EPRIS
museum | virtual
est. 2026 · a division of the journal
08 / 10

Ukiyo-e

the floating world, printed

Woodblock prints from Edo and after: actors, courtesans, weather and the road. Colour laid in separate blocks, outline carried by a cut line rather than a brush.

works 12artists 7dates 1744 – 1837entry free
← all halls
A color woodblock print of a large crashing wave, looms over two narrow boats full of people. Mt Fuji in the background. There is a faint peach colored sky.
Key work of the hall Katsushika Hokusai Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), also known as The Great Wave, from the series "Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)" 1830/33 · Color woodblock print; oban
Clarence Buckingham Collection
Art Institute of Chicago · public domain
Color print depicting two women as they dry and bundle fabric.
Suzuki Harunobu Evening Snow on a Floss Shaper (Nurioke no bosetsu), from the series "Eight Views of the Parlor (Zashiki hakkei)" c. 1766 · Color woodblock print; chuban
Japan · 28.7 × 21.6 cm
Clarence Buckingham Collection
Art Institute of Chicago · public domain
Color print of Japanese man with sword making a funny face.
Tōshūsai Sharaku The actor Bando Mitsugoro II as Ishii Genzo 1794 · Color woodblock print; oban
Japan · 37.5 × 24.7 cm
Clarence Buckingham Collection
Art Institute of Chicago · public domain
A crashing wave looms over two small ships, Mount Fuji in the background.
Katsushika Hokusai Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), also known as The Great Wave, from the series "Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)" 1830/33 · Color woodblock print; oban
Japan · 25.4 × 37.6 cm
Clarence Buckingham Collection
Art Institute of Chicago · public domain
A work made of color woodblock print; hashira-e.
Kitagawa Utamaro Komurasaki of the Miuraya and Shirai Gompachi (Miuraya Komurasaki, Shirai Gompachi) c. 1800 · Color woodblock print; hashira-e
Japan
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James A. Michener
Art Institute of Chicago · public domain
Color print of travelers of foot and horseback following a grassy route flanked by Japanese bungalows and groves of trees.
Utagawa Hiroshige Hamamatsu, from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)," also known as the Tokaido with Poem (Kyoka iri Tokaido) c. 1837/42 · Color woodblock print; chuban
Japan · 17.1 × 22.9 cm
Clarence Buckingham Collection
Art Institute of Chicago · public domain
Color print of a Japanese landscape with a person on horseback in the foreground, flanked by several trees and low green hills. Beyond this figure, others on ferries cross a winding river in rowboats toward tent-like structures in the distance. Vertical text in Japanese peppers the top half of the work, with text in a vertical red banner at upper right.
Utagawa Hiroshige Mitsuke: Ferries Crossing the Tenryu River (Mitsuke, Tenryugawa funawatashi), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)," also known as the Tokaido with Poem (Kyoka iri Tokaido) c. 1837/42 · Color woodblock print; chuban
Japan · 16.9 × 22.8 cm
Clarence Buckingham Collection
Art Institute of Chicago · public domain
Narrow, vertical print of a Japanese woman in partial view, wearing a billowing pink-orange kimono and holding a yellow umbrella.
Suzuki Harunobu Beauty Under an Umbrella in the Snow c. 1770 · Color woodblock print; hashira-e
Japan · 65.5 × 13.1 cm
Clarence Buckingham Collection
Art Institute of Chicago · public domain
A work made of color woodblock print; hosoban; from a multisheet composition.
Katsukawa Shunsho The Actor Otani Hiroji III as Kawazu no Saburo in the Play Myoto-giku Izu no Kisewata, Performed at the Ichimura Theater in the Eleventh Month, 1770 c. 1770 · Color woodblock print; hosoban; from a multisheet composition
Japan · 32 × 15.2 cm
Clarence Buckingham Collection
Art Institute of Chicago · public domain
A work made of color woodblock print; hosoban, benizuri-e.
Torii Kiyomasu II The Actors Tamazawa Saijiro I as the pageboy Umezaburo and Segawa Kikunojo I as Oroku in the play "Sazareishi Suehiro Genji," performed at the Nakamura Theater in the first month, 1744 1744 · Color woodblock print; hosoban, benizuri-e
Japan · 28.4 × 15 cm
Clarence Buckingham Collection
Art Institute of Chicago · public domain
A work made of color woodblock print; oban.
Kitagawa Utamaro Goldfish, from the series "Elegant Comparison of Little Treasures (Furyu kodakara awase)" c. 1802 · Color woodblock print; oban
Japan · 38.1 × 26.2 cm
Gift of Chester W. Wright
Art Institute of Chicago · public domain
A work made of color woodblock print; hosoban.
Torii Kiyomasu II Susano-o no Mikoto Killing the Eight-headed Dragon 1748 · Color woodblock print; hosoban
Japan · 31.9 × 4.7 cm
Clarence Buckingham Collection
Art Institute of Chicago · public domain

Where you are

Ukiyo-e in time, then in the building.
08 / 10
1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 01 Renaissance and Before 1434 – 1610 02 The Seventeenth Century 1610 – 1695 03 The Barbizon School 1857 – 1871 04 Realism 1822 – 1906 05 Impressionism 1866 – 1893 06 Post-Impressionism 1881 – 1907 07 Modernism 1891 – 1920 08 Ukiyo-e 1744 – 1837 · you are here 09 Pictorialism 1877 – 1903 10 Folk Art 1799 – 1871 Bar spans the earliest and latest work in the hall. Ticks are the individual dates in the hall you are in.
upper tier · +6.40 circulation spine void over court light drops to the tier below 06 Post-Impressionism 12 works · 18x12 m 07 Modernism 12 works · 18x12 m 08 Ukiyo-e 12 works · 16x12 m you are here 09 Pictorialism 12 works · 18x10 m 10 Folk Art 12 works · 16x10 m dn lower tier · +0.00 circulation spine court · open air 01 Renaissance and Before 12 works · 18x12 m 02 The Seventeenth Century 12 works · 18x12 m 03 The Barbizon School 7 works · 16x12 m 04 Realism 12 works · 18x10 m 05 Impressionism 12 works · 16x10 m up entrance 52 m 10 m N ▭ hall, width follows the size of the hang · ⌐ door · ▤ open-air court · ≡ stair upper tier · +6.40 circulation spine dn 06 Post-Impressionism 12 works 07 Modernism 12 works 08 Ukiyo-e 12 works you are here 09 Pictorialism 12 works 10 Folk Art 12 works lower tier · +0.00 circulation spine up 01 Renaissance and Before 12 works 02 The Seventeenth Century 12 works 03 The Barbizon School 7 works 04 Realism 12 works 05 Impressionism 12 works court · open air entrance 10 m N

Every work shown here is in the public domain and comes from the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, published under its Open Access programme (CC0). Artist, title, date, medium and the museum’s own credit line are printed under each plate, and every plate links to the object record in Chicago. EPRIS Museum claims no rights in these images.