Vrijend paar c. 1810

This print, Vrijend paar, was made by Kikugawa Eizan in Japan, using woodblock printing. This is a process by which an image is carved into the surface of a wooden block, with the remaining areas being inked and printed. Consider the intense labor involved in this process. Each color requires its own block, demanding precision and skill. The lines you see here have been carefully carved and inked, translating the artist's vision into a repeatable image. Woodblock prints like this one were a key part of the burgeoning consumer culture of Edo-period Japan. They were relatively inexpensive, and met a demand for images of desirable subjects. The production of such prints involved a complex division of labor, with specialized artisans for carving, printing, and publishing. This speaks to a highly developed system of craft production embedded within a wider social and economic context. So, next time you look at a print, remember the hands that made it, and the world in which it was created. It’s never just an image.