One Hundred Famous Places of Edo: Fireworks at Ryogoku (detail), By Utagawa Hiroshige, Edo period, dated 1858
Japanese Gallery (Honkan) Room 10
July 3, 2018 (Tue) - July 29, 2018 (Sun)
The genre of Japanese art called ukiyo-e portrays the common people of the Edo period (1603–1868) as well as their interests and leisure activities. Early ukiyo-e was all painted by hand. Later, ukiyo-e prints began to be mass-produced using woodblocks, while subsequent advances in woodblock carving and printing led to the creation of multicolor prints called nishiki-e, or “brocade pictures,” so called because of their vibrant combinations of pigments. The current exhibition features Above and Beneath the Bridge, a large-scale work consisting of three prints, as well as other prints in a variety of sizes, including vertically long “pillar prints.” These works include summer themes such as fireworks, the Niwaka festival in the Yoshiwara Pleasure Quarters, and scenes of cooling off.
Current exhibit includes:
Above and Beneath the Bridge, By Kitagawa Utamaro, Edo period, 18th century
Female Geisha at the Niwaka Festival in the Pleasure Quarters: The Ogiebushi Performers Oiyo and Takeji Preparing for the Omando, By Kitagawa Utamaro, Edo period, dated 1783 (Important Art Object)
Sundial of Young Women: Hour of the Snake, By Kitagawa Utamaro, Edo period, 18th centur (Important Cultural Property)
One Hundred Famous Places of Edo: Fireworks at Ryogoku, By Utagawa Hiroshige, Edo period, dated 1858