Enjoy more than 130 woodblock prints and painted scrolls from one of history’s most vibrant artistic eras.
After centuries of conflict and war, Japan’s Edo period (1603–1868) was a time of peace, stability, and economic growth. Members of the ruling class patronized artists, merchants, entertainers, and courtesans in major cities like Tokyo (then called Edo), Kyoto, and Osaka. Sharing a visual culture and appreciation for the transient pleasures of life, such diverse groups comingled in a metropolitan melting pot known as ukiyo, or “floating world.” There, a new art genre emerged: Ukiyo-e. These “pictures of the floating world” depict the lifestyle, pleasures, and interests of the urban population— from samurais, geishas, and kabuki actors to boat parties, palaces, and lush landscapes.
Not to be missed, this presentation marks the first time the Worcester Art Museum is touring its famed collection of Japanese artworks.
I can’t emphasize this enough: [The Floating World]…is an extremely rare treat.
Michael Barnes, Austin American-Statesman
In all, the many prints of The Floating World form a compelling document of a crucial moment in world history that should not be missed.
Lauren Moya Ford, Glasstire
Recreate a Print!
Visit our interactive printmaking station, where you can make a small-scale replica of Kitagawa Utamaro I 喜多川 歌麿, An Oiran and a Geisha, a woodblock print featured in our current special exhibition, The Floating World: Masterpieces of Edo Japan. This activity is located in the Check-in building.
Katsushika Hokusai, “The Hanging-cloud Bridge at Mount Gyōdō near Ashikaga,” 1833–1834, color woodblock print, 10 x 14 7/8 in., Worcester Art Museum, John Chandler Bancroft Collection
Isoda Koryūsai, “The Chinese Dog,” about 1777, color woodblock print, 10 7/8 x 8 1/4 in., Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA, John Chandler Bancroft Collection
Katsushika Hokusai, “Fuji from Gotenyama, at Shinagawa on the Tōkaidō (Tōkaidō Shinagawa Gotenyama no Fuji),” about 1831, color woodblock print, 9 5/8 x 14 1/2 in., Worcester Art Museum, John Chandler Bancroft Collection
Katsushika Hokusai, “South Wind, Clear Sky (Gaifū kaisei),” also known as “Red Fuji,” about 1831, color woodblock print, horizontal ōban: 9 7/8 x 14 in., Worcester Art Museum, John Chandler Bancroft Collection
Katsushika Hokusai, “A Hawk in Flight,” about 1840, color woodblock print, Worcester Art Museum, Gift from the estate of John Chandler Bancroft
Utagawa Kunisada, “Woman Holding a Paper Lantern,” 1844, color woodblock print, 29 x 10 in., Worcester Art Museum, John Chandler Bancroft Collection
Utagawa Kuniyoshi, “Kaga: Yuki,” about 1833, color woodblock print, 14 1/8 x 10 in., Worcester Art Museum, John Chandler Bancroft Collection
Utagawa Hiroshige I, “Asakusa Ricefield and Torinomachi Festival (Asakusa tanbo Torinomachi mōde),” 1857, 11th month, color woodblock print, 13 1/4 x 8 3/4 in., Worcester Art Museum, John Chandler Bancroft Collection
Press
Austin American-Statesman: Still Time to Enjoy Japanese Prints at the Blanton Museum of Art
Arts and Culture Texas, Pleasures of the Floating World: Ukiyo-e at the Blanton
Glasstire, Review: “The Floating World: Masterpieces of Edo Japan” at the Blanton
Not Even Past, Review of The Floating World: Masterpieces of Edo Japan at the Blanton
Tribeza, “The Floating World” Boasts a Prolific Collection of Striking Japanese Prints
Credit
The Floating World: Masterpieces of Edo Japan is organized by the Worcester Art Museum with support from the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation.
Generous funding for this exhibition is provided in part by The Freeman Foundation.