The image is an AI-generated image.
The development of printing technology has dramatically changed the nature of art. From medieval European religious paintings to Edo-period ukiyo-e prints, modern posters, and today's digital printing and NFTs, art has expanded from something that was "something only a select few could own" to something that "anyone can get their hands on," and its value and ways of enjoying it have diversified. In this series, we will trace the relationship between printing and art through three eras.
Part 1: The birth of printing and the popularization of art
For a long time, art was the property of a limited number of people, such as royalty, aristocrats, and religious organizations. This is because one-of-a-kind paintings and sculptures require a huge amount of time and money to create, and the places where they could be displayed were limited to churches and castles. In an era when the idea of "owning art" did not even exist for ordinary people, printing changed this common sense.
In the mid-15th century, Johannes Gutenberg popularized movable type printing (a method of setting removable metal types and transferring images to paper through pressure), and at the same time, the printing of images using woodblock and copperplate printing, such as book illustrations and religious prints, also spread rapidly. Religious stories and allegories (symbolic meanings and parables) could now be communicated through images, even to those who could not read. Images that had previously been confined to manuscripts and one-of-a-kind objects began to spread throughout society. The power of this "reproducible image" was also behind the spread of ideas from the Protestant Reformation and Renaissance throughout Europe.
Woodblock printing took root early in Japan, dating back to the Nara period's Hyakumanto Dharani (one of the oldest surviving printed works of Buddhist scripture). During the Edo period, technology made great strides, and nishiki-e (multicolored woodblock prints, each printed on a separate block) became a central part of popular culture. Katsushika Hokusai's Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji and Kitagawa Utamaro's portraits of beautiful women captivated people with their vibrant colors and flowing lines, and were relatively affordable. Hanging in the homes of townspeople and artisans, ukiyo-e were similar to modern-day posters and magazines, and served as a medium for entertainment and trends.
What's important here is the democratization of ownership brought about by printing (making art that was previously only available to a select few available to many). This coincided with urbanization and the development of commerce, and paintings became commodities circulated on the market. Publishers (similar to today's publishing companies) took charge of planning, and a division of labor between carvers and printers was established, which stabilized quality and expanded supply.
Of course, there was also debate at the time about whether reproductions diminished the value of the original. However, in reality, a dual structure was created in which originals were revered as symbolic objects, while reproductions functioned as a medium for spreading culture. This framework continues to this day, and is still present in the poster and art print markets.
Printing was not just a technological innovation; it transformed people's appreciation of art itself. From something to see to something to hold. This shift in values was the starting point for the development of modern poster culture, graphic art, and contemporary interior art.
Continued in Part 2
