Japanese art portrays 'women's mystery'

By Stevie Emilia

JAKARTA (JP): In discussing the various forms of Japanese art, one cannot simply exclude ukiyo-e, which literally means images of the floating world, the art of woodblock printing.

Originated in the Edo period (1603-1867), at the time when shoguns controlled Japan, both politically and militarily, the art of ukiyo-e was inspired by the cultural life of the time in theaters, restaurants and teahouses. Many of the artists focused their talents by featuring bijin-e, or pictures of beautiful women, such as geisha and courtesans, in their work.

A number of ukiyo-e prints were even originally crafted to promote theater performances, brothels and teahouses, and often featured portraits of popular actors and beautiful teahouse girls and courtesans.

Twenty-eight ukiyo-e prints from well-known artists, including Keisai Eisen, Kitagawa Utamaro, Suzuki Harunobu, Toshusai Sharaku and Turii Kiyonaga, are now on display at the Japan Foundation. The exhibition, which will run until the end of the month, is titled Women's Mystery in Ukiyo-e.

Each of the displayed works was inspired by women -- their beauty and their daily activities at the time when the art form flourished.

A work by Keisai Eisen, titled A Coquette, shows a Japanese woman in a decent kimono holding a handkerchief between her teeth while her eyes seductively look away.

Eisen (1790-1848), who achieved great fame for his prints of women, was hinting at seduction and sensuousness through this piece because showing a person biting a handkerchief or any other textile in Japanese art implies sexual seduction or sexual desire.

Two other works by Eisen, whose noted piece include Oiso Station, Beauties Along the Tokaido, are also displayed: After Taking A Bath and Women with A Smoking Pipe.

The nine works on display by Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1808) show why he was regarded as one of the foremost painters in the bijin- e genre.

Several of his works were inspired by beautiful teahouse girls, including the delicately made Okita of Naniwa-ya, and pleasure houses, as in the Pleasure Quarter Series.

Six works by Suzuki Harunobu -- known among ukiyo-e artists for his habit of employing poetry to enhance his prints and create a romantic atmosphere -- are also on display.

Unfortunately, his famous brocade print The Priest Sosei, featuring young women dressed in the fashion of the time with a poem inscribed in the clouds running along the top of the print, is not among the exhibit.

But visitors can enjoy his A Woman on the Veranda. This skillfully made print, depicting a forlorn woman standing on the veranda, while in the background, through the shadow in the paper wall, one can see men and women enjoying themselves inside the house.

Another of his displayed works shows two women trying to hold on to their hats in A Typhoon in Early Autumn, while Visiting the Shrine in the Night depicts a woman, clad in a purple kimono and carrying a lantern and a paper umbrella.

Three works by noted artist Toshusai Sharaku, who was active from the middle of 1794 to early 1795, also can be viewed by visitors.

The difference between Sharaku's pieces and the other works on display is that the artist features women with comical expressions, as in Shinobu in Disguise As the Courtesan Kewaizaka No Shosho.

Viewing each of the displayed works, it is obvious women are the central theme of most prints. Most of the artists do not place much emphasis on background detail.

However, women were not the only source of inspiration for ukiyo-e artists. It was Hokusai, who began to place more stress on the background instead of simply focusing on the human form. He even began to gradually drop humans as the main theme of his prints, replacing them with landscapes.

Following Hokusai's lead, Torii Kiyonaga pictured a woman, with her hair streaming down her back, standing along a riverbank in The Court Lady Ono No Komachi, one of the works seen in the exhibition. In another of his works, he magnificently depicts a woman, gazing out her window toward the night-shrouded sea in Flares of Fishing Lights.

Although those who understand Japanese culture will have a greater appreciation and understanding of the woodblock prints, in general, the themes and methods employed by ukiyo-e artists do no differ greatly from those of western artists.

In its harmony and balance, the art of ukiyo-e is expressed very much in the same way as in western paintings.

One of the things which makes ukiyo-e prints unique is that many of them were the cooperative effort of several artists -- eshi (painter), horishi (carver) and surishi (printer).

The painter was responsible for drafting the black outline drawing. Then the carver pasted the drawing onto a woodblock and carved the outline into the wood.

Afterward, the pigments were skillfully mixed and then carefully rubbed into the outlines by the printer before a strong and high-quality Japanese paper was used to absorb the pigment.

Most of the prints feature Japanese women in bright kimonos with floral or fauna designs dominated by black, white, red and yellow. Some ukiyo-e prints were also decorated with kanjis and kanas, while others were marked with a seal and stamp.