LibGuides: ART/HIS 318: Museum Studies: Online and Archival Resources

Researching Art Online

Original key block for ukiyo-e print by designed by Yoshiiku and signed by carver Asai Ginjirō

[Public Domain], via Wikimedia Commons

When searching for primary and secondary sources online, look for websites with high quality information, like museums, well-known fine arts proprietors (i.e. .org websites) or online repositories from from universities or organizations dedicated to arts education. Also look for sites that provide references, so you can track down further information on topics of interest! Below are websites where you can search for research on Japanese art.

Painting the Floating World: Ukiyo-e Masterpieces from the Weston Collection
From the Art Institutes of Chicago: "Shown for the first time in the United States, this comprehensive collection of ukiyo-e paintings brings the 'floating world' and its metropolitan amusements to life."
The Floating World of Ukiyo-E: Shadows, Dreams, and Substance. (Library of Congress Exhibit)
Historical context, images, genre conventions, literary connections, and MORE about the Ukiyo-e art of the Edo period.
Ukiyo-e.org: Japanese Woodblock Print Search
"The Ukiyo-e.org database and image similarity analysis engine, created by John Resig to aide researchers in the study of Japanese woodblock prints, was launched in December 2012. The database currently contains over 213,000 prints from 24 institutions" and resources for further research to accompany each image.
Ronin Gallery
Articles about Ukiyo-e influences, artists, and motifs of the Edo period from the Ronin Gallery, one of the largest collections of Japanese art in the United States.
Fine Prints: Japanese, pre-1915 (Library of Congress Collection)
The Prints and Photographs Division houses more than 2,500 Japanese woodblock prints and drawings, dating from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries, by such artists as Hiroshige, Kuniyoshi, Sadahide, and Yoshiiku. Subjects include actors, women, landscapes, scenes from Japanese literature and daily life, and Western foreigners. Many schools and traditions are represented, but primary strengths include the Japanese art forms known as Ukiyo-e, translated as "pictures of the floating (or sorrowful) world"; and Yokohama-e, literally "pictures of Yokohama."