The School of Yokohama

A rare sublime collection from 19th century Japan exploring scenes from their daily life and culture, intricately hand-colored and leading to the birth of an artistic phenomenon.

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Collection

Blending the beauty of traditional Japanese paintings & emerging Western photography technique.

Hand-colored photography became popular from the Meiji Era mirroring the socio-cultural transformation in Japan. The country embraced foreign trade and during the same time, Western photographers brought in the technique of printing images on Albumin paper. This finally opened the doors for the artists to experiment with their art.

Artists printed images on albumin paper and colored them by hand using brushes made from animal hair. Depicting landscapes and the way of life of 19th century Japan, these were bought by Westerners as souvenirs. As demand for it was the most in Yokohama city, the technique and style became known as the ‘School of Yokohama’.

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about Yokohama

Chronicling Selected works of Kusakabe Kimbei

Kusakabe Kimbei had established himself as one of the most respected and successful photographers of his generation. He was at the forefront of creating souveniers albums depicting the everyday life of the Meiji era. These were popular amongst tourists, who carried his name to the west, where he is now more recognized than in Japan.

1841 - 1932
Kimbei is known for his albums of hand-painted prints, showing the everyday life in the Meiji Era.

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about Kimbei

Kusakabe Kimbei was born towards the end of the Edo Period, on November 3, in Kofu, Yamanshi Prefecture, a city in central Japan. He started his career as an photographic colorist. He was trained by European artists- Felice Beato & Baron Raimund Von Stillfried and assisted them in their studio before opening his own workshop in Yokohama in 1881

Few of His Handpainted
Photographs

Japanese Toilet

1870s - 1890s Kusakabe Kimbei (Japanese, 1841 - 1934)

TRIVIA:

Kimbei was trained by European artists- Felice Beato & Baron Raimund Von Stillfried and assisted them in their studio before opening his own workshop in Yokohama in 1881

Carrying Children

1870s - 1890sKusakabe Kimbei (Japanese, 1841 - 1934)

Japanese Ladies

1870s–1890sAttributed to Kusakabe Kimbei (Japanese, 1841 - 1934)

TRIVIA:

Kimbei was a great admirer of women, depicting them in focus in a majority of his photographs, laying great emphasis on traditional attire and body ornaments.

Happy New Year

1870s - 1890sKusakabe Kimbei (Japanese, 1841 - 1934)

Vegetable Peddler

1870s - 1890sKusakabe Kimbei (Japanese, 1841 - 1934)

Samurai in Armour

1870s - 1890sKusakabe Kimbei (Japanese, 1841 - 1934)

TRIVIA:

In his time, samurais were already out of fashion, but he was deeply fascinated by them. he loved staging elaborate portraits such as The Three Samurais.