RON HENGGELER

May 26, 2024
Japanese Prints in Transition at the Legion of Honor

Part 2 

From the Floating World to the Modern World

Selections from the series One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo, 1856-1858

Utagawa Hiroshige designed the series One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edoreferred to in its table of contents as his "grand farewell performance"— in the final years of his life, after he became a Buddhist monk. Representing culturally significant places of pleasure and respite, such as Edo's theater district (Saruwaka-machi) and a snow-covered Buddhist temple (Kinryuzan Sensöji), the series captures the spirit and appearance of Edo before it became industrialized. Following centuries-old Japanese convention, the meisho, or famous places, are each associated with a season, often determined by what time of year people traditionally visit a site, or by literary or religious significance.

This series is remarkable for its brilliant palette yet overall somber mood, possibly mirroring Hiroshige's own feelings at the time. His novel vertical format occasionally omits Western linear perspective in favor of inventive compositional motifs, demonstrated by the playful cropping of Naito, New Station at Yotsuya. He also altered actual geography for greater visual impact, as seen in Tow Boats on the Canal by the Yotsugi Road, which transforms the straight canal into a winding waterway.

Utagawa Hiroshige

The Plum Orchard at Kameido, 1857

Utagawa Hiroshige

Tow Boats on the Canal by the Yotsugi Road, 1857

Selections from the series One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo, 1856-1858

Utagawa Hiroshige

Edo Bridge from Nihon Bridge, 1857

Selections from the series One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo, 1856-1858

Utagawa Hiroshige

Evening Rain at Atake on the Great Bridge, 1857

Selections from the series One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo, 1856-1858

Utagawa Hiroshige

Naito, New Station at Yotsuya, 1857

Selections from the series One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo, 1856-1858

Utagawa Hiroshige

Night View of Saruwaka Street, 1856

Selections from the series One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo, 1856-1858

Utagawa Hiroshige

Kinryzan Temple in Asakusa, 1856

Selections from the series One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo, 1856-1858

Detail of: Kinryzan Temple in Asakusa, 1856

The artworks featured in Japanese Prints in Transition: From the Floating World to the Modern World are seldom on view due to their extreme sensitivity to light.

Drawn entirely from the collection of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, these prints expressively describe a dynamic period of transition in Japanese history. The exhibition culminates with a selection of prints by the contemporary Japanese American artist Masami Teraoka (b. 1936), who grapples with American pop culture's widespread influence through the lens of ukiyo-e, demonstrating the enduring relevance of the woodblock-print medium.

Detail of: Night View of Saruwaka Street, 1856

Selections from the series One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo, 1856-1858

Detail of: Naito, New Station at Yotsuya, 1857

Selections from the series One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo, 1856-1858

Detail of: Evening Rain at Atake on the Great Bridge, 1857

Selections from the series One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo, 1856-1858

Detail of: Edo Bridge from Nihon Bridge, 1857

Selections from the series One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo, 1856-1858

Utagawa Hiroshige

Fukagawa Lumberyards, 1856

Selections from the series One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo, 1856-1858

Detail of: Fukagawa Lumberyards, 1856

Detail of: Fukagawa Lumberyards, 1856

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892)

Memories of Kikugoro
(Memorial Portrait of the Actor
Onoe Kikugoro IV), 1860
Color woodblock diptych print with embossing

Detail of: Memories of Kikugoro
(Memorial Portrait of the Actor
Onoe Kikugoro IV)

1860

Detail of: Memories of Kikugoro
(Memorial Portrait of the Actor
Onoe Kikugoro IV)

1860

YOSHITOSHI
LAST OF THE
UKIYO-E MASTERS
In 1868, political revolution brought about the demise of the military government and restored direct imperial rule to Japan. This transition of power, referred to as the Meiji Restoration, precipitated huge social and political changes in the country. In Edo (renamed Tokyo, conservative government directives all but extinguished the lively excesses of the "floating world," and the market for ukiyo-e severely declined.

Although many ukiyo-e artists struggled to make a living during this period, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892) found financial stability by designing shinbun nishiki-e, full-color woodblock prints featuring current events as well as public interest and ghost stories, for The Postal News. A prolific print designer, he covered a wide variety of subject matter, perhaps more than any other Japanese woodblock-print artist.

