Aizuri-e

Aizuri-e is a Japanese woodblock-print style in which images are printed predominantly in blue, often with imported Prussian blue pigment.

Prussian blue: A synthetic iron-based blue pigment first made in early eighteenth-century Europe. Its arrival in Japan supplied a vivid, durable blue for many aizuri-e prints.
Edo period: The period of Japanese history from 1603 to 1868, when the Tokugawa shogunate ruled. Aizuri-e developed within Edo’s urban print culture.
The Great Wave off Kanagawa: A woodblock print by Katsushika Hokusai depicting a towering wave near Mount Fuji. Its striking blue palette is closely associated with aizuri-e, though the print also uses other colors.
Japonisme: The influence of Japanese art and design on Western artists and culture, especially in the nineteenth century. Blue-rich Japanese prints contributed to Western artists’ interest in ukiyo-e.
Japanese woodblock printing: A printmaking process in which carved wooden blocks transfer ink or pigment onto paper. Aizuri-e uses this process to layer blue areas and line work.
Dutch East India Company: A Dutch chartered company that conducted trade in Asia from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. European trade routes helped bring Prussian blue to Japan.
A Tour of the Waterfalls of the Provinces: A series of landscape prints by Katsushika Hokusai showing waterfalls across Japan. Its blue-dominant impressions show water rendered through varied tones and patterns.
Vincent van Gogh: A Dutch post-Impressionist painter whose work drew on Japanese prints and other sources. His copies and adaptations show how ukiyo-e color and composition traveled beyond Japan.
Nishiki-e: A Japanese multicolor woodblock-print technique using multiple blocks, often one for each color. Its broad palette contrasts with aizuri-e’s predominantly blue coloring.
Nag崎 trade: The restricted foreign commerce conducted through Nagasaki under Tokugawa rule. Nagasaki was a principal channel for imported goods, including pigments.

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Benizuri-eCompared with: Its blue-focused palette contrasts with benizuri-e’s red-and-green coloring.