Hokusai's Album of Pictures 1849

This page from Hokusai's Album of Pictures presents a scene of textile production, made with woodblock print and ink on paper. The artwork portrays women engaged in various stages of textile production, from spinning to weaving. The materiality of the woodblock print, with its flat planes of color and defined lines, emphasizes the graphic nature of the scene. The texture and form of the print is a direct result of the carving and printing processes. The choice of woodblock printing, a technique deeply embedded in Japanese craft traditions, imbues the artwork with a sense of cultural significance. The print reflects the labor-intensive nature of textile production, highlighting the skilled traditions involved in transforming raw materials into finished goods. It invites us to consider the broader social and economic contexts of labor and production in 19th-century Japan, blurring the lines between fine art and craft. It reminds us that all art has a mode of production, and a relationship to the society in which it was made.