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July 1-5: Auction 786: 100 Original Japanese Prints.
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About Us > Japanese Prints
artelino was founded in 2001 for the sale and promotion of Japanese art prints. Since then we have sold ca. 25,000 of them in more than 500 online auctions. This page gives you a short introduction to Japanese prints.
To see Japanese art prints that you can buy right now, please check our thumbnail view of current and coming auctions or our auction calendar or contact Us.
Japanese Prints from the Edo and Meiji Period
Japanese prints are widely collected. The techniques used in these prints are regarded as the highest and most advanced in printmaking.
Japanese prints are grouped by periods and art movements. Classic woodblock prints belong to the Edo period, which lasted until 1868. The early Edo period is also called the "Golden Age" (until early 19th century) with artists like Harunobu, Utamaro, Hokusai ("The Great Wave") or the enigmatic Sharaku. Leading artists of the Edo period from around 1810 until 1868 include Hiroshige, Kuniyoshi and Kunisada.
After the Edo period came the Meiji period, which lasted from 1868 to 1912. One characteristic that differs Meiji prints from Edo periods is the use of aniline colors. Beginners can recognize Meiji prints often by their brilliant and stark colors. Leading artists of the Meiji period include Yoshitoshi Taiso, Kunichika, Chikanobu.
Japanese Prints in the 20th Century
At the beginning of the 20th century Japanese printmaking split into two groups - the shin hanga ("new prints") and the sosaku hanga ("creative prints") movements. While the sosaku hanga artists adhered to the Western principle of "self-drawn, self-carved and self-printed" by the artist, the shin hanga movement was the attempt to modernize the old traditional concept of Japanese woodblock printmaking.
After World War II Japanese printmaking opened up and became more international. Although woodblock printmaking remained the major technique for Japanese artists, some Western printmaking methods like etching, lithography or silkscreen were adopted.
Many Western artists outside of Japan began to adopt the old, traditional way of making woodblock prints. This movement is termed moku hanga ("wood print").
Recommended Reading and Viewing
You can search for articles on this website and find hundreds of pages about Japanese prints and many artist biographies. And on Japanese Videos you find a growing number of video productions. In our archive section of find thousands of sold Japanese prints
How to Buy Japanese Prints?
You can bid in our online auctions. artelino offers classical Edo prints, Meiji prints, shin hanga and sosaku hanga, contemporary prints, moku hanga and e-hon with usually at least one auction per week. Please see our auction calendar and make sure to register.
Gallery of Japanese Prints
Here are a few more examples of Japanese prints. They were all sold by us in past auctions. In our Archive of Sold Prints you can see about 25,000 more.
Only artelino offers you a free archive
of nearly 30,000 sold Japanese prints and more than 400
articles on Japanese art, and databases of more than 3,000 Japanese
artists and more than 500 ukiyo-e signatures.
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