Parinirvana of Sakyamuni c. 1720s

Editor: Here we have Nishimura Shigenaga’s "Parinirvana of Sakyamuni," made around the 1720s. It's a print, seemingly woodblock and ink, and it’s incredibly detailed. It depicts what seems like a historical or religious event. I am drawn to all of the labor that it must have taken to produce so many fine lines. What jumps out at you when you look at this piece? Curator: It's precisely that labor, that meticulous carving and printing process, that I find most compelling. Think about the social context: Ukiyo-e prints like this weren’t “high art” initially. They were mass-produced, commodities available to a broad audience. How does understanding that affect your interpretation? Editor: It’s interesting to think of it as mass-produced, given how intricate it is. So, it democratized art in a way? Did that affect its reception? Curator: Absolutely! Ukiyo-e allowed for wider consumption of art and stories. Consider also the materials: the paper itself, the inks. Where did they come from? What was the labor involved in their production? Even the act of collecting and displaying these prints says something about the consumer culture of the time. Is this shift diluting artistry, or expanding who has access to the means to artistic production? Editor: That's a good point. We usually focus on the artist's intent, but considering the materials and production puts it in a completely new light. I wonder what those buying the artwork were even supposed to do with them. Curator: It is fascinating to consider what place these had in people’s homes and lives, and in turn the possibilities that this distribution opened for cultural exchange and the evolution of printmaking. So much information can be unearthed when we approach art through its materiality.