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- beginning of their own, and when the master died, the best pupil would often assume his teacher�s name as a sign of loyalty and commitment to the master�s style.
The legacy of Japanese printmaking also extends to Europe, where the introduction of Japanese prints directly influenced the devel�opment of European painting in the late nineteenth century.
Ukiyo-e prints first appeared in Europe during the early nineteenth century via Dutch traders who, for 200 years, had been the only Wes�terners allowed to live and trade in Japan. According to one theory, the Dutch first used the prints as wrapping to cushion fragile shipments of Japanese ceramics. One Dutch sea captain named Isaac Titsingh formed a collection of ukiyo-e prints which was exhibited in Paris in 1806. The collection attracted the attention of art lovers, but at first the prints were treated as curiosities. Within a few decades, however, they were the talk of Paris, which developed a thriving market of collectors.
The prints of Utamaro were the first to become fashionable. However, following the opening of Japanese ports to foreign ships, Hiroshige prints also began appearing in Western markets. By the 1860�s, the infatuated demand for ukiyo-e prints had grown so intense that large numbers were transported from Japan to curio shops throughout Europe. European collectors like Vever, Gonse and Goncourt and, later, American connoisseurs like Fenol- losa and Frank Lloyd Wright amassed huge collections at modest cost. Museums in Europe and the U.S. also acquired vast quantities. Since the Japanese placed little value on the prints, they were only too willing to sell them. As a result, there are more important collections of ukiyo-e prints outside of Japan than within.
While Western perspective influenced ukiyo-e artists like Okumura Masanobu, Toyoharu, Hokusai, Hiroshige, Kuniyoshi, Yoshitoshi, and Kiyochika, Japanese prints also had a powerful impact on the minds and visions of late nineteenth-century European artists like Manet, Monet, Degas, Gauguin, van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Whistler and the American, Mary Cassatt. Ironically, however, at the same time that ukiyo-e was injecting new energy into Western art, the tradition was rapidly
les plus distingu�s des artistes tels que Yoshitoshi, Yoshitora, Yoshinobu [42] et Yoshikazu [44]. Il avait de nombreux disciples de moindre envergure.
Certains savants consid�rent que Yoshitoshi (1839-1892) [41] est le dernier grand artiste ukiyo-e. Tout comme son ma�tre Kuniyoshi, Yoshitoshi �tait port� sur le bizarre, le fantastique et le macabre. Il y a peut-�tre un lien � faire avec le fait qu�il a souffert de maladie mentale pendant un certain temps, et qu�il a v�cu � une �poque tumultueuse marqu�e par de radicaux soul�vements sociaux et poli�tiques. Bien que la violence et le sadisme figurent largement dans son oeuvre, Yoshi�toshi a �galement produit certaines estampes historiques fascinantes aussi bien que des illustrations de journaux et des estampes de jolies femmes et d�acteurs.
L��l�ve de Kuniyoshi, Yoshitora (actif ann�es 1850-1870) [43] a r�alis� d�assez bons paysages et estampes de personnages. Lui aussi �tait port� sur les sc�nes de bataille, et il a cr�� plusieurs bonnes suites d�estampes sur le th�me des quarante-sept ronin.
Bien que Tokyo (Edo) ait �t� le centre de l�industrie de l�estampe ukiyo-e au dix- neuvi�me si�cle, les villes d�Osaka, Nagasaki et Yokohama ont �galement produit des estampes d�une trempe caract�ristique. Osaka �tait particuli�rement productive, surtout entre 1820 et 1845. L�estampe d�Osaka se consacrait surtout aux sujets th��traux. Un brillant coloris et une impression impeccable sont �galement caract�ristiques de l�estampe d�Osaka. Parmi les ma�tres d�Osaka les mieux connus faut compter Hokushu [36], Ashiyuki, Hokuei, Yoshikuni, Shigeharu [38] et Hirosada [37]. Plusieurs artistes d�Osaka y sont venus de Tokyo afin de profiter du march� lucratif dans la capitale commerciale de l�Ouest du Japon.
Les estampes de Nagasaki et de Yokohama diff�rent consid�rablement des estampes de Tokyo. Avant les ann�es 1850, le Japon s��tait isol� volontairement du reste du monde pendant deux cents ans. Au cours de cette p�riode, le seul contact du Japon avec le monde ext�rieur s�effectuait par l�entremise des commer�ants hollandais et chinois, auxquels on permettait de vivre dans le port de Nagasaki. Les artistes de Nagasaki faisaient
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