Painting the Floating World: Ukiyo-e Masterpieces from the Weston Collection

The book is the an overview of one of the most intricate, detailed, informative exhibits at the Art Institute in Chicago. It covers the breadth and depth of the presented works along with their history and impact upon the Culture of China.

Pages on the pullout sections are stuck together and trying to separate them causes tears and jagged edges along the top edge of the book . This occurred on several of the pullout multipage sections. Bad quality control.

This hefty book contains fascinating and well-printed examples of Ukiyo-e masterpieces accompanied by informative essays. It belongs in every book collection on Japanese prints and Japanese art in general.

Gorgeous book! Very well written with one of the best Japanese reproduction paintings !

wonderful book

When it comes to ukiyo-e art, the first thing that springs to mind for most of us is the woodblock print. There are historical and practical reasons for this impression, of course, but as it turns out, paintings occupied an equally prominent place within the world of ukiyo-e, and this magnificently weighty tome does its part to even the scales again. Published to accompany a spectacular exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago, this book is lavishly illustrated in beautiful color throughout (including fantastic fold-outs properly replicating horizontally oriented compositions) and to the best of my recollection includes all of the many fine works exhibited, plus some extra illustrations for comparative purposes. Well-written explanatory text delves into the details of each painting so that the reader/viewer gets a substantial idea of what they're looking at besides just a pretty picture, and calligraphic inscriptions are faithfully transcribed, transliterated, and translated--even the Kanbun poetry by scholars of Chinese literature. Also illuminating are several essays by experts in the field, from a general history of ukiyo-e to finely focused studies of specific facets such as hairstyles and fashions, painting and mounting techniques, and the like.Considering that all of these paintings came from the collection of a single individual, the wide span of time (early 1600's to early 1900's), the commendable geographic balance (between the Kyoto/Osaka area and Edo), and the plethora of painters of different schools and lineages is remarkable. Artists of fewer works or lesser stature on the printmaking side of things stand out as prolific giants here, while major printmaking artists pop up as minor painters. Altogether one certainly comes away from the pages of this gorgeous volume with a vastly better-rounded grasp of ukiyo-e art overall and in many of its particulars. A wonderful memento if you were lucky enough to see the exhibit, but nevertheless a superior stand-alone art book if not.

This book chronicles one of the most exquisite and breath taking exhibitions presented by The Art Institute of Chicago.Very good quality.