Featured INFO ON 2 JAPANESE PRINTS(?) I FOUND

I found these at a local thrift store last week. Are they prints? (I thought I remembered there was another name for Japanese prints?)
Can anyone tell who the artist/artists was?
Any info on them would be greatly appreciated!

 

ukiyo-e?

 

The first is one of the best known of the Japanese woodblocks. By Hokusai. While a multiple, yours is almost certainly an inexpensive reproduction. You can learn more about the work here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Wave_off_Kanagawa

Debora

 

The second is also well know. By Hiroshige. Fireworks at Ryōgoku Bridge. You can learn more here. And also likely to be an inexpensive reproduction.

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/37093

Debora

 

How can I tell the difference, Debra?

 

Sorry, no idea. But do know that finding genuine woodblock prints of these two Japanese works in a thrift shop is like finding a genuine Dalí or Miró. You'd be better off buying a lottery ticket.

Debora

 

Maybe you can open the frames and if there is anything on the back of the print. These are too famous to be true.

 

Yep agree reproduction. Frames look inexpensive as well.

 

In any case, you probably paid little and they seem a nice size, so if you like them I say keep them !
I walked by a nicely-framed large print of the Great Wave Off Kanagawa
once, thinking "Oh, do I need that?" and when I went back a moment later because my answer was "No, but I want it!" it was gone.

 

These both look like the type of pieces that are ordered out of catalogs and used for office decoration.

Debora

 

When it comes to an Ukiyo-e print itself you can tell by the age, the colours and the paper, all of which are wrong in this case. Genuine Ukiyo-e were printed on very thin Japanese mulberry paper, which had a specific pattern. It doesn't look like present-day paper. The detail on the originals is good, it is lacking on your prints. The rowers in your boats have become blobs.
Quality re-prints were (still are) made in Japan, but those are close to the originals colourwise. They can sell for nice prices, though not as nice as the real deal of course.

Hokusai's Wave is a true masterpiece, as is Hiroshige's Fireworks. The Wave has been extremely popular over the last decades, so you should be able to find a buyer.
I must confess I had a Wave t-shirt in the 80s. The non-Wave parts were printed with Japanese 'mons', round (family) crests.

 

That's one thing I have learned the hard way! See something like it and it calls out to you? Can afford it? BUY IT! Don't go think about it; it will be gone when you go back!

 

Look at the image details through a jeweler's loupe. If you see a bunch of little dots, it's definitely a print.