Prints by Yoshitoshi are prominently presented throughout the following galleries to highlight his status as an artist who adeptly navigated the transformative shift from the traditional Edo period to the modern Meiji era.

Yoshu Chikanobu (1838-1912)
The Women's Brigade of the Kagoshima Rebels in Brave Battle, 1877

Color woodblock triptych print with burnishing

Saigò Takamori (1828-1877), a famed samurai, played a central role in the unification of Japan after the restoration of the emperor in 1868. Over time, however, he became disillusioned by the government's policies, and in 1877 he led the Satsuma Rebellion against the Meiji government on the southern island of Kyushu. Trained in European infantry techniques and equipped with Western artillery, the government's newly drafted army quickly defeated Takamori and the samurai in a decisive victory.

Traditionally, samurai women were also trained for combat, and some took part in this final rebellion. In the scene depicted here, amid the uproar, a woman dressed in a blue kimono charges toward an imperial officer on horseback, with her yari, or long spear, held aloft, while another woman engages in fierce hand-to-hand combat with an imperial soldier.

Detail of: The Women's Brigade of the Kagoshima Rebels in Brave Battle

1877

Detail of: The Women's Brigade of the Kagoshima Rebels in Brave Battle

1877

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892)

Battle of Sanno Shrine, ca. 1874
Color woodblock triptych print with lacquer and traces of mica

In this gruesome scene, the Shogitai militia, loyal to the shogunate, is nearing its defeat at the Battle of Sanno Shrine. A discussion between Amano Hachiro, the Shögitai leader, and another soldier is unfolding in the right panel, while the ravages of war—a bloody corpse, and a severed head slung over a samurai's shoulder-are laid bare throughout the rest of the triptych.
This composition represents one of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi's earliest attempts to capture contemporary events in print after prohibitions against depicting such subjects were lifted during the Meiji period. The distinctly visceral gore is the result of the artist's direct observations of the battle in action.

Detail of: Battle of Sanno Shrine

ca. 1874

Detail of: Battle of Sanno Shrine

ca. 1874

Detail of: Battle of Sanno Shrine

ca. 1874

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892)

Eastern Winds Clear Away Clouds in the South, 1878

Color woodblock triptych print with lacquer and traces of mica

An Unsettled Transition Depicting the Meiji Era
Upon the arrival of Commodore Perry in the 1850s, it was clear that the West's military and technological capabilities far exceeded those of Japan. In 1868, to combat the threat of colonization, supporters of the emperor toppled the shogunate, restored imperial rule, and set out to establish Japan as a global, industrial country that nonetheless retained its traditional Eastern values.

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892)

Detail of: Eastern Winds Clear Away Clouds in the South, 1878

Now called the Meiji Restoration, this event symbolically gave control of the country back to the emperor and declared his reign the Meiji era, or era of "Enlightened Rule," while a small group of advisors governed on his behalf through a newly established political system. This arrangement eventually ended the samurai class's privileged status; it also dissolved the existing feudal system, replacing it with a centralized government and a nationally conscripted army.

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892)

Detail of: Eastern Winds Clear Away Clouds in the South, 1878

Although most citizens were cooperative throughout Japan's remarkably efficient transition into a modern nation, there was some discontent among the samurai and feudal lords whose power and status were dismantled by the Meiji reforms. The years between 1868 and 1877, when the Satsuma Rebellion, the final samurai uprising, occurred, were punctuated by rebellion, which artists documented with captivating dynamism in woodblock prints.

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892)
The Fox's Cry, from the series One Hundred Aspects of the Moon
1886
Color woodblock print with embossing

Detail of: The Fox's Cry, from the series One Hundred Aspects of the Moon
1886
Color woodblock print with embossing

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)

Act 11, Gathering before the Night Attack, from the series The Treasury of Loyal Retainers (Chushingura), ca. 1835-1836
Color woodblock print

One of the most dramatic vendettas in Japanese history revolves around the forty-seven ronin. In 1701, after attacking the shogun's master of ceremonies, Kira Yoshinaka, Lord Asano Naganori of Akö, was forced to commit seppuku (self-disembowelment), leaving his loyal samurai masterless-ronin. More than a year later, forty-seven of the ronin sought out and killed Yoshinaka, avenging their master.
Plays and ukiyo-e prints based on this narrative were hugely popular. A great innovator, Utagawa Hiroshige demonstrates his immense talent for landscape in this print, illustrating the ronin trudging through chilling snow beneath an ominous black sky on their way to take revenge.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861)

