#Woodcuts

Utagawa Hiroshige maple trees: Utagawa Hiroshige, Maple Trees at Mama, Tekona Shrine and Tsugi Bridge, One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, 1857, ink on paper, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Maple Trees at Mama by Utagawa Hiroshige

Utagawa Hiroshige’s prints were exported to Europe and became very popular with Western artists. Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh owned...

James W Singer 24 May 2026

Long Read

Hokusai in 10 Artworks—A Journey to Mount Fuji

Hokusai is perhaps the most iconic Japanese artist. His paintings and prints display the power of simplicity and the beauty that can be achieved in...

Coleman Richards 18 May 2026

Asian Art

10 Incredible Japanese Woodblock Prints You Need to See

Step into the captivating world of Japanese woodblock prints, where intricate designs and vibrant colors combine to tell stories of tradition,...

Joanna Kaszubowska 18 May 2026

Asian Art

Japan’s Greatest Masterpiece: (Thirty) Six Views of Mount Fuji by Hokusai

Everyone knows The Great Wave off Kanagawa, the print created by the Japanese ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Hokusai. But not everyone knows that The...

Zuzanna Stańska 18 May 2026

Ishikawa Toyonobu, Tomoe Gozen Killing Uchida Saburo Ieyoshi at the Battle of Awazu no Hara, ca. 1750, woodblock print, ink and color on paper. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA. Asian Art

Onna-Musha: The Female Samurai Warriors

Feudal Japan experienced many social upheavals and turbulences. This highlighted the need to be combat-ready for everyone, including women. Hence,...

Errika Gerakiti 6 March 2026

Erotica

10 Japanese Shunga That Will Shock You

Erotic, playful, and unexpectedly sophisticated, shunga holds a unique place in Japanese visual culture. But there is often far more than mere...

Katerina Papouliou 5 March 2026

Artist Stories

The Black and White World of Felix Vallotton’s Prints

Felix Vallotton is, in my opinion, one of the most underestimated modern artists. I haven’t heard about him in my art history lectures at...

Zuzanna Stańska 29 December 2025

Hiroshige, Kinryuzan Temple, Asakusa (Asakusa Kinryuzan), No. 99 from One Hundred Famous View of Edo, 1856, Brooklyn Museum of Arts, New York, NY, USA. Detail. Asian Art

Hiroshige’s Winter Views of Edo

One of the most famous woodblock printers of the late Edo period in Japan, Utagawa Hiroshige, produced a series of a hundred views showing Edo city...

Magda Michalska 15 December 2025

Erotica

All You Must Know About Japanese Erotic Art, Shunga

Ukiyo-e art, pictures of the “floating world,” are famous among those interested in art history. Everyone knows Hokusai’s Great Wave. Ukiyo-e...

Zuzanna Stańska 5 November 2025

Japanese woodblock prints Asian Art

How Japanese Woodcuts Were Made

Hokusai’s Great Wave from the series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji and Hiroshige’s The Plum Garden in Kameido from One Hundred Famous Views of...

Irina Diana Calu 3 November 2025

North American Art

Chiura Obata: Alien Enemy and Great American Painter

Chiura Obata applied Japanese training and technique to picturesque California landscapes with stunning results. Interned during World War II because...

Theodore Carter 19 May 2025

Artist Stories

Henri Rivière: Parisian Master Printmaker

Henri Rivière was a painter, printmaker, and designer. He had a unique aesthetic that combined an Impressionist sensibility, Japanese printmaking...

Louisa Mahoney 21 February 2025