The British Museum HOKUSAI; ON THE WAY TO MOUNT FUJI. SUNSHū EJIRI, a ukiyo e print from the Edo period. Object in focus. Room 3

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Christina Pitts
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2 The British Museum Object in focus Room 3 HOKUSAI; ON THE WAY TO MOUNT FUJI SUNSHū EJIRI, a ukiyo e print from the Edo period. Mount Fuji is traditionally linked to eternal life. It is recognized as a cultural and spiritual site and has proved to be a source of inspiration for artists and poets for centuries now. Katsushika Hokusai; Japanese artist, ukiyo e painter and printmaker of the Edo period, was no exception in this regard. Hokusai s obsession with Mount Fuji and the flourishing domestic travel led him to create Thirty six view of Mount Fuji. Sunshu Ejiri is one print from that series, which not only shows his command on the medium but also his advanced and contemporary outlook on composition which is still relevant today. Hokusai has been a source of inspiration for artists during his life time and continues to be so. The title is a double entendre in that regard, Hokusai has attained eternal life through his work, through which he continues to live and inspire. The object of focus in this exhibition is Sunshu Ejiri; ukiyo e print by Hokusai from the series Thirty six views of Mount Fuji. The exhibition highlights the history and the intricate and complex process involved in the making of woodblock coloured prints, the uniqueness and relevance of the Sunshu Ejiri in the current day and age and the influence of Ukiyo e on the impressionists in the late 19 th century. The exhibition aims to provide a complete sensory experience. Instead of just engaging the viewer visually it plans to create a three dimensional experience of walking into the image to experience it through the sense of touch, smell, hearing and vision. The projections on the three walls of the gallery will feature the swaying marsh while the main wall will feature Mount Fuji as depicted in the print. The viewers will be provided with customary garbs; Getas, Kimonos and Jinkasa hats, to wear, so that they are equipped to enter the exhibition. The entrance will be flanked by a tree, similar to the print and a similar path will be paved to direct the viewers to the Object in focus. There are four curves in the pathway; each curve will have a transparent frosted screen panel (Glass or Perspex) comprising of text and a video installation. First two panels will face the audience while the last two will face away to ensure proper visitor flow. The sound and smell of the marsh with trickling water and a gust of wind will be artificially generated to create the sensation of smell, hearing and touch. Supporting objects will showcase equipment and tools used for the production of Ukiyo e, as well as a map from China to Europe. Parallel programs to the exhibition will feature performances which will take place among the visitor flow to create an element of surprise. These performances will depict dialogues and narratives or travelers from the Edo period and Impressionists reactions to Ukiyo e prints. Hajra Haider Pakistan Curator IVS Gallery Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture. ITP Participant 2014 The British Museum

12 UKIYO-E S IMPACT ON IMPRESSIONISM 1850 Ukiyo-e images created quite an impact when they reached the West especially the landscapes of Hokusai and Hiroshige. The impressionists were strongly influenced by the stylized comic book simplicity of it. They started incorporating the compositional techniques in their own work; Manet incorporated the foreshortening of the background while Monet fused asymmetrical composition in his paintings. The aerial viewpoint and the structure of the composition are used to accentuate the voyeuristic effect. A favourite technique of the Ukiyo-e was to crop the background activity which makes the viewer feel present. An approach that encouraged Monet to simplify shapes in his later paintings was to create an overall decorative aura replaced by the accurate representation of the subject s detailed features. Among the artists who were greatly inspired by ukiyo-e were early Impressionists; Degas, Manet, Renoir and Monet, as well as Post-Impressionists; Van Gogh and Art Nouveau; Toulouse- Lautrec. As well as James Tissot, William Merritt Chase, Edmund Charles Tarbell, George Hendrik Breitner.

18 Digital Projection of Marsh on the whole stretch WIND HOKUSAI; ON THE WAY TO MOUNT FUJI Katsushika HOKUSAI Japan, Projection of Mount Fuji Tree SUNSHU EJIRI - a coloured woodblock print Marsh smell UKIYO-E: Pictures of the floating world. Woodcut prints Edo Period: UKIYO-E S IMPACT ON IMPRESSIONISM 1850 Digital Projection of Marsh on the whole stretch Sound of water Katsushika Hokusai, Ejiri in Suruga(Sunshū Ejiri), a coloured woodblock print) Japan, AD

AP ART HISTORY CHAPTER 31: EUROPE AND AMERICA, Mrs. Dill, La Jolla High School

AP ART HISTORY CHAPTER 31: EUROPE AND AMERICA, 1870-1900 Mrs. Dill, La Jolla High School List three 19th-century phenomena that author believes contriubuted to the greater consciousness of modernity, the