Ever wonder why Japanese corporations paid such outrageous prices for impressionist paintings in the 80's? The "bubble economy" played a role, but look deeper.
Japan is famous for the wood block prints known as Ukiyo-E. This art form developed with the city of Tokyo (Edo). Examples of these prints made their way to Europe, particularly Paris, were the artists we would come to know as the "impressionists" encountered them.
In 1994, in Hiroshima-ken I saw within a few weeks an exhibition of paintings by Monet and at another time an exhibition of Hiroshige Ando's prints. It was astonishing to see how much style, vocabularly, technique and approach Monet had in common with Hiroshige.
The web sites below, one from Sweden and the other from Australia, are a good place to start exploring the Ukiyo-E genre.
Last updated: 29 January, 1996