Japanese Woodblock Prints From the Second Half of the 19th to Early 20th Century in the Context of the Influence to the Western Art

There are known periods of development of Japanese traditional ukiyo-e engraving: from its origin in the 17th century and its flourishing in the 18th — first half of the 19th century to the “decline” in the second half of the 19th century. The period of Meiji Restoration (1868–1912) was marked by the opening of Japan after more than two hundred years of self-isolation, acquaintance with Western achievements in the field of industry, science and art. The article discusses the search of combination of Western and national traditions by Japanese artists. Familiarity with the new artistic language and intention to introduce it into the space of traditional ukiyo-e engraving became the basis for the masters of this period. Changes in the field of traditional genres are noted: instead of images of actors (yakusha-e), beauties (bijinga) and landscapes (fukeiga), there were appeared images of foreigners with their manners (yokohama-e), Japan’s modernization (kaika-e), as well as the battle genre (senso-e) dedicated to the events of the Japanese-Chinese (1894–1895) and Russian-Japanese (1904–1905) wars. These attempts to transform the national art allowed to form the ground for the creativity of young masters in the 20th century, who brought traditional engraving to a new level.

Iconography of intertwined branches in M. Buraček’s landscapes during 1917–1924: (regarding problems of adaptation of Young Polish Japonisme in the works of Ukrainian students of the Krakow Academy of Arts)

The purpose of the article is to analyze M. Buraček’s winter landscapes from the collection of the Zaporizhzhia Art Museum: “Winter” (1917), “Apple Trees in Winter. Dziunkiv”(1922), “Branches in the Hoarfrost”(1924) and to substantiate the reflections associated with the Young Polish Japonisme mastered by the Ukrainian artist while studying at the Krakow Academy of Arts. Methodology. In order to solve the problem set in the publication, the following methods were used: comparative – in connection with clarifying the analogies between the landscapes of M. Buraček of 1917–1924 and the plots of Polish artists of the 1900s; hermeneutic - to understand the connection between the traditions of ukiyo-e Japanese woodblock prints and particularities of the Polish improvisations of early XX century. The scientific novelty of the publication consists in the fact that the works of M. Buraček proposed for consideration are analyzed for the first time in the context of the problem of assimilation of Young Polish Japonisme among Ukrainian students of the Krakow Academy of Arts. Conclusions. It was found that the landscape plots of kachō-ga, inspired by the Polish artistic background, had been adapted in the works of M. Buraček during the period: 1917–1924. The then strivings of the below Krakiw pioneers from Young Poland’s artistic environment contributed to the renewal of M. Buraček’s thematic repertoire: W. Weiss, J. Voinarski, K. Gomolaks, T. Richter, F. Ruszczyc, T. F. Simon, J. Stanislawski, W. Tadeusz, J. Tchaikovsky. The study of the landscape repertoire of M. Buraček during 1917–1924, which had been formed during his studies at the Krakow Academy of Arts, results in confirming the Krakiw Japonisme reflections traced in his works attributable to the first quarter of XX century.

The influence of Ukiyo-e on the artistic language of easel graphics of A. P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva in the 1900s-1920s (on the example of St. Petersburg collection of woodblock prints)

The article reviews and analyzes the key easel graphic works by A. P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva from St. Petersburg collection of woodblock prints, created over the period from 1900s to 1920s. These works resemble the genre of Japanese art Ukiyo-e. The subject of this research is the uniqueness of the artistic language and the means of its expression in the works of A. P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva. Alongside other Russian artists of the turn of the XIX – XX centuries she was affected by Ukiyo-e, but perceived the Japanese wood engraving on a more profound level. The author examines the works of accomplished in this period, as well draws parallels with the woodblock prints of Japanese masters, using the formal-stylistic method. This approach is relevant as it reveals the role Japanese woodblock prints played in the establishment of artistic language of A. P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva. Within the Russian art history, this research is one of the few attempts of conducting comparative analysis between the woodblock prints of A. P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva and the works of Japanese masters, which defines the scientific novelty. The conclusion is made that the influence of Ukiyo-e can be traced in the compositional solution and in use of particular Japanese motifs in her works. The artist also contributed to the establishment of woodblock prints as an independent genre of graphic art, having enriched it with the images and color introduced by the Japanese masters.

Integrating liquid chromatography mass spectrometry into an analytical protocol for the identification of organic colorants in Japanese woodblock prints

Three Japanese woodblock prints from the Edo period (1603–1868) underwent a scientific investigation with the aim of understanding the changes in the colorants used in Japanese printing techniques. A multi-analytical approach was adopted, combining non-invasive techniques, such as fiber optic reflectance spectroscopy (FORS), Raman spectroscopy, multispectral imaging (MSI), and macro X-ray fluorescence (MA-XRF) with minimally invasive surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The results enabled many of the pigments to be identified and their distribution to be studied, apart from two shades of purple of organic composition. Consequently, the potential of high-pressure liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS/MS) was explored for the first time with application to Japanese woodblock prints. The intrinsic sensitivity of the instrument and an effective extraction protocol allowed us to identify a mixture of dayflower (Commelina communis) blue and safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) red in purple samples constituted of 2–3 single fibers. In addition to the innovative integration of MA-XRF and HPLC–MS/MS to investigate these delicate artworks, the study concluded on the use of traditional sources of colors alongside newly introduced pigments in late Edo-period Japan. This information is extremely important for understanding the printing practices, as well as for making decisions about display, conservation, and preservation of such artworks.

Evidence of early amorphous arsenic sulfide production and use in Edo period Japanese woodblock prints by Hokusai and Kunisada

This study explores the evolution of the manufacturing process of artificial arsenic sulfide pigments in Edo-period Japan through the analysis of three impressions of the same print dated from the 1830s and attributed to Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), and one from 1852 and attributed to Utagawa Kunisada (1786–1865). Colorants in the yellow and green areas of the four prints were investigated by means of non-invasive and microanalytical techniques such as optical microscopy, fiber optic reflectance spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. While the pigments in the green and yellow areas are similar throughout the set of prints—Prussian blue, indigo (for the Hokusai prints) and orpiment were identified—optical microscopy and Raman spectroscopy highlighted some variations in the orpiment used in the green areas of the prints. Two of the Hokusai prints present bright yellow particles of larger size and lamellar morphology, identified by Raman spectroscopy as natural orpiment. The third print presents an admixture of bright yellow natural orpiment particles with a smaller number of orange-yellow particles shown by Raman to be partially amorphous arsenic sulfide. Small bright yellow particles identified as fully amorphous arsenic sulfide pigments by Raman were found throughout the green areas of the Kunisada print. Although supported by Japanese historical sources, local production of artificial arsenic sulfide in the early nineteenth century was not previously documented. The simultaneous presence of both crystalline and amorphous domains in a single pigment particle in some of the Hokusai prints suggests that natural orpiment was used as primary source of arsenic for the production of a low grade artificial pigment. The pigment found in the Kunisada print, by contrast, was obtained from arsenic oxide (or arsenolite) and sulfur though a dry-process synthesis, as shown by the sulfur excess, signs of heat treatments and fully amorphous nature of the pigment. These findings set the earliest dates for both the ore sublimation process and the arsenolite dry process, and are of foremost importance to understand the evolution of the amorphous arsenic sulfide production in Edo-period Japan and its introduction in the palette of Japanese woodblock prints.