Rising Sun, Falling Rain: Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts
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Ukiyo-e, or “pictures of the floating world,” emerged as a defining artistic genre during Japan’s Edo period (1603–1868), an era of significant cultural transformation. Initially centered on the vibrant urban life of licensed pleasure quarters—depicting kabuki theaters, teahouses, and brothels—ukiyo-e gradually expanded in subject matter in response to shifting social interests, increased domestic travel, government censorship, and contact with Western art. Themes came to include nature, landscapes, poetry, literature, and folklore.
Rising Sun, Falling Rain traces the evolution of ukiyo-e printmaking and the later shin-hanga movement, featuring over eighty prints from the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts by renowned artists such as Katsukawa Shunshō, Utagawa Toyokuni, Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, and Kawase Hasui. These works exemplify the technical mastery and aesthetic refinement of Japanese woodblock printing, which profoundly shaped global perceptions of Japan’s cultural legacy and fostered enduring engagement with its historical narratives.
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![Woodblock print of a large waterfall]()
Utagawa Hiroshige, Yoro Waterfall in Mino Province, Number 23, 1853–58Color woodblock print. Sheet: 14 3/8 × 9 3/4 in. (36.5 × 24.8 cm). Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum. Purchased from the Frank Lloyd Wright Collection, 1965
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![Woodblock of women making woodcut prints in a studio]()
Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III), Untitled (Japanese Women Making Woodcuts), 1857Color woodblock print (nishiki-e). Each Sheet: 14 5/8 x 10 in. (37.2 x 25.4 cm). Full Object: 14 5/8 x 30 ¼ in. (37.2 x 76.8 cm). Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum. Purchase
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![Woodblock print of two women playing a stringed instrument]()
Ishikawa Toyonobu, Actors Onoe Kikugorō I and Nakamura Kiyosaburō I Playing a Samisen Together, Ca. 1749-1752Woodblock print (benizuri-e); ink and limited color on paper. Sheet: 17 3/8 x 12 3/16 in. (44.1 x 31 cm). Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum. Purchase
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![Woodblock print of an actor wrapped in a large kimono]()
Katsukawa Shunshō, The Actor Ichikawa Danjūrō V in a Shibaraku Role, 1775-1780Color woodblock print (nishiki-e). Sheet: 12 1/8 x 5 15/16 in. (30.8 x 15.1 cm). Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum. Purchased from the Frank Lloyd Wright Collection, 1965
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![Tall, thin woodblock print of a woman dreaming of boats on the water]()
Isoda Koryūsai, Courtesan Dreaming of a Boating Party on the Sumida River, 1770-1773Color woodblock print (nishiki-e). Sheet: 27 7/8 x 4 7/8 in. (70.8 x 12.4 cm). Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum. Purchased from the Frank Lloyd Wright Collection, 1965
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![Woodblock print of a group of people on a boat on the water]()
Katsushika Hokusai, Viewing Sunset over Ryōgoku Bridge from the Onmaya Embankment, from the series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, 1831-1833Color woodblock print (nishiki-e). Sheet: 9 7/8 x 14 7/8 in. (25.1 x 37.8 cm). Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum. Purchased from the Frank Lloyd Wright Collection, 1965
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![Woodblock print of a line of people holding umbrellas in a rainstorm]()
Utagawa Hiroshige, Shōno: Driving Rain, from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō, Number 46, Ca. 1833-1836Color woodblock print (nishiki-e). Sheet: 9 15/16 x 14 7/8 in. (25.3 x 37.8 cm). Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum. Purchased from the Frank Lloyd Wright Collection, 1965
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![Woodblock print of a firework arching over a bridge]()
Utagawa Hiroshige, Fireworks at Ryōgoku Bridge, Number 98, 1858Color woodblock print (nishiki-e). Sheet: 14 1/16 x 13 ¼ in. (35.7 x 33.7 cm). Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum. Purchased from the Frank Lloyd Wright Collection, 1965
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![A woman and man lean over a small doll in the man's hands]()
Kitagawa Utamaro, The Happy Faces of Ohan and Chōemon, from the series Eight Pledges at Lovers’ Meetings, Ca. 1798-1799Color woodblock print (nishiki-e). Image: 14 15/16 x 9 15/16 in. (38 x 25.3 cm). Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum. Purchased from the Frank Lloyd Wright Collection, 1965
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![Woodblock print of two samurai fighting on a bridge]()
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, Gojō Bridge: An Episode from the Life of Yoshitsune, 1881Color woodblock triptych. Sheet: 14 x 27 ¾ in. (35.6 x 70.5 cm). Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum. The Eugene L. and Davida R. Trope Collection
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![Woodblock print of a woman holding an umbrella in a snowy landscape]()
Hasui Kawase, The Temple Zōjōji, Shiba, from the series Twenty Views of Tokyo, 1925Color woodblock print (nishiki-e). Sheet: 15 ¼ x 10 3/8 in. (38.7 x 26.4 cm). Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum. The Eugene L. and Davida R. Trop Collection
Rising Sun, Falling Rain: Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts is organized by Hollis Goodall, guest curator, with Kelin Michael, LUCE/Getty curatorial fellow.
Generous support for the exhibition is provided by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation.