How Japanese Artists Responded to the Transformation of Their Nation

Alicia Ault | Smithsonian.com | 22nd October 2018

Just as photography challenged nineteenth century western artists so it also threatened Japanese woodblock printing. By 1900 the Japanese art form had nearly collapsed. It re-emerged in fits and starts, partly by developing a range of distinct styles. And, just as photographers had done, printmakers developed “an analytical gaze upon Japan.”