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- thriving subculture of the new, prosperous mercantile class with its quick-paced life of energy and excitement.
Today, collectors of Japanese art and lovers of art in general have come to admire the beauty and workmanship of ukiyo-e prints. Historians also appreciate them because they so thor�oughly documentthe many facets of Japanese life during the Edo period.
In order to satisfy the tastes of their merchant clients, the ukiyo-e artists drew on four main sources for inspiration:
1 kabuki theatre
2 courtesans and geishas
3 landscapes
4 historical and legendary events
Kabuki was a flamboyant theatre of dance, music and symbolism which maintained a high level of emotional tension and dealtfreely in scenes of violence and melodrama. With all its drama, action and magnificently realistic settings, kabuki presented a colourful and glittering spectacle. Since females were banned from the plays, the performers were all males who specialized in exaggerated pos�tures and facial expressions. Because of government censorship, the actors and writers of the kabuki had to exercise great creativity in order to avoid offending the authorities on political or moral grounds. The plays constantly hinted at moral corruption and this fact only served to make kabuki that much more tantalizing to the repressed society of the Edo period.
The public, particularly the merchant class, idolized their favourite actors and flocked to the performances in large numbers. The print artists were quick to capitalize on the audi�ence�s passionate enthusiasm for kabuki by portraying actors as their subject matter. The publishers of the prints even went so far as to purchase front row seats at premiere per�formances so the artists could produce up-to- date prints at the beginning of each new play. The actors were well aware of the presence of the print artists and they would develop stunning poses to catch the artists� attention in the hope of being memorialized in the popular prints.
Kabuki prints were in great demand, and vast quantities were sold in nearby shops and stalls as advertisements for performances. For
mentaires � une date ult�rieure. Souvent ces �preuves suppl�mentaires �taient imprim�es apr�s la mort de l�artiste, mais elles �taient en g�n�ral de qualit� inf�rieure.
En tant qu�artisans, les artistes ukiyo-e n��taient ni riches, ni socialement importants. La soci�t� Edo �tait stratifi�e en quatre couches rigides: samourai, paysans, artisans et mar�chands. M�me s�ils contr�laient la plus grande partie de la richesse du pays, les marchands �taient consid�r�s comme la plus basse des classes sociales. Les artistes xylographes et les artisans ne recevaient qu�un salaire d�risoire de l��diteur, et par cons�quent leur situation financi�re �tait inf�rieure � celle des marchands. Les paysans, puisqu�ils �taient producteurs de denr�es alimentaires, occu�paient une position sociale plus �lev�e que celle des artistes-graveurs et des marchands, tenus tous les deux pour parasites.
L�aristocratie consid�rait que l�oeuvre des artistes ukiyo-e �tait vulgaire, que c��tait de la camelote et tape-�-l�oeil. Les estampes n��taient pas dignes d�un noble ou d�un samourai qui, normalement, �taient propri�taires de tableaux pr�cieux mont�s en rouleau et peints par des ma�tres reconnus. La production de l�estampe ukiyo-e n��tait pas de l�art pour l�art, mais plut�t un moyen de gagner de l�argent; on faisait donc appel, avant tout, aux go�ts des riches marchands et on prenait ses mod�les dans la sous-culture prosp�re de la nouvelle classe mercantile, dont le train de vie �tait mouvement�, �nergique et passionn�.
Aujourd�hui, les collectionneurs d�art japonais et les amateurs d�art en g�n�ral en sont venus � admirer la beaut� et la ma�trise des estampes ukiyo-e. Les historiens les appr�cient aussi parce que ces estampes documentent en d�tail plusieurs facettes de la vie japonaise � l��poque Edo.
Pour satisfaire aux go�ts de ses clients marchands, l�artiste ukiyo-e s�inspirait de quatre th�mes principaux:
1. le th��tre kabuki;
2 les courtisanes et les geisha;
3 les paysages;
4 les �v�nements historiques et l�gendaires. Le kabuki �tait un th��tre extravagant de danse, de musique et de symbolisme, qui maintenait un tr�s haut niveau de tension �motive et qui traitait librement de th�mes
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