even in a late print series such as the Nurse's Illustrated Hyakunin Isshu.
There are religious pictures and pictures of children and sumo wrestlers; experiments with Western perspective and with various combinations of style, whether Japanese, Chinese, or Western; moods ranging from the elegant to the earthy, from the lightly fanciful to the heavily grotesque. Even in his very last years, Hokusai's unflagging energy was taking him into new realms reaching beyond the ukiyo-e proper.
The aim of this work is to present a more balanced picture of Hokusai's achievement, a selection ranging over the whole oeuvre that will give some idea of the strength, the delicacy, and the fabulous inventive powers of this truly universal genius of the ukiyo-e..
Price: $14.28 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Kitagawa Utamaro is one of the most well-known and admired figures in the history of Japanese art, renowned throughout the world for his portraits of beautiful women. Unrivalled at the height of his career, he is recognised as having been the leading light of the Ukiyo-e School during its golden age, and his influence upon the work of Western artists has been beyond measure. He produced in the region of two thousand woodblock prints during his lifetime, approximately one third of which take their subjects from the licensed pleasure quarter of Edo, with the remainder being made up of images of various popular beauties, pairs of famous lovers, historical and mythical figures, domestic scenes, and the physiognomic studies for which he is best-known.

With 90 reproductions of the artist's prints, designs grouped and discussed according to subject, and with illustrations of publishers' marks, artist's signatures, and the names of figures commonly inscribed upon his works, this reference guide provides the most comprehensive resource for identifying the subjects portrayed in Utamaro's prints to date..
Price: $42.55 [Notify me when price goes down.]