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Aotearoa: Ukiyo-e style


It's probably the most famous piece of Japanese art, a truly global image seen in popular culture throughout the West, even making its way onto men's socks. 

It is "The Great Wave off Kanagawa"  (神奈川沖浪裏)  a woodblock print by the Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai.

Published sometime between 1829 and 1833, the work is part of Hokusai's series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.

It depicts an enormous wave threatening three small boats off the coast in Sagami Bay in Japan's Kanagawa Prefecture while Mount Fuji rises in the background.

Katsushika Hokusai "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" / Image: Wikimedia

The picture has inspired artists in the East and West, and that history continues through Porirua-based artist Alistair McDonald, who has used the style of another great exponent of ukiyo-e to interpret his home region in Aotearoa. 

Andō Hiroshige was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist born in 1797 and considered the last great master of the tradition. His works were noted for their striking colours, using sweeping vistas from unusual vantage points, and many were meisho-e (名所絵) pictures of famous places. 

Some similarities then, with the current work of Alistair McDonald, who spoke to the Asia Media Centre about his art and inspiration. 

What first attracted you to this style of Japanese woodblock art?  

"I saw an exhibition of Hiroshige's uchiwa-e fans at Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 1978, I had seen that style before but not in a collection, so many colours and stories in one room."

You’ve been doing these kinds of works for a number of years  - what keeps you coming back to them? 

"I love the simple line drawings, bold flat colours and limited shading (nobody has a shadow) but especially the stories of another era and culture. I've tried to imagine how the great artists Hiroshige and Hokusai might have seen New Zealand today. One of the main functions of art is to ask us to imagine the world in a different way, I hope my art does that." 

Alistair McDonald "Bucket Fountain, Cuba Mall" / image courtesy of the artist

Did you choose not to use woodblocks, or has using a brush and acrylic given the work a new aesthetic? 

"Hiroshige had to employ numerous specialists - carvers, colourists, printers, and others - and each of those complex skills involves a lifetime's learning.  I've been able to take a huge shortcut using modern acrylics, plus I've also had the advantage of the many artificial colour pigments developed since the 1830s when a lot of ukiyo-e work was being produced.

What do you think is the lasting impact of ukiyo-e on western art and on your art?

"Ukiyo-e has sent its' own "great wave" through western painting  - Van Gogh, Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec,  then Cezanne and so on. In return, European styles impacted modern Japanese art and print-making, such as the Yoga school and the shin-hanga movements.

For me, there's also a direct line to modern animation and illustration: Disney, Tintin, The Simpsons, and Manga - which are all  great art in themselves."

Alistair McDonald "Great Wave at Titahi Bay" / image courtesy of the artist

 A number of your paintings have ocean waves similar to Hokusai’s “Great Wave off Kanagawa” - are you making some comparison perhaps between New Zealander's attachment to the ocean, and the same feelings in Japan?

"It's interesting.... We're both maritime nations, gathering kaimoana is a big part of each culture, but in the end I think it's the sense we mortals share of the huge power of nature, we are as awe-struck and vulnerable as the 30 or so (terrified) passengers on Hokusai's boats."

The figures in your paintings - are they visitors to the landscape or do they live and belong there?

Great question! For me, the people belong to the image, rather than the setting. The landscape usually dominates for me, I put people there more to humanise the image and help tell a story. Then it's up to the viewer.

Alistair McDonald "Wellington CBD from Mt Victoria #2" / image courtesy of the artist

You’ve done some of this style in Australia – how did that go?

"I've done 12 Australian images, plus 6 of Queenstown and Wanaka, 1 of Taranaki and 22 of Auckland, 71 in all. I'm looking at making the Auckland ones more available soon, but meanwhile I'm working on some of London, New York and Paris. What I may do with the overseas ones, I'm not sure right now, but I need to get on-site, hopefully soon."

 

Alistair McDonald's current exhibition "In the Style of Hiroshige" runs at the Exhibitions Gallery of Fine Art in Wellington until June 28th.

(The artist holds copyright over reproductions of his works in this article. Republishing is prohibited without permission.) 

- Asia Media Centre