A Boating Party under Azuma Bridge
ca. 1785
Medium
Triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
Each sheet: 15 1/4 x 10 1/4 in. (38.7 x 26 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Howard Mansfield Collection, Purchase, Rogers Fund, 1936
Accession Number
JP2620a–c
Tags
Art Historical Context
Torii Kiyonaga (1752–1815), a leading figure of the ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") movement during Japan's Edo period (16151868), masterfully captures the lively urban pleasures of 18th-century Edo (modern Tokyo) in *A Boating Party underuma Bridge* (ca. 1785). This triptych depicts elegant revelers—likely kabuki actors and their admirers—cruising the Sumida River beneath the iconic Azuma Bridge, a popular spot for summer outings. Kiyonaga's refined style shines through in the graceful figures clad in fashionable kimonos, evoking the era's booming merchant culture and theater scene...
About the Artist
Torii Kiyonaga · 1752–1815
Torii Kiyonaga, born Sekiguchi Shinsuke in 1752 in Uraga, Sagami Province, was the son of an Edo bookseller who owned tenements near a bustling fish market. At age 14 in 1765, he began his apprenticeship under Torii Kiyomitsu, the third-generation head of the prestigious Torii school of ukiyo-e, renowned for kabuki theater illustrations and signage. Adopted into the Torii family, Kiyonaga succeede...