Changes

Though Harunobu's ''nishiki-e'' would prove an exceptionally important development in the history of ''ukiyo-e'', they derived originally from an obscure corner of the world of prints and popular culture. ''[[E-goyomi]]'', or "calendar prints," did not explicitly display the months and days as a regular calendar would, but were single-sheet images which incorporated into their designs representations of which months in a given year would be the short months.

Though Harunobu's ''nishiki-e'' would prove an exceptionally important development in the history of ''ukiyo-e'', they derived originally from an obscure corner of the world of prints and popular culture. ''[[E-goyomi]]'', or "calendar prints," did not explicitly display the months and days as a regular calendar would, but were single-sheet images which incorporated into their designs representations of which months in a given year would be the short months.

Harunobu was commissioned by a poetry & prints appreciation circle, beginning in [[1765]], to design such calendar prints for them. Unlike the cheap prints produced for the mass market, these commissioned calendar prints were created for a much smaller, and wealthier, audience, and so Harunobu was free to use far more expensive materials and methods. Catalpa wood was replaced with cherry wood for the woodblocks themselves, and more expensive colored inks were used. Harunobu also took advantage of the expanded budget to design prints with a greater number of colors, a process which required a greater number of blocks. The calendar prints he produced in 1765 and 1766 used better paper, thicker, more opaque colors, and would be reproduced for the mass market, marking a major shift in the way ''ukiyo-e'' prints were made, their quality, style, and appearance.

Harunobu was commissioned, beginning in [[1765]], by a poetry & prints appreciation circle headed by ''[[hatamoto]]'' [[Okubo Jinshiro|Ôkubo Jinshirô]], also known as Kyosen<ref>Tanabe, Masako. "The Enigma of Elegance - Colorants and Paper in the Woodblock Prints of Suzuki Harunobu." in ''Seishun no ukiyo-eshi Suzuki Harunobu - Edo no kararisuto tôjô''. Chiba City Museum of Art, 2002. p307.</ref>, to design such calendar prints for them. Unlike the cheap prints produced for the mass market, these commissioned calendar prints were created for a much smaller, and wealthier, audience, and so Harunobu was free to use far more expensive materials and methods. Catalpa wood was replaced with cherry wood for the woodblocks themselves, and more expensive colored inks were used. Harunobu also took advantage of the expanded budget to design prints with a greater number of colors, a process which required a greater number of blocks. The calendar prints he produced in 1765 and 1766 used better paper, thicker, more opaque colors, and would be reproduced for the mass market, marking a major shift in the way ''ukiyo-e'' prints were made, their quality, style, and appearance.

One of Harunobu's other great innovations, enabled by the advent of the full-color print, was the use of colored backgrounds. While some other artists had previously included some color in the backgrounds of their prints, most used either totally blank backgrounds, or some limited description of an actual setting. Harunobu was among the first to fill backgrounds with solid color, and the first to fill a background with black, or a dark color, to represent night; night scenes had previously been, and would continue to be in the vast majority of works, denoted simply by the presence of the moon, lanterns, candles, and the like, without any darkened background.

One of Harunobu's other great innovations, enabled by the advent of the full-color print, was the use of colored backgrounds. While some other artists had previously included some color in the backgrounds of their prints, most used either totally blank backgrounds, or some limited description of an actual setting. Harunobu was among the first to fill backgrounds with solid color, and the first to fill a background with black, or a dark color, to represent night; night scenes had previously been, and would continue to be in the vast majority of works, denoted simply by the presence of the moon, lanterns, candles, and the like, without any darkened background.

*Lane, Richard. ''Images from the Floating World''. New York: Konecky & Konecky, 1978. pp99-111.

*Lane, Richard. ''Images from the Floating World''. New York: Konecky & Konecky, 1978. pp99-111.

*Mason, Penelope. ''History of Japanese Art''. Second Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005. p283.

*Mason, Penelope. ''History of Japanese Art''. Second Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005. p283.

[[Category:Edo Period]]

[[Category:Edo Period]]

[[Category:Artists and Artisans]]

[[Category:Artists and Artisans]]