Two Figures, Edo period (1615?1868), Japan, Polychrome woodblock print; ink and color on paper, H. 12 1/8 in. (30. 8 cm) ; W. 17 in. (43. 2 cm), Prints, Okumura Masanobu (Japanese, 1686?1764), The invention of color block printing by the mid-eighteenth century irrevocably transformed the vigorous early ukiyo-e style. The new technique, which used separate blocks for each color, placed greater attention on coordinating the component parts and emphasized the process of color overlays