October 8, 2026–June 27, 2027
Evergreen Museum & Library, North Wing Gallery
“One could study out every square inch with profit & pleasure. And yet to us these artists are unknown & the whole world of their work is closed to us in our ignorance!” —John Work Garrett, April 18, 1899, Kyoto, Japan
Colorful, fantastical, and charismatic, Japanese prints of the 19th century captured the imaginations of many Western tourists like Evergreen’s John Work Garrett, who would have encountered the print genre, ukiyo-e, during his 1899 visit to Japan. Ukiyo-e literally translated to “floating world pictures” and was comprised of art and prints that focused on the beauty and pleasure found in urban centers and, later, the natural world. These prints were part of a popular artistic industry that appealed to Japanese artisans, merchants, and privileged audiences.
The production of Japanese prints was a collaborative effort among publishers, artists, carvers, and printers. A publisher would determine a thematic concept for a print and would contract an artist to produce the work. A carver would then cut a copy of the artist’s draft into a wood block and await approval from the artist and publisher, before passing the block print on to a printer. Finally, the printer would apply polychrome ink to the woodblock and stamp several layers on top of each other to create the final, colorful result.
Used prints could be utilized as cheap and lightweight packing material for exported goods or easily acquired as souvenirs among foreign visitors. Consequently, Japanese prints appeared in 19th century Western artistic circles in substantial amounts.
Avant-garde artists rebelling against Renaissance artistic traditions used ukiyo-e as inspiration for their own creations, including artists whose work is displayed in Evergreen’s historic rooms such as painters Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917) and Édouard Vuillard (French, 1868-1940).
The Japanese print has a global artistic legacy that can be found in unexpected places within Evergreen’s collection. Look closely at the prints in this exhibition to become your own connoisseur of ukiyo-e. When you tour Evergreen’s historic house, what artistic legacies of Japanese prints can you find?