ukiyo-e– tag –

Where to buy, what to look for, how to spot reproductions, and what prices to expect. A practical guide for first-time collectors of ukiyo-e.

Ukiyo-e prints were made possible by washi — Japanese handmade paper with properties that no Western paper could match. The history of the material that carried all those masterworks.

Van Gogh copied them in oil paint. Monet collected them. Hiroshige's rain and snow scenes are some of the most influential weather paintings in history. Here's why.

Every major ukiyo-e master produced shunga. It was respected, collected across all social classes, and given as wedding gifts. Here's the history of Japan's erotic print tradition.

Kabuki was Edo Japan's popular theater — and its stars were the celebrities of the age. Actor prints were the trading cards of the Edo period. Here's how they worked.

Sumo was Edo Japan's national sport and a major subject of woodblock prints. Here's how Hokusai and his contemporaries depicted the wrestlers, ceremonies, and culture of the ring.

Scandinavian minimalism, industrial lofts, traditional Japanese rooms — how ukiyo-e prints work in modern interiors, and how to frame and display them properly.

He drew samurai battles with cinematic drama, cats in human situations with deadpan humor, and historical epics with unprecedented scale. Meet the most eccentric genius of ukiyo-e.

From a few hundred dollars to millions at auction — what determines the value of an ukiyo-e print, and what should you look for as a collector?

To understand Hokusai, you have to understand Edo. A thriving city of a million people, a rigid social hierarchy, and a commercial art market unlike anything that had come before.