Beauty on Veranda (detail), Artist unknown, Edo period, 17th century
Japanese Gallery (Honkan) Room 10
February 28, 2017 (Tue) - March 20, 2017 (Mon)
The artistic genre called ukiyo-e portrays the common people of the Edo period (1603–1868). In the early Edo period, ukiyo-e consisted only of hand-painted works. Later, mass-production was made possible through woodblock printing, with advances in carving and printing techniques leading to the creation of multi-colored prints known as nishiki-e (lit. brocade pictures). This exhibition will include exceptional hand-painted works such as Beauty on Veranda, which is a prominent example of a painting of a beautiful woman from the Kanbun era (1661–1672), as well as Genre Scenes by Miyagawa Choshun (1682–1752?), an ukiyo-e artist who created only hand-painted works. Printed works with seasonal motifs and ones related to the Doll Festival, such as flower-and-bird prints with peaches, will also be included. Multiple prints released as series by Torii Kiyonaga (1752–1815) and Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858) will further enrich the exhibition.
Current exhibit includes:
Beauty on Veranda, Artist unknown, Edo period, 17th century
Children Playing at Five Festivals: Doll Festival, By Torii Kiyonaga, Edo period, 18th century
The Five Festivals in Style: Doll Festival, By Chobunsai Eishi, Edo period, 18th century
Genre Scenes, By Miyagawa Choshun, Edo period, 18th century (Important Cultural Property)