Mitsukuni Defying the Skeleton Specter

ca. 1854
Color woodblock triptych print with embossing

Detail of: Mitsukuni Defying the Skeleton Specter

ca. 1854

WARRIORS, MYTHS, AND LEGENDS
TELLING STORIES
Ukiyo-e reflects Japan's rich cultural history and extensive storytelling tradition. In the eighteenth century, prints called musha-e, or warrior prints, became popular. Often adapting subjects from history, legends, and myths, these prints depict fierce samurai, valiant warriors, and famous battles, appealing to consumers who preferred literary and heroic subjects to contemporary ones such as bijin (beautiful women) and Kabuki actors. The Tale of Genji (published before 1021), by Murasaki Shikibu, a poet and novelist who served as a lady-in-waiting at the imperial court, also provided rich source material.

Detail of: Mitsukuni Defying the Skeleton Specter

ca. 1854

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) and Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1864)

The Plum Orchard, from the series Elegant Prince Genji, 1853

Color woodblock triptych print with embossing

Detail of: The Plum Orchard, from the series Elegant Prince Genji, 1853

Color woodblock triptych print with embossing

Detail of: The Plum Orchard, from the series Elegant Prince Genji, 1853

Color woodblock triptych print with embossing

Detail of: The Plum Orchard, from the series Elegant Prince Genji, 1853

Color woodblock triptych print with embossing

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861)
At the Bottom of the Sea in Daimotsu Bay, ca. 1851-1852
Color woodblock triptych print

Utagawa Kuniyoshi, often called "Kuniyoshi of the Warrior Prints," infused dynamism into the musha-e genre by portraying his warriors with active poses and intense facial expressions in imaginative depictions of well-known stories. This lively print illustrates the tale of the warrior Yoshitsune of the Minamoto clan vanquishing the opposing Taira clan in the battle that ended the Genpei War (1180-1185), a national civil war. Recognizing the inevitability of defeat, the great Taira general Tomomori tied himself to a large anchor and threw himself into Daimotsu Bay; his comrades quickly followed. According to legend, the ghosts of these warriors took the form of crabs with human faces on their backs.

Detail of: At the Bottom of the Sea in Daimotsu Bay, ca. 1851-1852

Detail of: At the Bottom of the Sea in Daimotsu Bay, ca. 1851-1852

Detail of: At the Bottom of the Sea in Daimotsu Bay, ca. 1851-1852

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892)
Fujiwara no Yasumasa Playing the Flute by Moonlight, 1883

Color woodblock triptych print with burnishing Museum purchase, Achenbach
In addition to his print design practice, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi was also an accomplished painter. After a publisher encountered the artist's painting of the same subject, he commissioned this woodblock print. Considered Yoshitoshi's masterpiece, it depicts an encounter between famed musician Fujiwara no Yasumasa (956-1036) and a bandit. Entirely transfixed by the sound of the flute, the bandit, crouched down, is unable to strike. Yoshitoshi conveys the scene's psychological intensity through the tonality of the dark sky and sense of atmosphere characteristic of his late work.

Detail of: Fujiwara no Yasumasa Playing the Flute by Moonlight, 1883

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892)
Tokieda Hayato, from the series Biographies of Valiant Drunken Tigers, ca. 1872-1874
Color woodblock print

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892)
Sangoku the Monkey King and the Jade Rabbit, from the series One Hundred Aspects of the Moon, 1889
Color woodblock print with embossing

Detail of: Sangoku the Monkey King and the Jade Rabbit, from the series One Hundred Aspects of the Moon, 1889

Sight Unseen

Artists Encounter the West

In 1853, and again in 1854, the United States naval officer Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Japan with the goal of forcing the country to end its isolationist policies of the previous two centuries. Negotiating a trade treaty took five years, and during the intervening period a mutual curiosity developed between the two countries. Upon signing the Treaty of Amity and Commerce in 1860, five Japanese ports, including the busiest port, Yokohama, were opened to the United States, France, England, Russia, and the Netherlands. Though the terms of the treaty constrained Japan by limiting its control over its own trade, and made foreigners exempt from Japanese laws, the agreement ushered in a period of modernization and cultural change. Americans and Europeans arriving in Yokohama stirred immense interest among the local Japanese community, and the foreigners quickly became an intriguing subject for woodblock prints. Now called Yokohama-e, prints describing the novel fashions, imports, customs, modes of transportation, and imagined views of Western cities proliferated, stimulating Japan's commercial art market.

