Locals can enjoy a free Japanese ukiyo-e print exhibition at Longhua Library, showcasing works by 16 masters, including Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Utagawa Hiroshige and Kitagawa Utamaro. The works are from China Printmaking Museum.

Japanese ukiyo-e prints are on display at Longhua Library. Photos from WeChat account “GL_PRINTS”

Visitors can admire iconic pieces from Hokusai’s “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji” series and some prints from Hiroshige’s “Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido” series. Both artists were prolific and their romantic landscape prints were a source of enlightenment for Impressionism in the West.

Hokusai’s much-celebrated series “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji” is a tour-de-force that established the popularity of landscape prints.

Hiroshige excelled in evoking a human touch to the landscapes, with their varying seasons, times of day and weather events, compared with Hokusai’s bolder style.

Literally meaning “pictures of the floating world,” ukiyo-e refers to a style of Japanese woodblock print from the Edo (1603-1868) to the Meiji (1868-1912) periods.

Portraits of theater actors and beautiful geishas and courtesans in fashionable accessories and garments, as well as pieces depicting erotic scenes and gorgeous landscapes, were made accessible to a mass audience in the form of inexpensive prints and illustrations.

Fine achievements by other ukiyo-e masters are also highlighted in the exhibition. Utamaro’s signature prints were large-headed portraits of women. Kuniyoshi established his fame as the designer of warrior prints; he also produced landscapes, frequently utilizing Western perspective technique.

Dates: Until March 14

Hours: 9 a.m.-9 p.m., closed Mondays

Venue: Longhua Library, Longhua District (龙华图书馆)

Metro: Line 4 to Xikeng Station (茜坑站), Exit B