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Toyohara Kunichika (1835–1900), “The Actor Ichikawa Sadanji I as Akiyama Kii no kami,” 1894, John H. Van Vleck Endowment Fund purchase; The Chazen Museum of Art.

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UTAGAWA SCHOOL WOODBLOCK PRINTS OPEN MARCH 21 AT BROOKLYN MUSEUM w/1 cut

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BROOKLYN, N.Y. — “Utagawa: Masters of the Japanese Print, 1770–1900,” on view at the Brooklyn Museum March 21–June 15, will present 95 Japanese woodblock prints by more than 15 artists, among them Utagawa Hiroshige, Utagawa Kuniyoshi and Tsukioka Yoshitoshi.

The exhibition is drawn from the holdings of the Chazen Museum of Art’s renowned Van Vleck collection and is augmented by 22 woodblock prints from the Brooklyn Museum’s Asian art collection.

The Utagawa School, founded by Utagawa Toyoharu, dominated the Japanese print market in the Nineteenth Century and is responsible for more than half of all surviving Ukiyo-e prints. These prolific artists created a thriving print publishing industry by mass-producing their prints for the general public. Created in a climate of strict censorship and fierce creative competition, the woodblock prints are both technically sophisticated and broadly appealing.

Ukiyo-e originated in Edo, present-day Tokyo, during the Shogunate era, when Japan was isolated from the rest of the world. Literally meaning “pictures of the floating world,” the Ukiyo-e genre closely examines the pleasures of Kabuki theaters, teahouses and the lives of geishas and courtesans.

Colorful, innovative and sometimes defiant of government regulations, the Ukiyo-e prints were created for a popular audience and documented themes of leisure and entertainment: familiar landscapes, portraits of beautiful women, Kabuki actors and erotica.

“Utagawa” presents these themes through a vast selection of prints such as Utagawa Toyokuni’s six-sheet print capturing the fireworks at Ryogoku Bridge, a highly detailed image crowded with spectators; Utagawa Kunisada’s triptych of three elegant courtesans walking through the snow while gracefully holding umbrellas; and Toyohara Kunichika’s print of Kabuki actor Ichikawa Sandanjii dramatically posed with his sword in front of a burning courtyard. This exhibition also includes an expansive view of the Nihon Bridge by Utagawa Toyohiro and a sophisticated view of Mount Fuji from the Sea of Satta by Toyohiro’s better-known student, Utagawa Hiroshige.

This exhibition has been organized by Laura Mueller, Van Vleck curatorial intern, Chazen Museum of Art, and doctorial candidate, Japanese art history, University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Brooklyn Museum’s presentation has been coordinated and enhanced with the addition of works from Brooklyn’s collection by Joan Cummins, Lisa and Bernard Selz curator of Asian art, Brooklyn Museum.

A full-color catalog published by the Chazen Museum of Art and Hotei Publishing of Amsterdam will accompany the exhibition.

The museum is at 200 Eastern Parkway. For information, www.brooklynmuseum.org or 718-638-5000.