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| History of Woodcut Prints |
Traditional woodcut print making
is a composite art from in which the individual, specialist
skills of artists, wood carvers and print makers are combined
to create a delicate and beautiful work of art known as Ukiyo-e
(pictures of the modern world). The world of woodcut printmaking
is one of grace and warmth that is not found in any other
form of printing. Through the skillful hands of master craftsmen
of the Heisei era, this traditional art form has been inherited
by the current age.
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Returning
to the past, it is notable that it was not the Japanese upper-classes,
but rather the common people, who cherished Japanese Ukiyo-e
prints and nurtured the development of the woodcut printing
techniques necessary to produce them.
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| The mass production and circulation of woodcut prints underlay the blossoming of Japanese popular culture that occurred during the Edo era(1600-1867). Ukiyo-e prints are widely appreciated both within and outside of Japan. Indeed, woodcut print making techniques are said to have had a strong influence on the European impressionist painters of the 19th century. |
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