A Man in a Kneeling Posture Bending Forward and Listening to an Oiran who is Playing the Shamisen
ca. 1705–7
Medium
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
9 15/32 x 13 1/4 in. (24.1 x 33.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Francis Lathrop Collection, Purchase, Frederick C. Hewitt Fund, 1911
Accession Number
JP685
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the vibrant world of Edo-period Japan (1615–1868), Okumura Masanobu's woodblock print *A Man in a Kne Posture Bending Forward Listening to an Oiran is Playing the Shamisen (ca. 1705–7) captures a moment of intimate entertainment. This 9 15/32 x 13 1/4 in. ink and color print on paper exemplifies early ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world"), the pleasures of urban life in Tokyo's Yoshiwara pleasure district. Here a rapt man kneels in deference, leaning forward as a glamorous oiran—Japan's high-ranking courtesan—strums the shamisen, a three-stringed lute symbolizing geisha culture and ref...
About the Artist
Okumura Masanobu · 1686–1764
Japanese, 1686–1764