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- century, the cities of Osaka, Nagasaki and Yokohama also produced their own brand of prints. Osaka was particularly active, espe�cially between 1820 and 1845. Osaka prints focused mainly on the theatrical subjects. They also featured brilliant colours and impeccable printing. Some of the better known Osaka masters are Hokushu [36], Ashiyuki, Hokuei, Yoshikuni, Shigeharu [38] and Hiro- sada [37]. Many Osaka artists moved there from Tokyo in order to capitalize on the lucrative market in Japan�s western commer�cial capital.
Prints from Nagasaki and Yokohama also differed significantly from Tokyo prints. Prior to the 1850�s, Japan had experienced over two hundred years of self-imposed seclusion from the rest of the world. During this period, Japan�s only contact with the outside world was through Dutch and Chinese traders who were allowed to live at the port of Nagasaki. Nagasaki artists often made prints of these foreigners, but they seldom signed their work.
In 1853, Commodore Perry commanded an American squadron of �black ships� which steamed into Kurihama Bay and forced Japan to open her ports to the outside world. This sudden end to Japan�s centuries-long isola�tion brought hordes of Americans, Chinese, Dutch, English, French and Russians to Yokohama, and the foreigners soon became an extremely popular topic for printmakers eager to capitalize on Japanese curiosity about these strange-looking creatures. The better Yokohama artists included Hiroshige II and III [27], Sadahide [45], Yoshitora [43a] and Yoshikazu [44]. Their prints not only illustrate the Japanese fascination with the clothing and appearance of the foreigners; they are also filled with images of strange Western contrap�tions such as steamships, locomotives and horse-drawn carriages. The Yokohama prints thus provide an excellent source of informa�tion about an era of rapid social change.
Two noteworthy artists of the nineteenth century stand slightly outside the mainstream of ukiyo-e printmaking. They are the, semi- ukiyo-e artist Gengyo (1817-80) [46] and the Shijo painter and lacquerware master, Zeshin (1807-91) [V]. Both were skilful at making surimono.
A noticeable change in ukiyo-e prints occurred around 1868 as a result of the collapse of the
sc�nes tir�es de c�l�bres l�gendes histor�iques, telle que l�histoire des quarante-sept ronin [25g].
Apr�s la mort de Hiroshige, son �l�ve Shige- nobu a �pous� sa fille et a assum� son nom. On le conna�t sous le nom de Hiroshige II (1829- 1869) [26]. Hiroshige II a r�alis� des paysages honn�tes dans le style de son mentor, mais en 1865 il s�est divorc� de sa femme et s�est install� � Yokohama o� il a commenc� � produire des yokohama-e ou portraits d��tran�gers dans le port de Yokohama. Par apr�s, un jeune artiste du nom de Shigemasa (1843- 1894) a pris le nom de pinceau de Hiroshige et s�est fait conna�tre sous le nom de Hiroshige III [27], Quoique ses estampes soient inf�rieures en qualit�, elles sont historiquement int�res�santes puisqu�elles pr�sentent des images comme celles de chemins de fer et d��difices en brique, qui t�moignent de la modernisation du Japon � la fin du dix-neuvi�me si�cle. Hirokage (actif 1855-1865), Fusatane (actif 1849-1870) et Sadanobu (1809-1879) �taient aussi les �l�ves de Hiroshige.
Entre le d�but et le milieu du dix-neuvi�me si�cle, les nombreux disciples de Toyokuni et de l��cole Utagawa ont occup� une situation d�importance majeure. Les �l�ves de Toyo�kuni �taient prolifiques et ont eu d��normes r�percussions sur la gravure de la fin de l��poque Edo. On compte parmi ses �l�ves Kuniyasu [31], Kunimasa et Kuninao, mais les plus importants sont Kunisada et Kuniyoshi.
Kunisada (1786-1865) [28] �tait l�un des artistes les plus � la mode � la fin de la p�riode Edo. En fait, les historiens pr�tendent que c�est lui le plus prolifique et que c�est lui qui rapporte le plus de succ�s, commercialement parlant, de tous les artistes ukiyo-e. Mal�heureusement, sa production ph�nom�nale a eu comme r�sultat un grand nombre d�estam�pes inf�rieures, ce qui a amen� certains critiques � lui attribuer la responsabilit� du d�clin de l'ukiyo-e.
Bien que Kunisada ait fait d�excellents pay�sages [28c], il est mieux connu pour ses estampes de courtisanes et d�acteurs. Une de ses plus belles estampes de personnage est le portrait de Hiroshige [28a]. De temps en temps ces deux artistes ont collabor� � des estampes: Hiroshige dessinait le paysage d�arri�re-fond, tandis que Kunisada dessinait les personnages [28f]. Dans beaucoup d�es-
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