WHAT: “Kiyochika: Master of the Night”
WHEN: March 29-July 27
WHERE: The Smithsonian, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
WHY THIS SHOW MATTERS: Kobayashi Kiyochika, a self-trained Japanese printmaker in the ukiyo-e style, stands out as one of the foremost artists to capture Tokyo’s early modernization towards the end of the 19th century. Kiyochika’s prints of his hometown, presented at The Smithsonian’s Sackler Gallery in an exhibition titled “Kiyochika: Master of the Night,” record not only the city’s transformation, but also the artist’s adoption of new artistic styles. Blending classic ukiyo-e techniques with stylizations and palettes borrowed from Western photographs, copperplate engraving, and oil painting, Kiyochika depicts a Tokyo in transition.
The city, which was formerly known as Edo, was renamed Tokyo in 1868, officially marking the end of the Edo period, celebrated for its strong economic and artistic growth. Industrial modernism then hit the city with full force, especially after it was rebuilt following devastating fires in 1881. Kiyochika’s 93 woodblock prints begin in 1874 and follow Tokyo’s development after the fires.
Traces of the Tokugawa shogunate’s isolationist foreign policies during the Edo period can be seen in “Suspension Bridge on Castle Grounds.” The masterful depiction of the newly constructed bridge shows pedestrians donning both Western garb and traditional Japanese styles, evidence that the new Tokyo was opening its doors to Western visitors and technologies. Set against an atypically muted palette of reds, Kiyochika’s groundbreaking use of perspective stands out from the characteristically flat compositions of classic ukiyo-e prints.
An important feature of Kiyochika’s prints is the awkward integration of Western architectural designs — industrial technologies like gas lamps and steam engines — with the faceless silhouettes of residents continuing the traditions of an older way of life. The images combine to form a melancholy reverie that showcases Tokyo’s stark transformation from the perspective of a man caught between to two eras.
