Japanese school, ca. 1900

Japanese school, ca. 1900.
"Royal court".
Woodcut print.
Presents breakage and stains.
Measurements: 35 x 23 cm; 51 x 35,5 cm (passe-partout).

The images of ukiyo-e ("floating world"), or Japanese woodcut, are color works produced in Japan since the seventeenth century, illustrating landscapes, themes of the theater or pleasure houses, genre scenes, folklore, etc., often starring famous actors and geisha. Although ukiyo-e enjoyed its greatest popularity in Japan during the second half of the 17th century, in Europe it was discovered at the end of the 19th century, when some artists, such as Van Gogh, noticed the paper, illustrated prints, that wrapped porcelain and other merchandise brought from Japan. Since then, these prints began to be collected, which fascinated the Western artist for their radically different concept, their essentiality and expressive force, and which represented a true revolution for European art, marking a before and after in its evolution.