De heilige bron van Jogaku 1829 - 1835

Editor: Here we have Hokusai's "The Holy Cascade of Jogaku," a color woodblock print from around 1830. It's beautiful – the misty landscape almost feels like it's dissolving. What catches your eye about this piece? Curator: Considering Hokusai's print, I immediately consider the materials: the woodblock itself, the pigments used to create these washes, the paper onto which it's printed. The labor involved is also critical, isn’t it? We’re not only considering Hokusai, but the artisans that actually carved the woodblocks, applied the ink, and pulled the prints. Editor: That's a perspective I hadn’t considered! How does this relate to the social context of the piece? Curator: The *ukiyo-e* tradition existed within a burgeoning merchant class in Japan, one with a taste for scenes of leisure, landscapes, and, more broadly, consumable imagery. This work isn't simply *of* a landscape. The creation of numerous prints allowed this specific landscape to be possessed and traded. Were these materials expensive to source and process? Was the artisan fairly compensated for the intensive, repetitive labor? These aspects shift the artwork from a divine landscape to a consumable scene. Editor: So, we're seeing the print as both an artwork and a commodity? Curator: Exactly! We are acknowledging the role of materiality, the human contribution of labor, and commercial processes in shaping what we view as ‘art’. Consider how different our appreciation might be if this were a unique painting instead of a mass-produced woodblock print. Editor: It's fascinating to think about art in terms of its production. This reframes the piece for me! Thank you. Curator: Indeed. Analyzing its means of production gives us invaluable insight.