Beauties of the Four Seasons: Sunrise on New Year's Day (detail), By Eishosai Choki, Edo period, 18th century
Japanese Gallery (Honkan) Room 10
December 24, 2019 (Tue) - January 19, 2020 (Sun)
In the 17th century, painters started depicting the lives of commoners in a genre known as ukiyo-e. With the advent of new printing technology, these images began to be reproduced in high numbers, and ukiyo-e gradually spread to all layers of society. The addition of colorists to the publishers’ craftsmen also led to the birth of the color print in the mid-18th century. From December 24, 2019–January 19, 2020, this gallery displays New Year scenery such as the Seven Gods of Fortune arriving by boat and Japanese badminton. The exhibition also includes paintings of Chinese and Japanese beautiful women by the early ukiyo-e pioneer Iwasa Matabei.
Current exhibit includes:
Beauties of the Four Seasons: Sunrise on New Year's Day, By Eishosai Choki, Edo period, 18th century
One Hundred Famous Places of Edo: Suruga-cho, By Utagawa Hiroshige, Edo period, dated 1856
Luofuxian (The immortal on Mount Luofu and the plum-tree spirit), By Iwasa Matabei, Edo period, 17th century (Important Art Object, Private collection)