Hokusai and Ukiyo-e

The catalog for the exhibition at the Cleve Carney Museum in Chicago (2025) presents at the Cleve Carney Museum in Chicago presents an exceptional collection of Japanese artworks, offering the public an in-depth understanding of Japanese painting production from the Edo period (1603–1868), particularly of ukiyo-e, the “images of the Floating World.” The volume includes a selection of hanging vertical scroll paintings (kakemono) and hand-painted horizontal scrolls by the great masters of the various schools, starting from the mid-17th century. Also featured are color woodblock prints with black outlines and hand painted details — a technique that evolved into nishiki-e, the famous multicolored “brocade pictures” — as well as printed and painted fans, and high-quality handcrafted objects that testify to Japan’s rich artistic and artisanal tradition, such as board games and musical instruments. These works reflect the evolution of taste, fashion, and entertainment culture that developed during the long Tokugawa peace corresponding to the Edo period. The extraordinary works come from the prestigious collections of the E. Chiossone Museum of Oriental Art in Genoa.