Surprisingly, few artists were actually present in Yokohama to directly observe these new wonders. Instead, most Yokohama-e reflect the inventiveness of Japanese artists working from engravings in foreign newspapers.

Utagawa Yoshikazu (active 1850-1870)
Preparing Meals in a Foreign Residence, 1860
Color woodblock print with mica

Utagawa Hiroshige II (1826-1869)
Holland America England, 1860
Color woodblock print

Utagawa Yoshikazu (active 1850-1870)
Banquet and Musicale in a Foreigner's Home, 1860
Color woodblock triptych print

Detail of: Banquet and Musicale in a Foreigner's Home, 1860
Color woodblock triptych print

Detail of: Banquet and Musicale in a Foreigner's Home, 1860
Color woodblock triptych print

Utagawa Yoshikazu (active 1850-1870)
Interior of an American Steamship, 1861
Color woodblock triptych print

Detail of: Interior of an American Steamship, 1861
Color woodblock triptych print

Detail of: Interior of an American Steamship, 1861
Color woodblock triptych print

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892)
Foreign Circus at Yokohama, 1864
Color woodblock print

Detail of: Foreign Circus at Yokohama, 1864
Color woodblock print

Utagawa Yoshitora (active 1850-1880)
Acrobats from Central India Performing at Yokohama, 1864
Color woodblock print

In 1864, the vibrant American gymnast and acrobat Richard Risley Carlisle (1814-1874), also known as "Professor Risley," arrived in Japan with a troupe of ten acrobats and eight horses in tow. The first Western circus to visit Japan, the group performed astounding acrobatic feats that left an indelible impression on its audiences. Risley's signature act included juggling both objects and his own children on his feet, a move still called the "Risley" today. Certain prints featuring the entertainers describe them as
"Central Indian," likely a marketing tactic Risley employed to exoticize the circus in order to broaden its appeal to the diverse audiences of Yokohama.

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892)
Moon at the Lonely House, from the series One Hundred Aspects of the Moon, 1890
Color woodblock print with embossing

Detail of: Moon at the Lonely House, from the series One Hundred Aspects of the Moon, 1890
Color woodblock print with embossing

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892)
A Classroom in a High School for Girls, ca. 1885
Pen and brush and black and red ink on paper

The Meiji government's policies for women's education were extremely progressive. In 1872, it issued the Fundamental Code of Education, mandating compulsory education for boys and girls after the age of six and creating a three-part school system similar to those found in the West. These aspirational codes were intended to give citizens practical tools in order to become productive members of society.
This rare, preparatory sketch for a woodcut shows young women engaged in study in a Western-style schoolroom with high tables and chairs. Their teachers, attired in bustled dresses, gather in the foreground. The intersecting lines of the draft image reveal the mathematical precision with which the sense of perspective was achieved.

Featuring Western Ways -The Making of Modern Japan

Once Emperor Meiji was restored to power, his imperial advisors set out to redefine his public identity through his dress and decorum. In 1872, the emperor cut off his traditional topknot, and his customary court robes were replaced by a Western-style military uniform to represent a modern, industrial Japan. Breaking with tradition, the emperor's portrait was painted as many as six times while he was alive, and his image was circulated through a proliferation of woodblock prints depicting him at military reviews or with the elegant Empress Shoken and their son, the crown prince. The empress was a compelling subject in her own right. The paragon of modern Japanese womanhood, she advocated for public education, founded the Japanese Red Cross, and dressed in the latest Victorian fashions. The dissemination of images of the imperial family brought the Japanese public closer than ever before to their national leaders. These prints also guided consumers toward Western ideals of style and behavior, playing a critical role in publicizing the new government's political ideology.

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892)
The Appearance of an Upper-Class Wife of the Meiji Era, from the series Thirty-Two Aspects of Customs and Manners, 1888
Color woodblock print with embossing and lacquer

Japanese Prints in Transition: From the Floating World to the Modern World

April 6 – August 18, 2024

Legion of Honor