(Girl and Shopboy Viewing Plum Blossoms) c. 1820s

This print, "Girl and Shopboy Viewing Plum Blossoms," was made by Utagawa Kunimaru in Japan using woodblock printing, a quintessential technique of the Edo period. Here, the process matters as much as the image. The key is the wood itself. Cherry bark was favored for its fine grain, allowing for incredibly detailed lines. Each color in the print required a separate block, meticulously carved and then printed in succession. This meant coordinating not just the design but the registration of multiple blocks, all by hand, which speaks to a highly skilled artisanal system. The flat, graphic quality of the image results directly from this process, a deliberate aesthetic choice. It presents a world of carefully delineated surfaces and subtle gradations, a testament to both the artist’s vision and the material’s potential. The labor-intensive nature of woodblock printing reminds us of the many hands involved in bringing this image to life, from the artist to the carvers and printers. So next time you look at a print, remember the story of its making – a story of skill, collaboration, and deep material knowledge.