Ukiyo-e, meaning pictures of the floating world, was a genre of Japanese woodblock prints and paintings that flourished in the Edo period. It began in the seventeenth century in the booming city of Edo, now Tokyo, as an art for the merchant class, and early prints by Hishikawa Moronobu depicted beautiful courtesans and kabuki actors. Full-colour prints appeared in the 1760s with Suzuki Harunobu. In the nineteenth century, Katsushika Hokusai, with his Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, and Utagawa Hiroshige made landscapes the genre's main theme. These prints reached Europe, where they strongly influenced Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists.
Before and after
- 1698Founding of London Stock Exchange
- 1699Construction of Drottningholm Palace
- 26 January 1699Treaty of Karlowitz
- from 17th century to 19th centuryAge of Enlightenment
- 17th centuryRise of ukiyo-e
- 17th centuryFounding of Amsterdam Stock Exchange
- 1700Founding of Brockton
- 17th centuryRakı
- 8 February 1700Birth of Daniel Bernoulli
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The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas.