Englishmen: One Standing, One Sketching - Utagawa Yoshimori

A 1861 Yokohama-e woodblock print by Utagawa Yoshimori depicting two Englishmen, capturing the cultural curiosity of Japan during the Bakumatsu period.

This woodblock print by Utagawa Yoshimori belongs to the Yokohama-e genre, a category of Japanese art produced during the Bakumatsu period. These works documented the arrival of foreign traders, diplomats, and military personnel in the port city of Yokohama following the opening of Japan to international trade. The print depicts two Englishmen, one standing and one seated while sketching, rendered with the characteristic stylised features typical of Japanese artists attempting to interpret Western subjects during this era.

The standing figure wears a blue frock coat and holds a telescope, while his seated companion is captured in the act of drawing on a pad. The background features a simplified, atmospheric rendering of a coastal structure, providing a sense of place without distracting from the primary subjects. The artist employs a clear, graphic line quality and a controlled colour palette, which are hallmarks of the Utagawa school's approach to these contemporary subjects. The inclusion of Japanese calligraphy at the top of the composition provides context, often serving to describe the foreigners or their activities to a curious domestic audience.

Yoshimori, a student of Utagawa Kuniyoshi, was particularly active in producing these prints that captured the curiosity and cultural friction of the time. The figures are depicted with a degree of caricature, reflecting the Japanese perspective on the physical appearance and attire of the newly arrived Westerners. This print offers a window into the mid-nineteenth-century Japanese perception of the outside world, documenting a period of rapid social and political change. The work is a fine example of how traditional woodblock techniques were adapted to record modern historical events, maintaining the aesthetic conventions of the Ukiyo-e tradition while engaging with the realities of an increasingly globalised society.