Japanese Prints: The Floating World and Beyond

A free display of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints from the Victoria Art Gallery's collection, shown alongside works by European artists they inspired.

This exhibition in the Upper Gallery showcases Japanese woodblock prints from the Victoria Art Gallery's own collection, including works by Utagawa Hiroshige depicting actors, beauties and landscapes of 19th-century Japan. The ukiyo-e prints evoke the vibrant culture of Edo (now Tokyo), celebrating theatres, teahouses and fashionable social life. The display also pairs these Japanese masterpieces with works by European artists such as James McNeill Whistler and Frank Brangwyn, illustrating the artistic exchange that transformed printmaking after Japanese prints reached Europe in the mid-19th century.