UKIYOE BY BOB KESSEL
A new art series by contemporary artist Bob Kessel.
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Ukiyo-e (浮世絵), “pictures of the floating world”, is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints (or woodcuts) and paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries, featuring motifs of landscapes, tales from history, the theatre, and pleasure quarters. It is the main artistic genre of woodblock printing in Japan.
Usually the word ukiyo is literally translated as “floating world” in English, referring to a conception of an evanescent world, impermanent, fleeting beauty and a realm of entertainments (kabuki, courtesans, geisha) divorced from the responsibilities of the mundane, everyday world; “pictures of the floating world”, i.e. ukiyo-e, are considered a genre unto themselves.
The art form rose to great popularity in the metropolitan culture of Edo (Tokyo) during the second half of the 17th century, originating with the single-color works of Hishikawa Moronobu in the 1670s. At first, only India ink was used, then some prints were manually colored with a brush, but in the 18th century Suzuki Harunobu developed the technique of polychrome printing to produce nishiki-e.
Ukiyo-e were affordable because they could be mass-produced. They were mainly meant for townsmen, who were generally not wealthy enough to afford an original painting. The original subject of ukiyo-e was city life, in particular activities and scenes from the entertainment district. Beautiful courtesans, bulky sumo wrestlers and popular actors would be portrayed while engaged in appealing activities. Later on landscapes also became popular. Political subjects, and individuals above the lowest strata of society (courtesans, wrestlers and actors) were not sanctioned in these prints and very rarely appeared. Sex was not a sanctioned subject either, but continually appeared in ukiyo-e prints. Artists and publishers were sometimes punished for creating these sexually explicit shunga.
UKIYOE MENDICANT by Bob Kessel
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UKIYOE TREE by Bob Kessel
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UKIYOE SAMURAI by Bob Kessel
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UKIYOE FUJI REFLECTION by Bob Kessel
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UKIYOE LONG HAIR by Bob Kessel
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UKIYOE IT’S A LONG HARD CLIMB by Bob Kessel
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UKIYOE TSUMAGO PASS by Bob Kessel
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UKIYOE RICE PADDY by Bob Kessel
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UKIYOE MOUNTAIN by Bob Kessel
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UKIYOE SNOW by Bob Kessel
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UKIYOE RAIN by Bob Kessel
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FUJI FOG by Bob Kessel
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FUJI TREES by Bob Kessel
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UKIYO-E WATERFALL by Bob Kessel
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SNOW COVERED MOUNTAINS by Bob Kessel
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TWO FISHERMEN by Bob Kessel
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BLUE MOUNTAIN by Bob Kessel
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FALLS VIEW by Bob Kessel
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MOUNTAIN HOUSE by Bob Kessel
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RAPIDS by Bob Kessel
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