Ukiyo-e and Fashion in the Edo Period: Ukiyo-e
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Bleaching Clothes at Tama River, By Totoya Hokkei, Edo period, 19th century
Japanese Gallery (Honkan) Room 10
October 2, 2012 (Tue) - October 28, 2012 (Sun)Ukiyo-e, or depictions of everyday life in the Edo period (1603-1868), initially developed in the early Edo period as paintings by artists. After this, woodblock printing developed to enable the mass production of ukiyo-e, and innovative carving and printing techniques led to the accomplishment of multicolored nishiki-e prints. Based on subjects popular with the general population, such as the pleasure quarters or Kabuki theater, nishiki-e developed primarily through yakusha-e prints of actors and bijinga portraits of beautiful women, leading to the creation of various other genres, including prints of birds and flowers, narrative tales, and landscapes. In addition to prints that evoke the Tamagawa rivers, which are famous places in Japanese waka poetry, this exhibition also features prints from Isoda Koryusai's representative work, Young Women of the Pleasure District in New Year's Fashion, as well as late 18th-century bijinga by Kitao Masanobu and Western-style landscapes by Shotei Hokuju. The paintings in this exhibition feature the respective specialties of their creators, including Hishikawa Moronobu's Yoshiwara Pleasure Quarters and Theatrical District, which draws on life in the pleasure quarters and Kabuki theaters.
Exhibit includes:
Bonito Fishing Boats in Bay of Choshi, By Shotei Hokuju, Edo period, 19th century
Bleaching Clothes at Tama River, By Totoya Hokkei, Edo period, 19th century
Yoshiwara Pleasure Quarters and Theatrical District, By Hishikawa Moronobu, Edo period, 17th century