Courtesan Holding Tanzaku Poem Card, By Kaigetsudo Dohan, Edo period, 18th century
Japanese Gallery (Honkan) Room 10
September 30, 2014 (Tue) - October 26, 2014 (Sun)
In the early Edo period (1603–1868), ukiyo-e, which depicted common people, were only in the form of paintings. Later on, a method of woodblock printing was devised and mass production of ukiyo-e became possible. Eventually, a method of producing multicolored nishiki-e prints was established, following the further development of carving and printing techniques.
This exhibition is divided into two parts. The first consists of prints demonstrating the variety of expressive possibilities in ukiyo-e. These include early monochrome prints (sumizuri-e), ones using glossy ink (urushi-e), prints hand-colored or printed mainly with red tones (beni-e and benizuri-e, respectively), and color prints without black outlines (mizu-e). The second section explores the various sizes of ukiyo-e prints. It includes narrow prints (hoso-ban and hashira-e) and narrow “poem-card” prints (tanzaku-ban), as well as medium-sized prints (ai-ban) and square prints (shikishi-ban). Fine paintings by early ukiyo-e artists and those active in the Kyoto and Osaka areas will also be displayed.
Current exhibit includes:
Courtesan Holding Tanzaku Poem Card, By Kaigetsudo Dohan, Edo period, 18th century
Mitate (Parody) of Yukihira, Matsukaze, and Murasame (Characters in a Noh play), By Torii Kiyomitsu, Edo period, 18th century (Important Art Object)
Eight Views of the Living Room: Clock Striking in the Evening, By Suzuki Harunobu, Edo period, 18th century